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Significant Tornado Events

Murphysboro. The panorama is impressive, the 2nd pic is where the railroads were torn up, and the last pic is a piece of wood speared into the tree right at ground level, still managing to splinter it in two.


Murph 1.pngmurph 8.pngpano.JPGtree.jpg
 
Most of these are from the mine areas near West Frankfort (Orient and Peabody, I believe):


Several details. The coal mine tipple moved in this area is likely the heaviest object ever moved before the CACTUS-117 rig by El Reno 2011. It weighed several hundreds tons, plus the hundreds of tons of coal it carried. The water tower at orient 2 alone was about 290 tons. A 300 ton locomotive at the M&O shops was deposited into the transfer pit. 40-ton boxcars were carried hundreds of yards into swamp areas northeast of west Frankfort. So likely over a million pounds of machinery in total was carried through the air in these areas. Also, the tipple was completely stripped bare at Orient. Both tipples were stripped bare at orient 2 and very badly damaged, the primary one had its bracing and anchorage stressed to the very last degree and had the tornado's core been a bit closer, they would have certainly been blown away. Also, note how the cyclone fence appears to be twisted in a vortex shape.


mine.pngscan0013a-bw.pngWest 2.pngWest 3.pngWest 4.pngWest 5.png
 
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Juliett Bravo Kilo said:
So, the article is out now:



Also, I'm convinced it really was a single tornado for most of the path, I don't think it cycled in Missouri, as even though there's a large gap the heading where tornado damage pics backs up is identical to to the path beforehand; I think it just wasn't documented well in this area.
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The tank at the time of the tornado was practically full. And with dual anchor bolt failures, it was calculated that an estimated windspeed of 129 m/s or 289 mph, was required to induce this extreme mode of failure.
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Wow. @HAwkmoon sure as hell wasn't kidding when he said it was an "incredible estimate".

Also can't forget the Gothic Horror Stories rendition of it that made it into the Wikipedia article:
1742356021521.jpeg
 
Juliett Bravo Kilo said:
Most of these are from the mine areas near West Frankfort (Orient and Peabody, I believe):


Several details. The coal mine tipple moved in this area is likely the heaviest object ever moved before the CACTUS-117 rig by El Reno 2011. It weighed several hundreds tons, plus the hundreds of tons of coal it carried. The water tower at orient 2 alone was about 290 tons. A 300 ton locomotive at the M&O shops was deposited into the transfer pit. 40-ton boxcars were carried hundreds of yards into swamp areas northeast of west Frankfort. So likely over a million pounds of machinery in total was carried through the air in these areas. Also, the tipple was completely stripped bare at Orient. Both tipples were stripped bare at orient 2 and very badly damaged, the primary one had its bracing and anchorage stressed to the very last degree and had the tornado's core been a bit closer, they would have certainly been blown away. Also, note how the cyclone fence appears to be twisted in a vortex shape.


View attachment 36716View attachment 36717View attachment 36718View attachment 36719View attachment 36720View attachment 36721
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Again, all of these can be found here:



 
The outbreak from last weekend has got me thinking. Excluded April 27, what tornado outbreaks of this decade so far would yall say have had the most violence/impact? Like in terms of the sheer amount of damage done due to strong/violent tornadoes.
 
AJS said:
The outbreak from last weekend has got me thinking. Excluded April 27, what tornado outbreaks of this decade so far would yall say have had the most violence/impact? Like in terms of the sheer amount of damage done due to strong/violent tornadoes.
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Just in the last decade? 12/10/2021 has got to be at the top primarily because of the Quad State supercell. 4/12-13/2020 and 3/31/2023 probably are the others in the top 4 (with 3/14-16).
 
AJS said:
The outbreak from last weekend has got me thinking. Excluded April 27, what tornado outbreaks of this decade so far would yall say have had the most violence/impact? Like in terms of the sheer amount of damage done due to strong/violent tornadoes.
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It’s also got me thinking which tornadoes of this decade have been the most significant and well known. But I think we all have a general idea of what tornadoes would be on that list lol.

These 15 in my opinion really stand out.

1: Joplin
2: Mayfield
3: Hackleburg-Phil Campbell
4: Tuscaloosa
5: El Reno 2011/2013
6: Moore
7: Greensburg/Smithville tied
8: Parkersburg
9: Rolling Fork
10: Vilonia
11: Bassfield/Soso
12: Rainsville
13: Chickasha/Blanchard
14: Goldsby/Washington
15: Washington

I feel like those tornadoes of the decade have had the most impact in terms of damage, controversy, and overall stats regarding the tornado.
 
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AJS said:
The outbreak from last weekend has got me thinking. Excluded April 27, what tornado outbreaks of this decade so far would yall say have had the most violence/impact? Like in terms of the sheer amount of damage done due to strong/violent tornadoes.
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In the 2020s so far, easily the December 10-11, 2021 outbreak.
 
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AJS said:
It’s also got me thinking which tornadoes of this decade have been the most significant and well known. But I think we all have a general idea of what tornadoes would be on that list lol.

These 15 in my opinion really stand out.

1: Joplin
2: Mayfield
3: Hackleburg-Phil Campbell
4: Tuscaloosa
5: El Reno 2011/2013
6: Moore
7: Greensburg
8: Parkersburg
9: Rolling Fork
10: Vilonia
11: Bassfield/Soso
12: Rainsville
13: Chickasha/Blanchard
14: Goldsby/Washington
15: Washington

I feel like those tornadoes of the decade have had the most impact in terms of damage, controversy, and overall stats regarding the tornado.
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How about Smithville?
 
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Does anybody know why by Dr. fujita toyed with the idea of making the Smithfield Alabama 1977 F5 a F6? I've heard lots about that tornado but not why It was special. Pulled this picture of the location with F5 Damage off the NWS. Smithfield_aerial_01.jpg
 
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  • Like
Reactions: AJS
AJS said:
It’s also got me thinking which tornadoes of this decade have been the most significant and well known. But I think we all have a general idea of what tornadoes would be on that list lol.

These 15 in my opinion really stand out.

1: Joplin
2: Mayfield
3: Hackleburg-Phil Campbell
4: Tuscaloosa
5: El Reno 2011/2013
6: Moore
7: Greensburg/Smithville tied
8: Parkersburg
9: Rolling Fork
10: Vilonia
11: Bassfield/Soso
12: Rainsville
13: Chickasha/Blanchard
14: Goldsby/Washington
15: Washington

I feel like those tornadoes of the decade have had the most impact in terms of damage, controversy, and overall stats regarding the tornado.
Click to expand...
I think Tuscaloosa will always stand at #1 imo atleast for Alabamians. Nothing beats the live view of that beast on WBRC Fox 6 and ABC 33/40. As it was rolling through Tuscaloosa. Joplin would be my #2 and Mayfield my #3.
 
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UncleJuJu98 said:
I think Tuscaloosa will always stand at #1 imo atleast for Alabamians. Nothing beats the live view of that beast on WBRC Fox 6 and ABC 33/40. As it was rolling through Tuscaloosa. Joplin would be my #2 and Mayfield my #3.
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I think Tuscaloosa, Joplin, Mayfield, El Reno 2013, and Hackleburg-Phil Campbell have been the 5 most well known and famous tornadoes of the 21st century so far.
 
UncleJuJu98 said:
Does anybody know why by Dr. fujita toyed with the idea of making the Smithfield Alabama 1977 F5 a F6? I've heard lots about that tornado but not why It was special. Pulled this picture of the location with F5 Damage off the NWS. View attachment 36845
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We don't even know *if* he actually did toy with the idea. It's as likely to be a silly rumor as the truth. Personally, I wonder what he saw in Xenia to initially call it F6.
I will say this though, I think had he seen a tornado damage like Jarrell or Bridge creek, maybe even El Reno '11 in the early 70's, F6 would have been a real thing.
 
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