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EF2 tornado in Columbia County, Florida

Tornado March 7, 2008 · Columbia County, Florida

EF2
Rating
1.5 mi
Path length
800 yd
Path width
2
Deaths
5
Injuries
$4.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

National Weather Service Storm Survey of the tornado track indicated most damage was EF1 scale with a small area of EF2 damage near NE Denver Street opposite a large field. Numerous Trees and power lines were snapped or blown over by the storm. Truck and trailers were also blown over in an industrial park. Nineteen homes were destroyed, twenty-one suffered major damage, and twenty had minor damage. Two businesses were destroyed with six suffering major damage. One female fatality occurred when a tree went through her mobile home. A male indirect fatality occurred when trying to connect a power generator. The mesocyclone which spanned this tornado was tracked across Taylor, Lafayette, and Suwannee Counties prior to this touchdown and it later spanned tornadoes in Baker, Charlton and Nassau Counties.

The wider storm

A squall line with severe weather and several tornadoes moved across north Florida and southeast Georgia.

Began near Lake City (30.1937, -82.6458).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 74589. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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