Home / Texas / Wheeler

F3 tornado in Wheeler County, Texas

Tornado June 11, 1997 · Wheeler County, Texas

Rating

9.0 mi

Path length

600 yd

Path width

Injuries

$1.7M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 600 yards (0.34 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Tornado occurred near Pakan community on CR 453. Twelve homes damaged or destroyed along with 13 vehicles on Interstate 40. Two inch diameter hail fell along most of the tornado path. Tornado track was determined by official storm survey.

Began near Kellerville (35.3300, -100.4500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F1 Wheeler County F1 Collingsworth County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5611301. 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.