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F2 tornado in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

Tornado January 28, 1997 · Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

F2
Rating
2.0 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$85K
Damage as recorded
$2K
Crop damage
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 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 small tornado that apparently formed on the north side of a bow echo touched down in a lightly populated area just north of Lake Lurleen State Park and just west of State Road 171 in west central Tuscaloosa County. Damage was primarily to downed trees, however, several structures sustained minor damage with the exception of one house that was completely deroofed. The family in the house was asleep when the tornado struck and one young girl sustained a minor injury in the storm.EMA officials reported that three mobile homes were damaged along with the one house that was deroofed and at least two barns and several storage buildings were damaged.

Began near Coker (33.3000, -87.7000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5588192. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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