A DAMAGE ASSESSMENT WAS CONDUCTED LAST EVENING...JULY 27TH...IN LENNOX BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS. FROM THE RESULTS OF THIS ASSESSMENT...IT HAS BEEN CONCLUDED THAT A WEAK TORNADO OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 705 PM IN THE TOWN OF LENNOX.
FROM PERSONAL ACCOUNTS AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOTTER REPORTS THE TORNADO FIRST SET DOWN NEAR THE LENKOTA GOLF COURSE NEAR THE SOUTHWEST SIDE OF LENNOX. AS THE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST THROUGH LENNOX...THE TORNADO BEGAN TO LIFT. HOWEVER...DAMAGE STILL OCCURRED AS THE TORNADO WAS LIFTING. NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWNED ALONG WITH DAMAGE TO STORAGE SHEDS AND TO BUILDINGS ALONG MAIN STREET...INCLUDING THE VFW BUILDING. THE DAMAGE PATH WAS ABOUT ONE MILE LONG AND 250 FEET WIDE. BASED UPON THE DAMAGE...THE NWS SURVEY TEAM CONCLUDED THAT WINDS OF AROUND 100 MPH OCCURRED...CLASSIFYING THIS TORNADO AS A F1 TORNADO ON THE FUJITA SCALE. A F1 TORNADO HAS WINDS OF 73 TO 112 MPH.
THE F-SCALE IS A SCALE OF WIND INTENSITY DEVELOPED BY THE LATE THEODORE FULJITA. THIS F-SCALE RATING IS INFERRED FROM AN ANALYSIS OF WIND DAMAGE. THE SCALE RANGES FROM F0...THE WEAKEST...TO F5... THE MOST DAMAGING. F0 WIND SPEEDS RANGE FROM 40 TO 72 MPH WHILE THE F5 WIND SPEEDS ARE ESTIMATED IN EXCESS OF 260 MPH.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TORNADO OR THE DAMAGE SURVEY...PLEASE CONTACT GREG HARMON...METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE OF THE NWS OFFICE IN SIOUX FALLS.
TODD HEITKAMP WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
Originally distributed as a Public Information Statement: July 28, 2001 at 1125 am CDT.
Pictures from Severe Storms on July 27, 2001
Damage in Lennox, SD
(Click on image to enlarge)