F2 tornado — St. Clair County, Alabama

F2 tornado in St. Clair County, Alabama

Tornado April 8, 1998 · St. Clair County, Alabama

Rating

14.4 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$2.0M

Damage as recorded

$5K

Crop damage

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado began 2.3 miles north-northeast of Moody and just west of US 411. The tornado crossed US 411 where a large church and associated buildings, some recently constructed were destroyed. The tornado traveled on an east-northeast track moving through relatively rural areas. It affected a portion of CR 174 and then crossed US 231 just south of Wattsville. The tornado damaged a number of buildings in the Coal City area including a mobile home where two people were killed and three children were injured. The tornado ended in an open area just east of Coal City. Emergency Management for St. Clair County reported that 26 homes were destroyed, 30 homes suffered major damage, and 59 sustained minor damage. This included 42 mobile homes.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5637197. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F2 tornado in St. Clair County, Alabama

What the National Weather Service wrote

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