F3 tornado in Bell County, Texas

Tornado May 27, 1997 · Bell County, Texas

Rating

0.7 mi

Path length

150 yd

Path width

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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 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

This is the same tornado that began 1mile east of Moody in McLennan County.

Began near Troy (31.2700, -97.3800).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5623981. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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