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F3 tornado in Champaign County, Illinois

Tornado April 19, 1996 · Champaign County, Illinois

F3
Rating
2.0 mi
Path length
1,500 yd
Path width
1
Death
13
Injuries
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,500 yards (0.85 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

The wider storm

A tornado touched down half a mile to the southwest of Ogden and travelled to the northeast right through the middle of the town. The tornado destroyed 68 homes, 12 businesses, 3 churches, the library, and a grade school. Once east of town, the tornado crossed I-74, where it killed a woman who was riding in a semi with her husband. The semi and trailer were picked up and rolled into a field. The woman, who had been in the sleeper portion, was thrown about 30 yards from the truck. She was killed instantly. After rolling the semi, the tornado damaged 2 more homes before lifting and dissipating 1 mile north northeast of Ogden. Back in Ogden the damage was variable. One house would have significant damage, when a nearby structure would only have minor damage. In addition to the destroyed homes and businesses, 128 homes and 8 businesses sustained major damage and 51 homes and 12 businesses had minor damage. With it's larger width, it appears that this tornado had multiple circulations within the parent tornado. Overall, one woman was killed and thirteen people were injured. No damage estimate was available yet.

Began near Ogden (40.1200, -87.9500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5543905. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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