This was an interesting event to explore. There is a rating difference. SPC lists a rating of F1 while Grazulis has a rating of F2. I found a newspaper report from The News-Messenger (Fremont, Ohio) with a headline that reads, “It wasn’t a tornado, but it hurt.” So, not only a rating difference but a question at one point on whether this was a tornado at all?
The tornado began 4 miles west of New England. It then moved south of Regent to west of Mott. 10 farms were destroyed, some leveled.
In Algona, 104 homes and 20 businesses were destroyed. 349 homes were damaged. 2 women were killed in their homes. Per Thomas Grazulis, there was near-F4 damage to about 30 homes.
Per Thomas Grazulis, “Virtually nothing was left on the site of a farm near the county border. Heavy machinery was thrown over 100 yards and boards were driven into trees.”
This tornado spend most of its time in Tennessee. The total path length was 38 miles, 35 of which was in TN. It began near the town of Lutts in Wayne County and moved southeast into Lawrence County. It tracked through through Iron City and the St. Joseph area. Approx. 75% of the buildings in Iron City were damaged and 19 people were injured.
The twister strengthened in Osceola County and produced EF4 damage. At least 2 houses were destroyed, 2 people injured in one of them. 3 vehicles parked under an Iowa Highway 60 overpass were demolished. 11 people in the vehicles were injured.
The Storm Data Entry describes the damage as such. “The tornado tore the trailer homes apart like match boxes…”. “The destruction was so great that it was impossible to tell how many trailers were involved and where they had been situation before the tornado hit.”
The tornado began 12 miles west of the Wichita Airport and lifted 5 miles SW of the airport. A pickup truck at one of several destroyed homes was tossed 300 yards. Per Thomas Grazulis, one farm house was picked up and “scattered across the prairie.”
This tornado traveled 15+ miles from near Doe Run, south of Farmington and lifted just to the ENE of Libertyville. 22 homes were completely destroyed. There were 4 fatalities.
In the SPC Database, this tornado is listed with an 8.8 mile path passing through parts of Schuyler County. Most of the impacts were in the towns of Littleton and Ray. The Storm Data Narrative and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes indicate this was one of a family of tornadoes that covered much more ground.