What the record says
On 5 April 1972, a tornado touched down near Portland, Oregon. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 8.7 miles long and up to 440 yards wide, rated F3 on the Fujita (F) scale. It killed 6 people and injured 300.
- F3Fujita rating
- 6deaths
- 300injuries
- 8.7 mipath length
- 440 ydmaximum width
It has its own page because it killed three or more people and it was rated 3 and killed at least one person.
This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.
Counties it crossed
The start point was at 45.60, -122.63 and the end point at 45.63, -122.45 (latitude, longitude).
How to read this path
The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.
Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.
Other notable tornadoes of 1972
- Ratliff City, Oklahoma tornado19 April 1972, F4, 5 deaths, 6 injuries, 28.2 miles long
- Enterprise, Alabama tornado13 January 1972, F2, 4 deaths, 88 injuries, 6.3 miles long
- Eddyville, Illinois tornado21 April 1972, F3, 3 deaths, 0.3 miles long
- East Point, Georgia tornado10 January 1972, F3, 1 death, 9 injuries, 6.3 miles long
- Indianapolis city, Indiana tornado14 May 1972, F4, 20 injuries, 30 miles long
All tornadoes of 1972 · Oregon tornado history · All notable tornadoes