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F3 tornado in Cottonwood County, Minnesota

Tornado March 29, 1998 · Cottonwood County, Minnesota

F3
Rating
73.0 mi
Whole path
900 yd
Path width
1
Death
19
Injuries
$75.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Murray County → Cottonwood County → Brown County → Blue Earth County → Nicollet County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 900 yards (0.51 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 strong tornado which began in Murray County tracked across Cottonwood County and then further northeast. The tornado destroyed numerous farms, farm equipment, buildings, trees, power lines and poles, vehicles, and other structures in its path. A vehicle was tossed a hundred yards as it hit the first farm in southwest Cottonwood County. People in the basement of the house on this farm received minor injuries. The tornado also destroyed a church near Jeffers, and destroyed numerous homes in the southern part of Comfrey, a city which is only partly in Cottonwood County.

Began near Westbrook (43.9800, -95.4300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5632286. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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