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F2 tornado in Winona County, Minnesota

Tornado July 8, 1999 · Winona County, Minnesota

F2
Rating
3.5 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
2
Injuries
$2.0M
Damage as recorded
$60K
Crop damage
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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.

The wider storm

A tornado touched down just northwest of Lewiston (Winona County), then moved into the middle of town and intensified. Numerous homes along Main Street had extensive damage with broken windows, damaged roofs and downed trees. One home had the entire roof taken off, while at least 4 cars were demolished from debris landing on them. A farm southeast of town had every building destroyed, except the house. Of the 1,300 population in Lewiston, only two people sustained minor injuries. Elsewhere across southeast Minnesota, spotters and law enforcement officials reported hail up to 2 inches in diameter along with trees and power lines knocked down.

Began near Lewiston (44.0000, -91.9000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5707355. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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