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F3 tornado in Harrison County, Iowa

Tornado May 16, 1999 · Harrison County, Iowa

Rating

6.2 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

$100K

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 smaller of 2 strong tornadoes that hit Harrison county the afternoon of 5/16/99. This one destroyed a home west of Logan before it weakened, it then made a loop back to the northwest before dissipating.

Began near Missouri Vly (41.6300, -95.9000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5697089. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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