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F3 tornado in St. Clair County, Missouri

Tornado May 4, 1999 · St. Clair County, Missouri

Rating

3.0 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

Injury

$50K

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.

The wider storm

A tornado downed trees just north of Highway 82 near the intersection of OO Highway. The tornado skipped across an open field and increased in intensity just before striking and completely destroying a modular home, spreading debris nearly a mile away. One person in the home was injured.

Began near Tiffin (37.9800, -93.9300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5697650. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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