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F0 tornado in Wise County, Texas

Tornado May 8, 1998 · Wise County, Texas

F0
Rating
0.8 mi
Path length
50 yd
Path width
$400K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F0 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F0 meant light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken; the scale paired it with winds of 40–72 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

A tornado touched down at Bay Landing, a private RV park on the southeast side of Lake Bridgeport along US 380. Fifteen campers and recreation vehicles were damaged or destroyed.

The wider storm

A significant severe weather episode occurred across north Texas during the evening hours of May 8th. Severe thunderstorms developed between Abilene and Childress along a dryline late in the afternoon and moved east into north Texas. The most severe weather occurred along a corridor roughly along and 40 miles to the south of US 380 from west of Throckmorton in Throckmorton County eastward to Greenville in Hunt County. Occasionally propagating in a train echo fashion, these storms were efficient hail and wind producers. Wise County was hardest hit by severe weather on the 8th, with wind, hail, and one confirmed tornado destroying 15 houses and damaging 178 others. Widespread damage to automobiles and trees also were reported. In Denton County, thunderstorm winds blew down powerlines across Interstate 35-E near Lake Dallas, closing both northbound and southbound lanes of traffic. In the ensuing traffic jam, motorists were stranded in their vehicles as another severe thunderstorm moved across the area. In all, damage from this severe weather episode was estimated at between $30 and $40 million, with damage in Wise County estimated at $5 million and $3 to $5 million in Denton County.

Began near Paradise (33.1500, -97.7800).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5645555. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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