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F1 tornado in Mecosta County, Michigan

Tornado October 6, 1998 · Mecosta County, Michigan

Rating

100.0 mi

Path length

50 yd

Path width

Injuries

$1.2M

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 F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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

Tornado touched down on Ferris State University in Big Rapids, 7 students injured, 5 others treated at a local hospital for minor injuries. The most serious injury was a broken arm.

The wider storm

Low topped convection produced a tornados and wet microburst along with training bands of heavy rain with minor urban flooding. The severe storms formed along a warm front which lifted through the region. The atmosphere was characterized by low CAPE and high helicity.

Began near Big Rapids (43.7000, -85.4800).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F0 Isabella County F0 Clare County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5675695. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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