Enhanced Fujita scale
The tornado that struck New Richmond is estimated to be an F5 on the original Fujita scale, and would today be categorized an EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with winds in excess of 200 miles per hour, making it the third of only six F5 tornadoes ever recorded in Wisconsin. Surveys of the damage caused at New Richmond and elsewhere determined the tornado had a damage path of roughly 400-500 yards, or slightly over a quarter-mile in width.