Shakespeare 2016
Member
NWS offices are very cheap when it comes to handing out EF4 ratings. I am surprised even one of the tornadoes got rated EF4.
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tornado examiner
Member
Theres Nothing to suggest that
TornadoFan
Member
And you'd know this, how?
Tempestas Tonitrua
Member
He doesn’t. It’s the same Guy that said the Dickson tornado was just a “tree eater” and that’s what was causing its debris ball
It appears this got 160 mph.
Uh yeah, that’s violent damage. Thinking both Elkhorn And Minden both deserve EF4 ratings at this stage. Maybe Sulphur too, but I’m not as confident about that one.
Edit: Sounds like Sulphur is high-end EF3. I’m fine with that honestly. 160 for Minden though?? Hmmmm idk about that, especially with the DOW measurements. Also it is probably not going to sit well with me if Elkhorn isn’t upgraded either.
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tornado examiner
Member
Welp...turns out the construction in Nebraska is mostly shotty. Alot of those homes in the elkhorn subdivision got marked as ef2...home slid off the foundation.
Tempestas Tonitrua
Member
Do 99.9% of the homes in America fail at EF3 winds? Someone correct me if I’m wrong because I’m not an expert on this stuff, but It seems like the last few EF4s weren’t rated as such because of damage to homes, but other buildings. Like the flower shop at Rolling Fork.
Ok so this actually isn’t as impressive as it looks. Big house, but nails pulled directly out of the wooden subfloor, causing the house to collapse in a heap. This design renders anchor bolts pretty much useless when it comes to securing the walls. Seen it time and time again.
Still, that house near Bennington that had its basement exposed is enough for EF4 imo, even if the above house falls short. All it takes is one.
It’s a combination of poor construction AND overly-conservative damage surveying. We’ll see how this shakes out, but there’s a solid chance, like usual, that a few EF4-deserving tornadoes fall short of that designation when all is said and done.
Shakespeare 2016
Member
Pretty frustrating isn't it. The last tornado to be rated an EF4 before the Marietta tornado in the US was Keota, Iowa on March 31, 2023.
Shakespeare 2016
Member
I don't think a QRT should be needed unless the surveyors suspect EF5 damage.
The context works heavily against rating the Minden tornado higher - the neighbouring house has barely more than EF1 damage at greatest. The big question is - how did the destroyed house actually fail?
That said, 160 - are they using the new revised speeds which lowered the low bound 5 mph? To allow WFOs to even more egregiously underrate tornadoes?
Yeah, I thought about the context thing, but I can’t help but think this could be one of those rare situations where the “compact spot of violent damage from a sub vortex” thing could actually apply. Trust me, I’m all about using context to upgrade and downgrade, but given the nature of this specific tornado, the other potential explanation isn’t unreasonable.
EDIT: Ninja’d
A tight damage gradient like that can actually mean a more intense tornado at times (or just erratic damage patterns from multiple vortices).
Shakespeare 2016
Member
Buckeye05 I think the destroyed grocery store in Marietta we thought was like a mid range EF3 I believe was rated EF4. I can't get DAT to work on my tablet.
southmdwatcher
Member
Because the government says that this event was just short of your expectation and they control eveything. SO if it is an EF3 at 160 or EF4 at 170 that is not your concern....and we should have ALREADY become accustomed to this, with ALL of the extensive debates over the past 10 to 13 years.
Shakespeare 2016
Member
Exactly!
Tanner
Member
Tempestas Tonitrua
Member
Wow. Was that on the DAT?
