Equus
Member
That's definitely one of the few historic photos where extreme debarking is quite obvious and not ambiguous. Surely on up there in the upper echelons of intensity for historic tornadoes.
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Significant Tornado Events
- Thread starter locomusic01
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speedbump305
Member
In my personal opinion, i think Chickasha might have been a bit stronger than Goldsby. The ground scouring and tree damage was a little more intense in my opinion, although they both produced extremely intense tree damage. but both were absolutely into the EF5 range and deserve an EF5 rating
speedbump305
Member
What do y’all think was stronger? El Reno 2011, or Bridge Creek? i’ve kinda thought El Reno might’ve been stronger
MNTornadoGuy
Member
Keep in mind that photographers from that time would usually ignore the areas of extreme damage as piles of debris or empty foundations wouldn't sell well. They also usually went for heavily-populated areas such as downtown instead of rural areas.
Casuarina Head
Member
Personally, I remain unconvinced that the second Dunlap (Sunnyside) IN tornado would merit an EF5 rating. Much weaker tornadoes have scoured asphalt, for instance, yet the Sunnyside tornado apparently did not. Moreover, the “ground scouring” could very easily be related to precipitation and tire marks in a muddy area. Clearly, most of the leveled homes were relatively small, of CBS type, and not anchor-bolted properly. Debarking is relatively unremarkable. Incidentally, all these caveats also apply to the other “borderline” EF4/5 candidates on Palm Sunday ‘65. I think a number of the officially “sub-violent” tornadoes on Palm Sunday II were grossly underrated, including the Lake Como WI F1 and the Koontz Lake IN F3, but I have yet to see any convincing evidence of EF5-level damage in this outbreak, although the Lebanon–Sheridan IN F4 did some fairly impressive debris granulation. Singular instances of damage are not enough to warrant top-tier classification, in my view, considering all the variables at play and the considerable uncertainty involved in rating these “older” events. Studies by Thomas P. Grazulis and others have proven that even (E)F2 winds can hurl heavy vehicles and machinery for a few hundred yards at least. Debarking varies by species, ground scouring by soil type and disturbance, and so on.
I’m rather surprised that no one has commented on the “pulverisation” of debris and shrubbery in this final last image. Every vestige of greenery seems to have been pulled from the ground, and the amount of dirt flung about seems to hint at genuine ground scouring, though one would need several high-resolution close-ups to be more certain. If my eyes are not mistaken, then this phenomenon would seem to suggest that the Capitol Hill OK tornado may have been far more violent than it is given credit for. Only the most intense tornadoes pulverise debris and shrubbery. Then again, the OKC area is notorious for some of the most violent tornadoes on record. Incidentally, there was also a mile-wide F4 tornado that struck Newcastle and Moore OK in April 1893 (I can’t recall the exact date listed in Significant Tornadoes, but I believe it occurred toward the end of the month).
Casuarina Head
Member
Personally, I think the strongest tornado from Palm Sunday II may have been the Pittsfield OH F4. A cursory view of the available photographs at the bottom of this Web site suggests why. For instance, there is a photograph of the remains of the Congregational Church that shows clear debris granulation and even partial debarking of mature trees in the background, along with possible ground scouring. I still don’t think that this tornado shows clear evidence of EF5 damage, but it comes a bit closer than the rest of the EF5 candidates in the outbreak, in my view. I can’t post direct links to the photographs on the Web site, given that they are all copyrighted, so I am wondering if anyone else has a bunch of high-resolution photographs from Pittsfield.
MNTornadoGuy
Member
What do you think is the strongest of the 1965 Palm Sunday tornadoes and what are some notable extreme damage it produced?
MNTornadoGuy
Member
Color photographs of the 1974 Huntsville AL tornado. It was lit up by power flashes and lightning.
![Screenshot_2021-03-27 [15200477 - Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society] luminous el...jpg](https://attachments.talkweather.com/2021/03/7809_9607ab402dc38058c52921ae9d0da7b1_thumb.jpg "Screenshot_2021-03-27 [15200477 - Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society] luminous el...jpg")
speedbump305
Member
Am i the only one who thinks Rochelle might have been stronger than Plainfield illinois? in my opinion, the structural damage in Rochelle was more impressive imo
zvl5316
Member
1903 Gainesville tornado is partly hiden by notorious 1936 Gainesville tornado in history though more than 100 were killed in the storm. It is in fact a very mysterious tornado since it is an F4 in GA in June with limited amounts of digital records.
zvl5316
Member
1944 Appalachians tornado outbreak is also a fatal and mysterious event discussed less today. It is really strange to see long track violent tornadoes in mountainous areas in late June.
Marshal79344
Member
Just an absolutely textbook northwest flow tornado event. These types of events are really rare, and it's hard for me to come up with a northwestern flow tornado event with the magnitude of the one on June 23, 1944. June 2, 1998, is also another good analog, but nowhere near as severe.
Marshal79344
Member
A photo I have in my archives of the scene at Pinson, Tennessee after the F5 Tornado came in the middle of the night on March 11th, 1923. The supercell responsible for this tornado was very high-precipitation and took the city by complete surprise at around midnight. Tennessee has a knack for having deadly nighttime tornado events. In addition to this one, other famous and deadly nighttime tornadoes in Tennessee include the February 5, 2008, Castalian Springs Tornado, the May 9, 1933, Livingston, TN Tornado, and the March 3, 2020, Cookeville Tornado.
Marshal79344
Member
This was a very unusual tornado setup. The supercell responsible for the Gainesville Tornado was associated with a rather weak low-pressure system interacting with high moisture and instability. In other words, it was a Plains Tornado setup except with much more moisture, favoring more obscured storm mode. The tornado itself was preceded by heavy rain and the sun came out immediately after it had passed, suggesting the presence of a high precipitation, intense supercell thunderstorm interacting with high instability values. I have these photos from it in my archives:
Juliett Bravo Kilo
Member
Never seen a photograph from Pinson until now. The thing sounds incredibly violent.
Some interesting details about this event:
To quote the link below:
"Newspaper accounts make special mention of a teenage boy who, after impassible roads forced him to abandon his horse just two miles out, trekked six miles on foot, in pitch darkness through mud and driving rain, to the nearby city of Jackson to deliver news of the disaster and plead for help. His heroism likely brought aide to the stricken town hours before it would’ve otherwise come. Eighteen people died in Pinson, and another seventy were injured. Human remains were found up to a mile away. It was Tennessee’s only F5 until 1998."
Source:
F5 Tornadoes: The Chronology – Part I
In A Blink, Their World Vanished by: Eric Brown Langleyville, Illinois – April 24, 1880 This tornado ripped through farmland west and northwest of Taylorville, Illinois. It formed west…
ericsweatherlibrary.com
speedbump305
Member
Juliett do you think rochelle might have actually been stronger than Plainfield? rochelle produced very intense structural damage and overall probably produced more intense damage than plainfield
Juliett Bravo Kilo
Member
Tornadotalk has an excellent article on it but it's behind a paywall, unfortunately:
June 23, 1944 Appalachian Outbreak – Tornado Talk
www.tornadotalk.com
MNTornadoGuy
Member
The year of 1913 in Nebraska is usually known for the catastrophic outbreak in March. However, 7 months later another violent tornado struck the state, the 10/9/1913 Broken Bow F4 tornado family. This family of tornadoes touched down in Custer County and moved 95 miles into Holt County where it dissipated. The tornado likely was most intense in Custer County. A sod house was destroyed, an entire farm was completely swept away with everything being ground into kindling wood, fence posts were lifted out of the ground and carried for miles, a dozen farmhouses were "wiped from the face of the earth," heavy iron farm machinery was mangled beyond recognition and water tanks were carried 5 miles.
speedbump305
Member
T
This is getting me thinking, i wonder what the longest distance a vehicle has been thrown by a tornadoThe year of 1913 in Nebraska is usually known for the catastrophic outbreak in March. However, 7 months later another violent tornado struck the state, the 10/9/1913 Broken Bow F4 tornado family. This family of tornadoes touched down in Custer County and moved 95 miles into Holt County where it dissipated. The tornado likely was most intense in Custer County. A sod house was destroyed, an entire farm was completely swept away with everything being ground into kindling wood, fence posts were lifted out of the ground and carried for miles, a dozen farmhouses were "wiped from the face of the earth," heavy iron farm machinery was mangled beyond recognition and water tanks were carried 5 miles.
Tomcats Forever!
Member
So, here's possibly the dumbest question in the history of this forum.
Is there any truth to the heresay that all of Indiana was put under a statewide tornado warning during the 74 superoutbreak?
Is there any truth to the heresay that all of Indiana was put under a statewide tornado warning during the 74 superoutbreak?
