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Kissimmee Tornado (1998)

Tornado February 23, 1998 · Orange County, Florida

Rating

38.0 mi

Whole path

250 yd

Path width

Deaths

150

Injuries

$55.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Osceola County → Orange County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 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

The Kissimmee tornado moved into Orange County southeast of Orlando International Airport as a category F3. The tornado affected rural swampy areas, striking few structures except for lakeside neighborhoods on the shores of Lake Hart and Lake Mary Jane. The tornado lifted as it approached the St. Johns River on the east central border of Orange County in the Tosohatchee State Preserve.

Began near (mco)orlando Intl Ar (28.4000, -81.2700).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F3 Seminole County 13 dead F3 Orange County 3 dead F2 Volusia County 1 dead F2 Volusia County F1 Brevard County F1 Brevard County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5641812. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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