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F4 tornado in Giles County, Tennessee

Tornado April 16, 1998 · Giles County, Tennessee

Rating

69.4 mi

Whole path

800 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$13.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Wayne County → Lawrence County → Giles County → Maury County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F4 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F4 meant devastating damage: well-built houses levelled; the scale paired it with winds of 207–260 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 most extensive damage was north of Yokley. There were downed trees and power lines, a ruptured gas tank, cars overturned, and homes damaged. 5 homes and 8 mobile homes were destroyed in Giles county.

Began near Yokley (35.4200, -87.2200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5641118. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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