National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

...TORNADO DAMAGE NEAR BOWBELLS RATED STRONG EF3...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUICK RESPONSE TEAM HAS PROVIDED
THEIR EXPERTISE ON THE OVERALL RATING ON THE TORNADO THAT OCCURRED
NEAR BOWBELLS ON THE EVENING OF THURSDAY AUGUST 12. THE FINAL
RATING OF THE TORNADO...BASED ON THE STORM SURVEY AND QUICK
RESPONSE TEAM...WAS DETERMINED TO BE AN EF3 ON THE ENHANCED
FUJITA SCALE.

BELOW IS THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE.

EF0.....65 -  85 MPH
EF1.....86 - 110 MPH
EF2....111 - 135 MPH
EF3....136 - 165 MPH
EF4....166 - 200 MPH
EF5....201 MPH OR GREATER

THE WORST DAMAGE FOUND DURING THE SURVEY WAS CONSISTENT WITH WIND
SPEEDS IN THE UPPER RANGE OF AN EF3 TORNADO. THIS CORRESPONDS
WITH WIND SPEEDS OF 155 TO 165 MPH. THE MAJORITY OF THE DAMAGE WAS
FOUND TO BE CONSISTENT WITH EF2 TO EF3 WINDS.

BELOW ARE DETAILS RECAPPING THE STORM SURVEY THAT WAS COMPLETED
FRIDAY AUGUST 13.

*LOCATION...EXTREME EASTERN BURKE COUNTY INTO THE FAR NORTHERN
 PORTIONS OF THE GOOSE-NECK OF WARD COUNTY NEAR BOWBELLS.

*PATH INFORMATION...THERE WAS AN INTERMITTENT PATH LENGTH OF 14
 MILES BEGINNING NEAR BURKE COUNTY ROAD 8...5 MILES WEST OF
 BOWBELLS...ENDING 8 EAST OF BOWBELLS. A SMALL...ROPE LIKE TORNADO
 WAS SPOTTED BRIEFLY ON THE GROUND 5 MILES WEST OF BOWBELLS...AND
 AGAIN NEAR THE AIRPORT ON THE NORTH SIDE OF BOWBELLS. NO DAMAGE
 WAS OBSERVED WITH THESE BRIEF TOUCHDOWNS. THE FINAL TOUCHDOWN OF
 THE TORNADO PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE...DURING THE LAST THREE
 MILES OF THE PATH. THIS FINAL SEGMENT OF THE TORNADO PATH BEGAN
 NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF BURKE COUNTY ROAD 19 AND US HIGHWAY 52
 AND ENDED 3 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF BOWBELLS...WHERE US HIGHWAY
 52 TURNS SOUTH IN WARD COUNTY. AT ITS WIDEST...THE TORNADO WAS
 APPROXIMATELY 400 YARDS WIDE.

*INJURIES/FATALITIES...ONE INJURED...ONE FATALITY. THE INJURY AND
 FATALITY OCCURRED IN AN AUTOMOBILE THAT WAS STRUCK BY THE TORNADO
 ALONG HIGHWAY 52...EAST OF BOWBELLS...AND CARRIED SEVERAL
 HUNDRED YARDS.

*DAMAGE INFORMATION...ONE HOME SEVERELY DAMAGED WITH THE UPPER
 LEVEL...ROOF...AND ONE EXTERIOR WALL ON THE LOWER LEVEL
 COMPLETELY REMOVED FROM THE REMAINING STRUCTURE. MANY OF THE
 INTERIOR WALLS WERE COLLAPSED. FOUR OF THE SIX OUTBUILDINGS ON
 THE FARM WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED...WITH THE REMAINING TWO
 SEVERELY DAMAGED. NINETEEN OUT OF THE TWENTY ONE GRAIN BINS WERE
 COMPLETELY DESTROYED...WITH THE REMAINING TWO SEVERELY DAMAGED. A
 FIFTY FOOT AIR SEEDER ESTIMATED AT 35 THOUSAND POUNDS...WAS
 CONNECTED TO A CULTIVATOR ESTIMATED AT 15 THOUSAND POUNDS...AND A
 CART ESTIMATED AT 7 TO 10 THOUSAND POUNDS. THE COMBINED ESTIMATED
 WEIGHT WAS 57 TO 60 THOUSAND POUNDS. THE FARM EQUIPMENT WAS MOVED
 AROUND ONE HUNDRED YARDS...LIKELY THROUGH THE AIR. NUMEROUS TREES
 AND POWER LINES WERE DOWNED ALONG THE LAST THREE MILES OF THE
 TORNADO PATH LENGTH.

*EF SCALE RATING...FINAL DETERMINATION FROM THE SURVEY WAS A
 TORNADO WITH A RATING OF EF3 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE.