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F1 tornado in Okeechobee County, Florida

Tornado March 9, 1998 · Okeechobee County, Florida

Rating

4.0 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

Injuries

$5.4M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. 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

An F1 tornado touched down along the north shore of Lake Okeechobee near Highway 441. The tornado moved northeast though Okeechobee damaging six businesses and nine homes. Thirteen mobile homes and recreational vehicles were destroyed. About 100 others were damaged. Ten people were injured. Two required hospitalization.

Began near Okeechobee (27.2300, -80.8500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F1 St. Lucie County F0 Osceola County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5640232. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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