IMO more appropriate to put this in the EF scale discussion thread, and the OTDs in the anniversaries thread.
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Significant Tornado Events
- Thread starter locomusic01
- Start date
SilentShadow87
Member
So like I said in the other thread, I decided to do some number crunching on violent tornadoes by day of the week. And I was a bit surprised at what I found. Wednesday might be infamous as the "tornado day" in the Southeast, but overall it's actually only the third most active day of the week for violent tornadoes. Accounting for all violent tornadoes around the world, the day with the most F4/EF4+ tornadoes is Friday, followed by Saturday. Apparently tornadoes really live for the weekend.
Note: I decided to only include violent tornadoes from 1980 to present, since ratings were way more liberal in the past and it was only around the 80s that they started to become more in line with modern standards. Even then, a few of the F4 ratings in the 80s are very questionable, along with a few more recent ones.
Violent tornado totals, 1980-2025:
Monday - 36
Tuesday - 41
Wednesday - 48
Thursday - 32
Friday - 65
Saturday - 50
Sunday - 46
Note: I decided to only include violent tornadoes from 1980 to present, since ratings were way more liberal in the past and it was only around the 80s that they started to become more in line with modern standards. Even then, a few of the F4 ratings in the 80s are very questionable, along with a few more recent ones.
Violent tornado totals, 1980-2025:
Monday - 36
Tuesday - 41
Wednesday - 48
Thursday - 32
Friday - 65
Saturday - 50
Sunday - 46
Lake Martin EF4
Member
Aight so I happened to stumble on this post and out of curiosity I referred to the ol' Google and looked up the event. It led me to this article, which I'm not sure of the validity of it, but the author does appear to have at least done his research. And if it's correct, I think Grazulis was right on at least the "strongest in Colorado history" part.
Prewitt Reservoir--Kelly--LeRoy--St. Petersburg, Colorado tornado of 1947
Article written by Jonah Bailey, a 14 year-old researcher and historian who has dedicated much time and effort into cataloging Colorado’s history of tornadoes. This article, along with all others, is being re-written elsewhere at the moment and may be released on a separate website. The page...
First, a photo of the tornado itself:
Anywho, this was a farmstead owned by Marvin Felzein. Apparently it was a pretty large building judging by the size of the foundation but it didn't matter, the building was still quite literally smashed to splinters.
Photo documentation ends there, but textual evidence (if fully truthful, take it with a grain of salt) fills in a number of gaps. Among the most impressive claims:
- Essentially every single structure on all of the eight (!) farmsteads it directly hit was swept completely away. Apparently photos exist for most if not all of the other farmsteads, although if they do the author didn't put them in the article.
- Judging by the rural location, it is likely that no debris loading was involved in the above sweep-aways.
- At the Heist Farmstead, the owner described everything over 2 feet tall as completely gone, which implies the farmstead was essentially vaporized and also may imply that very little debris was left over.
- Not only was large and possibly heavy farm equipment carried (not thrown, carried) away into the tornado at multiple locations, but there was no documentation stating that any of it was found, possibly implying that the farm equipment was either deposited in inaccessible locations Buttermilk 5/23/08-style or completely destroyed.
In conclusion, I think Grazulis was right calling the 1947 Logan County tornado the strongest in Colorado state history, and it rounds out the 1947 "Terrible Trio" of F5s along with Leedey and Woodward.
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Ivanthetornadoenthusiast
Member
As far as i know, NIST report (Jarrell 1997) mentions that they only inspected six of the homes at Double Creek Estates and those homes (the six homes that were inspected) had no anchor bolts, only nailing
SpotlightForRareTornadoes
Member
Well, then I wonder where IS the anniversary thread? If so, a link would be fantastic!
Ooh this was a hang up of this forum that used to irritate me much more than it should have, being based on an n=2 sample*. I'd always think 'come on guys, there's been four major outbreaks on Palm Sunday. That's one specific (if movable) Sunday' (ofc those weren't all in the SE).
*somehow I don't remember the '98 F5 being mentioned even though it was on a Wednesday
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Central Ohio Wx
Member
Y’all may be interested in this;
AJS
Member
Without a doubt up there with one of the most legendary tornado coverage’s.
I think WPSD’s coverage of the Mayfield tornado is insane as well. They really did an outstanding job and saved many lives that night.
Central Ohio Wx
Member
James Spann's incredible 12-hour+ 4/27/11 coverage is without a doubt the best storm coverage ever. He saved so many lives that day; it's a shame that radar bugged out right as the Tuscaloosa tornado was over town.
- Thread starter
- #12,690
locomusic01
Member
So, I've mentioned that I'm working on my next big article for my blog, but I've had a lot going on that's made the process even slower than usual. I still intend to finish it as soon as I can, but I'd really like to be able to put out something in the meantime. With that in mind, what kinda stuff would you guys be interested in? A few ideas I've been thinking about:
- Broad, high-level overviews of major outbreaks
- Random violent tornadoes that are more obscure/poorly documented
- High-end tornadoes that got overshadowed in larger outbreaks
- Overviews of "tornado towns" like OKC/Moore, St. Louis, Birmingham, etc.
I dunno - I'm not convinced I can do shorter articles without going overboard, but lemme know if y'all have any ideas.
- Broad, high-level overviews of major outbreaks
- Random violent tornadoes that are more obscure/poorly documented
- High-end tornadoes that got overshadowed in larger outbreaks
- Overviews of "tornado towns" like OKC/Moore, St. Louis, Birmingham, etc.
I dunno - I'm not convinced I can do shorter articles without going overboard, but lemme know if y'all have any ideas.
Central Ohio Wx
Member
Hm... third one. I can name at least five incredibly violent tornadoes during the 2011 Super Outbreak that people even in the Wx community haven't heard of. Would be great to see one of those being talked about (Cordova,
)
Central Ohio Wx
Member
Also, do any of y'all know when Tornado Archive is going to update for 2024? I believe around this time last year they added 2023's tracks, but they haven't done it for 2024 yet.
NewFoundWeatherNerd
Member
I think people forget how truly violent the 2013 Moore/Newcastle EF5 really was. Out of the unbelievable 4253 objects considered damaged by the tornado, 4222 were surveyed for an EF-Scale assessment:
-50% were EF0 in rating
Excluding EF0 damage:
-38% were EF1 (825 DIs)
-24% EF2 (502 DIs)
-21% EF3 (462 DIs)
-17% were violent, EF4 DIs (363 DIs)
-0.4% EF5 (9 DIs)
17% of the 14-mile long, 1.05 mile wide surveyed area, was damage of EF4 intensity.
That is an unbelievably vast swath of violent damage, with 363 individual damage indicators of EF4 strength.
I dont think that's truly something we've seen since; sure, the lack of an EF5 rating in now 12 years is downright stupid: but I cannot deny that Moore 2013 really does stand out. Zones had to be made just for people to recognize their streets, it produced some of the worst vegetation damage from an EF5, plus mangled cars to the point of being unrecognizable.
Here are some rare views of the damage I've discovered on YouTube:
Combined with these; here are photos from the aerial survey of this EF5; this is what gave the surveyors the ability to determine many of the EF2-EF4 damage indicators; the (9) EF5 DIs were examined on the ground: these pics are by Dr. Roger Wakimoto
Just LOOK at how violent the core vortex scar is; you can visibly see how consistent, stable, and strong the end-wall, core vortex is.
Such a rare level of strength
-50% were EF0 in rating
Excluding EF0 damage:
-38% were EF1 (825 DIs)
-24% EF2 (502 DIs)
-21% EF3 (462 DIs)
-17% were violent, EF4 DIs (363 DIs)
-0.4% EF5 (9 DIs)
17% of the 14-mile long, 1.05 mile wide surveyed area, was damage of EF4 intensity.
That is an unbelievably vast swath of violent damage, with 363 individual damage indicators of EF4 strength.
I dont think that's truly something we've seen since; sure, the lack of an EF5 rating in now 12 years is downright stupid: but I cannot deny that Moore 2013 really does stand out. Zones had to be made just for people to recognize their streets, it produced some of the worst vegetation damage from an EF5, plus mangled cars to the point of being unrecognizable.
Here are some rare views of the damage I've discovered on YouTube:
Combined with these; here are photos from the aerial survey of this EF5; this is what gave the surveyors the ability to determine many of the EF2-EF4 damage indicators; the (9) EF5 DIs were examined on the ground: these pics are by Dr. Roger Wakimoto
Just LOOK at how violent the core vortex scar is; you can visibly see how consistent, stable, and strong the end-wall, core vortex is.
Such a rare level of strength
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Aaron Rider
Member
All I know is May 31 is a day of infamy in Pennsylvania. Not just the 5/31/85 outbreak but another one in the 90s and, of course, the creme de la creme of disasters, the Johnstown Flood in 1889. I keep my head up on May 31.
- Thread starter
- #12,695
locomusic01
Member
I'm sure I (and probably others) have said it before, but 5/20/13 is basically Bridge Creek if it had remained at peak size and intensity moving through Moore itself. I won't clog things up with a bunch more photos that're probably already here elsewhere in the thread, but it's firmly in the "about as extreme as it gets" category.
As horrific as it was for Moore, it's probably a good thing they'd already gone through 5/3/99 (among other events). I don't even want to imagine what would've happened had it struck a city less prepared for high-end tornadoes - although I suppose we already saw that to some extent with Joplin.
What is your next big project on? Not sure if you have already mentioned it so apologies if its already been said.
Aaron Rider
Member
I'd REALLY love to see an article on the 1944 Appalachian outbreak and perhaps the Frostburg outbreak (forget the date) back in 98. Talk about unusual and strange.
As for random tornadoes, I'd have to think but that's a good idea.
Aaron Rider
Member
It does seen as if there's a collective concept that nothing can be EF5 if it isn't like Moore.
slenker
Member
I fully agree. I've heard a general sentiment that Moore 2013 is a "marginal" EF5, which is simply ridiculous to anyone who has seen the imagery of the most intense damage. It was without a doubt well into the EF5 range - personally, I consider it more violent than Joplin. It definitely has played a role in the fact that the rating is impossible to reach nowadays, we just had a string of extremely violent tornadoes in 2011 and 2013 that were very anomalous to regular years, it seems like.
- Thread starter
- #12,700
locomusic01
Member
No worries, I've made a couple posts about it, but things get buried really quickly in this thread. It's the Ruskin Heights outbreak (May 19-22, 1957):
Significant Tornado Events
On the contrary, here is the tornado as it appeared near Fairdealing, MO. I think they connected the path of this EF3 (now the same tornado) ... 2 days ago?
talkweather.com
Significant Tornado Events
For my fellow Piedmont/Calumet/El Reno EF5 junkies; I have uncovered a source of almost every angle of the Cactus 117 Oil Rig. Here's some of the pictures Ive never seen anyone post before. Just immense levels of destruction; smashed, mangled, and unrecognizable machinery. I also found out this...
talkweather.com
Yeah, I started doing a little work on the Apps outbreak before I decided on 5/31/85 last time; it's pretty high on my list of events I'd like to get to someday. Did the same with Udall-Blackwell this time around, but then I sort of fell down the Ruskin Heights rabbit hole and now here we are lol
Frostburg was 6/2/98 - also notable that it came just two days after 5/31 Pt. II.