A destructive and deadly tornado struck the city of Granite Falls (Yellow Medicine County) on July 25, 2000. One person was killed, over a dozen injured, and millions of dollars of damage was done to residences, businesses, and public facilities. In the aftermath of the storm, the National Weather Service dispatched an assessment team to evaluate the force and the extent of the tornado. The following statement from the National Weather Service was released on July 27, 2000
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 430 PM CDT JUL 27 2000 ...GRANITE FALLS TORNADO CLASSIFIED... GRANITE FALLS, MINNESOTA WAS HIT BY A MAJOR TORNADO ON TUESDAY EVENING JULY 25TH. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICIALS FROM MINNEAPOLIS AND SIOUX FALLS SPENT THE FOLLOWING DAY ASSESSING STORM DAMAGE AND DETERMINING THE TORNADO PATH AND ESTIMATED INTENSITY. THE ASSESSMENT TEAM INCLUDED WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST TODD HEITKAMP FROM SIOUX FALLS, METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE GREG HARMON FROM SIOUX FALLS, AND METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE CRAIG EDWARDS FROM MINNEAPOLIS. THE TORNADO MOVED THROUGH GRANITE FALLS BETWEEN 610 PM AND 625 PM ON JULY 25TH. IT WAS ON THE GROUND FOR APPROXIMATELY NINE MILES, FIRST TOUCHING DOWN IN RURAL YELLOW MEDICINE COUNTY 8 MILES WEST AND 3 MILES NORTH OF GRANITE FALLS. THE TORNADO LIFTED BEFORE EXITING THE COMMUNITY, LEAVING A CONCENTRATED DAMAGE PATH 2 MILES LONG AND 500 FEET WIDE THROUGH A PRIMARILY RESIDENTIAL AREA OF GRANITE FALLS. MOST OF THE DAMAGE IN GRANITE FALLS WAS CAUSED BY F2 TO F3 WIND SPEEDS. HOWEVER, THIS TORNADO WILL BE CLASSIFIED OFFICIALLY AS A MINIMAL F4 TORNADO BASED ON THE ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED INTENSITY NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF 9TH AVENUE AND 14TH STREET IN GRANITE FALLS. THE FUJITA SCALE (F-SCALE) IS THE DAMAGE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM USED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TO RATE ALL TORNADOES. THE SCALE RANGES FROM F0 FOR WEAK TORNADOES TO F5 FOR THE STRONGEST. THE SCALE WAS DEVELOPED BY PROFESSOR EMERITUS THEODORE FUJITA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE WIND SPEEDS AND DAMAGE PATTERNS ASSOCIATED WITH THE F-SCALE USED TO ASSESS THE GRANITE FALLS TORNADO: F2...113-157 MPH...CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE. ROOFS TORN OFF FRAME HOUSES...MOBILE HOMES DEMOLISHED...LARGE TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. F3...158-206 MPH...SEVERE DAMAGE. ROOFS AND SOME WALLS TORN OFF WELL-CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS. MOST LARGE TREES STRIPPED AND UPROOTED. HEAVY OBJECTS LIKE CARS STRIPPED AND THROWN A SHORT DISTANCE. F4...207-260 MPH...DEVASTATING DAMAGE. WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES LEVELED. STRUCTURES WITH WEAK FOUNDATIONS BLOWN OFF SOME DISTANCE. CARS AND OTHER VERY HEAVY OBJECTS LIFTED AND THROWN SOME DISTANCE. THE LAST F4 TO AFFECT MINNESOTA OCCURRED ON MARCH 29, 1998 WHEN COMFREY IN BROWN COUNTY EXPERIENCED SIMILAR TORNADO DAMAGE. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE RATING OF THE GRANITE FALLS TORNADO, PLEASE CONTACT CRAIG EDWARDS AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN CHANHASSEN. CRAIG EDWARDS METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE
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