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Significant Tornado Events

This one:


I used it for Guin damage pics extensively.
For the hell of it, I popped some damage pics in there. Most of them didn't turn out great, but these two (first from the 1895 Halstead, KS tornado and the second from the 1957 Robecco Pavese, Italy tornado) came out decent:
a6e268d8-9faf-431b-9932-4d430985db0d.jpg
d03f7541-914b-46e6-a292-71d196994574.jpg
 
Someone was debating Piedmont and Bridge Creek. What do you guys think was more violent? They were comparing vehicles and vegetation damage I think.
 
For the hell of it, I popped some damage pics in there. Most of them didn't turn out great, but these two (first from the 1895 Halstead, KS tornado and the second from the 1957 Robecco Pavese, Italy tornado) came out decent:
View attachment 27204
View attachment 27199

More colorized Tri-State pics that likely show ground scouring and the like. These are all from Illinois:

Near Plumfield:
lTx2xWR_.jpg

Near Parrish:

hLY77mgS.jpg


The railroad tracks at Gorham:

ihjPvJew.jpg


DeSoto:

y4rzRh4H.jpg

XR5mcyXH.jpg

67gDcPLA.jpg
 
Someone was debating Piedmont and Bridge Creek. What do you guys think was more violent? They were comparing vehicles and vegetation damage I think.
In my mind, they're both among the small group of tornadoes that are basically as violent as it gets. At a certain point the damage is so extreme that you can reasonably justify rating them in almost any order (as long as Jarrell is at the top of the list).

If I were forced to choose I'd probably say Bridge Creek, though. The combination of scouring + tree damage + vehicle damage is insane (including multiple confirmable instances of vehicles being thrown > 1 mile). Like.. there were parts of multiple cars and trucks in this little windbreak alone, and you have to look pretty hard to even identify anything that's vaguely recognizable as belonging to a vehicle.

(I know I've shared most of these here and/or in my article already, but they never fail to blow me away.)

SUv9pfI.jpeg


soTUsDL.jpeg


DbvzExh.jpeg


A bunch of random vehicles in a chewed-up field, including some that've been stripped to nothing more than the frame/chassis:

5k11y8q.jpeg


Obviously one of the classic images of the event:

2X3Z6bj.jpeg


More assorted vehicle parts:

gd3TMZE.jpeg


pXvMtab.jpeg


sX7KjLC.jpeg


2JgwPzL.jpeg


So4EpFf.jpeg


Ue8icfZ.jpeg


6A3nyOc.jpeg


MXn7N1y.jpeg


AgxXeAQ.jpeg


zhZFLHa.jpeg


txfs3H7.jpeg


nqTecbU.jpeg


m0omqU9.jpeg


otssfxm.jpeg


1Xw5qYr.jpeg
 
Oh! Speaking of 5/3/99, a few things I forgot to share before. First, a couple of very low-quality photos from the Apache-Stecker F3 (this particular property was near Stecker):

dfpgSUO.jpeg


rQjKxJ0.jpeg


And a video of some of the damage from the F3 that struck Stroud:



A few from the Haysville F4:

3AGNbMh.jpeg


FZbl0k7.jpeg


e90BFY1.jpeg


F4GYBRJ.jpeg


And a random shot from the DeKalb, TX F3 the following day:

xcsBzoC.jpeg
 
Someone was debating Piedmont and Bridge Creek. What do you guys think was more violent? They were comparing vehicles and vegetation damage I think.
Bit of a trick question; Bridge Creek-Moore 1999 definitely did much more extreme damage in the community of Bridge Creek but weakened quite a bit by the time it reached Moore. El Reno 2011 was at peak intensity for practically it's entire path, it stayed on the ground 65 miles for nearly 2 hours; that's extremely rare for plains tornadoes. I'd say Bridge Creek did more intense damage in a small area but El Reno 2011 was much more intense for its entire existence.
Hell 2011 was the year of the tornado. So many (Smithville, Hackleburg, El Reno, Joplin) that set many records; never been a year like it.
 
In my mind, they're both among the small group of tornadoes that are basically as violent as it gets. At a certain point the damage is so extreme that you can reasonably justify rating them in almost any order (as long as Jarrell is at the top of the list).

If I were forced to choose I'd probably say Bridge Creek, though. The combination of scouring + tree damage + vehicle damage is insane (including multiple confirmable instances of vehicles being thrown > 1 mile). Like.. there were parts of multiple cars and trucks in this little windbreak alone, and you have to look pretty hard to even identify anything that's vaguely recognizable as belonging to a vehicle.

(I know I've shared most of these here and/or in my article already, but they never fail to blow me away.)

SUv9pfI.jpeg


soTUsDL.jpeg


DbvzExh.jpeg


A bunch of random vehicles in a chewed-up field, including some that've been stripped to nothing more than the frame/chassis:

5k11y8q.jpeg


Obviously one of the classic images of the event:

2X3Z6bj.jpeg


More assorted vehicle parts:

gd3TMZE.jpeg


pXvMtab.jpeg


sX7KjLC.jpeg


2JgwPzL.jpeg


So4EpFf.jpeg


Ue8icfZ.jpeg


6A3nyOc.jpeg


MXn7N1y.jpeg


AgxXeAQ.jpeg


zhZFLHa.jpeg


txfs3H7.jpeg


nqTecbU.jpeg


m0omqU9.jpeg


otssfxm.jpeg


1Xw5qYr.jpeg


My top 5 (post-1989):

1. Jarrell
2. Smithville
3. El Reno '11
4. Bridge Creek Moore (3 and 4 are neck & neck, really):
5. Bakersfield Valley

Honorable mentions: Andover, Red Rock, Pampa and Loyal Valley
 
In my mind, they're both among the small group of tornadoes that are basically as violent as it gets. At a certain point the damage is so extreme that you can reasonably justify rating them in almost any order (as long as Jarrell is at the top of the list).

If I were forced to choose I'd probably say Bridge Creek, though. The combination of scouring + tree damage + vehicle damage is insane (including multiple confirmable instances of vehicles being thrown > 1 mile). Like.. there were parts of multiple cars and trucks in this little windbreak alone, and you have to look pretty hard to even identify anything that's vaguely recognizable as belonging to a vehicle.

(I know I've shared most of these here and/or in my article already, but they never fail to blow me away.)

SUv9pfI.jpeg


soTUsDL.jpeg


DbvzExh.jpeg


A bunch of random vehicles in a chewed-up field, including some that've been stripped to nothing more than the frame/chassis:

5k11y8q.jpeg


Obviously one of the classic images of the event:

2X3Z6bj.jpeg


More assorted vehicle parts:

gd3TMZE.jpeg


pXvMtab.jpeg


sX7KjLC.jpeg


2JgwPzL.jpeg


So4EpFf.jpeg


Ue8icfZ.jpeg


6A3nyOc.jpeg


MXn7N1y.jpeg


AgxXeAQ.jpeg


zhZFLHa.jpeg


txfs3H7.jpeg


nqTecbU.jpeg


m0omqU9.jpeg


otssfxm.jpeg


1Xw5qYr.jpeg
I thought they were thrown for 1/2 mile. Maybe some were thrown further.
 
I thought they were thrown for 1/2 mile. Maybe some were thrown further.
I talked to a number of people whose vehicles were lofted and was able to map out their start + end points. I think four of them ended up right around a mile. I'd have to take screenshots of the others, but here's one I have saved:

yq1VpCm.jpeg


That was this car, which was parked in a driveway just south of SE 94th and landed in a pond:

ER9yGvF.jpeg


7X8wPjH.jpeg


One that I wasn't able to map out precisely was Kevin Weber's car, which was near the 16th St. overpass. I was given like three different locations where it was supposed to have been found and I'm not sure which one is correct, but they're all in the same general area and all right around a mile away, give or take maybe 200 yards.

H3VogKm.jpeg


Same deal with one of the cars in Bridge Creek except I know where it landed but there's some uncertainty (within like 100-200 yards maybe) about exactly where it was parked. I'd have to go through my notes again but I think it may've been this one?

nsYwPPK.jpeg
 
I talked to a number of people whose vehicles were lofted and was able to map out their start + end points. I think four of them ended up right around a mile. I'd have to take screenshots of the others, but here's one I have saved:

yq1VpCm.jpeg


That was this car, which was parked in a driveway just south of SE 94th and landed in a pond:

ER9yGvF.jpeg


7X8wPjH.jpeg


One that I wasn't able to map out precisely was Kevin Weber's car, which was near the 16th St. overpass. I was given like three different locations where it was supposed to have been found and I'm not sure which one is correct, but they're all in the same general area and all right around a mile away, give or take maybe 200 yards.

H3VogKm.jpeg


Same deal with one of the cars in Bridge Creek except I know where it landed but there's some uncertainty (within like 100-200 yards maybe) about exactly where it was parked. I'd have to go through my notes again but I think it may've been this one?

nsYwPPK.jpeg
Yeah I agree, I think they are pretty much interchangeable, Bridge Creek certainly had more examples of extreme vehicle damage, however the severity of it was a similar level to Piedmont. Vegetation wise Tornado talk had some extreme images of scouring and cyclodial marks as well as the most impressive tree damage I have ever seen. Coupled with Cactus i think either of these tornadoes are on par. Jarrell at number 1 for damage is definitely valid although it was moving extremely slow so I question it's intensity compared to Bridge Creek and Piedmont.
 
My top 5 (post-1989):

1. Jarrell
2. Smithville
3. El Reno '11
4. Bridge Creek Moore (3 and 4 are neck & neck, really):
5. Bakersfield Valley

Honorable mentions: Andover, Red Rock, Pampa and Loyal Valley
my top 10 are as it follows
1:Smithville - Hodges EF5 April 2011
2:El reno - Piedmont - Guthrie EF5 May 2011
3:Sherman F5 May 1896

4:Jarrell F5+ May 1997

5:Hackleburg - Phil campbell - Athens EF5 April 2011
6:Joplin - Duquesne EF5 May 2011
7-9:Bridge creek - Newcastle - Moore F5+ May 1999
7-9: Parkersburg - New Hartford EF5 May 2008
7-9:Fyffe - Rainsville - Sylvania EF5 April 2011
10:Tri-state (Gorham - Murphysboro - West Frankfort) F5+ March 1925 (tied with a bunch of others, but my pc is having issues so im typing fast)

i find the top 3 to likely be the ones to have the strongest winds, and infact be at the same level or greater in terms of severity of jarrell's damage, the thing that makes jarrell seem more impressive is the infact the width of this impressive damage being close to 400 yards wide, while the others were 20-100 yards.
 
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