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F2 tornado in Macon County, Missouri

Tornado April 8, 1999 · Macon County, Missouri

Rating

17.0 mi

Whole path

440 yd

Path width

$1.0M

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 440 yards (0.25 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 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

After dissipating just west of Atlanta, a new tornado touched down 1 mile southeast of Atlanta and moved northeast into Knox County. In Macon County, 5 single family residences and 3 mobile homes were destroyed from 2 miles east of Atlanta to 10 miles northeast of Atlanta. Four single family homes were damaged within this area. Several outbuildings were also damaged or destroyed. Some damage south of the tornado track was likely due to the very intense rear flank downdraft, which storm spotters observed to accompany the storm.

The wider storm

Severe weather broke out in northwest and west-central Missouri around midday on April 8. Storms tracked rapidly northeastward and moved into central and north-central Missouri by early evening. The outbreak included at least five tornadoes, one of which moved along a 54-mile path across three counties. Reports of thunderstorm wind damage were also widespread throughout the area.

Began near Atlanta (39.8800, -92.4700).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F2 Carroll County F1 Andrew County F1 Livingston County F1 Cooper County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5691929. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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