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F3 tornado in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana

Tornado April 3, 1999 · Claiborne Parish, Louisiana

Rating

8.5 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

$1.5M

Damage as recorded

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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 tornado developed from a supercell which developed as a favourable upper level jet pattern and an unstable atmosphere moved over the area. Two mobile homes completely destroyed and two cars levitated and rolled. About 10 homes heavily damaged. Numerous large trees uprooted or snapped.

Began near Athens (32.6000, -93.0800).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5691117. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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