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F3 tornado in Dallas County, Alabama

Tornado March 6, 1996 · Dallas County, Alabama

F3
Rating
19.0 mi
Path length
400 yd
Path width
4
Deaths
40
Injuries
$8.0M
Damage as recorded
$50K
Crop damage
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 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 first touched down just south-southwest of Marion Junction in northern Dallas County and travelled east-northeast before ending in the northeastern part of the county. The tornado touched down initially in a rural area composed of fields with scattered houses. It crossed U. S. Highway 80 at the Cahaba River or about 9 miles west-northwest of Selma. The tornado continued on its east-northeast path crossing State Highway 14 and State Highway 22 before ending about two and a half miles east of Highway 22.The tornado path was about 19 miles in length with a maximum width of about 400 yards. The tornado first touched down around 3:42 am based on radar imagery. Travelling at 35 to 40 miles an hour the tornado was on the ground for about 25 minutes ending around 4:07 am.Information from emergency management sources indicated that 14 houses were destroyed, 19 houses sustained major damage, 5 houses sustained minor damage, 20 mobile homes were destroyed, 17 mobile homes sustained major damage, and 12 mobiles homes sustained minor damage. At least 40 people were transported to area hospitals with injuries varying from minor to serious. Two deaths occurred in a mobile home and two deaths occurred in a permanent house.

Began near Marion Jct (32.4200, -87.2300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5546526. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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