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F3 tornado in Pickett County, Tennessee

Tornado April 16, 1998 · Pickett County, Tennessee

Rating

8.6 mi

Path length

880 yd

Path width

Injuries

$10.0M

Damage as recorded

$1.0M

Crop damage

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

40 homes and 22 mobile homes were destroyed from this tornado. 95% of the trees were destroyed in the path of the tornado. 45 utility poles were blown down. 100 barns were destroyed, 2 green houses were heavily damaged, and there was damage to fences and pasture land. There were 4 people injured, but they were treated and released.

Began near Byrdstown (36.5300, -85.1800).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5641235. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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