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F3 tornado in Volusia County, Florida

Tornado February 23, 1998 · Volusia County, Florida

Rating

16.0 mi

Whole path

200 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$31.0M

Damage as recorded

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

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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 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 Sanford tornado crossed into Volusia County near Highway 46 and the St. Johns River where it killed a 53 year old man in a recreational vehicle at a fish camp. The tornado continued northeast for 2 miles and dissipated in a rural part of south Volusia County.

Began near Osteen (28.8000, -81.1500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F3 Kissimmee Tornado (1998) 25 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 5643843. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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