F1 tornado in Stutsman County, North Dakota

Tornado August 31, 1997 · Stutsman County, North Dakota

Rating

0.2 mi

Path length

25 yd

Path width

$250K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

a tornado picked up 33 empty aluminium coal cars and set them on their side about 5 feet from the track. Each car weighed about 22 tons.

Began near Jamestown (46.9000, -98.8700).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

7 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

F0 Stutsman County F0 Burleigh County F0 McLean County F0 Kidder County F0 Stutsman County F0 Stutsman County F0 Stutsman County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5610865. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.