F3 tornado — Phelps County, Missouri

F3 tornado in Phelps County, Missouri

Tornado June 1, 1999 · Phelps County, Missouri

Rating

7.0 mi

Path length

300 yd

Path width

$3.5M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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 with an intermittent damage path, damaged 200 homes, businesses, and other buildings in the southern portion of St. James. Of these, 33 homes were destroyed along with the St. James Golf Course clubhouse and two Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) buildings. Initially, the tornado touched down just west of the intersection of Hwy BB and County Road (CR) 3370 and produced F1 damage, damaging roofs and destroying a barn. The path width was about 200 yards.The tornado then moved east, south of the downtown St. James area and intensified. F2-F3 damage occurred with a 200-300 yard damage path. Several homes and farm buildings were severely damaged or destroyed. F3 damage occurred at the golf course and at the MODOT site south-southeast of town with a damage path width of 300 yards. The tornado then weakened rapidly, producing F1 damage with a damage path width of 150 yards about 3 miles southeast of downtown.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5706685. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F3 tornado in Phelps County, Missouri

The wider storm

Tornadoes near your address