Enhanced Fujita Ratings Debate Thread

[dkspencer]

I was under the impression that Dayton 2019 inflicted EF4 damage to some sort of an apartment-style building?

Yes. The damage at the River's Edge apartments along the Stillwater River was what got it the EF4 rating, as well as nearby tree damage IIRC.

 

[OH-IOan]

The tornado near Greensburg now has an EF3 DI, meaning this supercell produced at least three EF3+ tornadoes.

 

[N0mz]

Are these "ef3s" pending the engineering team? Or relatively set in stone

 

[OH-IOan]

Are these "ef3s" pending the engineering team? Or relatively set in stone

I believe the Plevna one is set in stone, but the other two still have "at least" listed next to wind speeds in the damage line summaries. No idea whether they're potentially being upgraded or not.

 

[AJS]

To be honest, I still can’t get over how utterly insane that vegetation/ground scouring was from the Grinnell, KS tornado. Legitimately no word of a lie some of the most intense i’ve ever seen.

 

[tornado examiner]

And there it is, a fourth EF3 from that cell.

 

[OH-IOan]

And there it is, a fourth EF3 from that cell.

And there's another new tornado DI right below that! This supercell was no doubt violent. Can we go for five EF3s in one cell?

Edit: Wow. New EF3 DI.

 

[UK_EF4]

I was under the impression that Dayton 2019 inflicted EF4 damage to some sort of an apartment-style building?

I believe you are right - the NWS statement says the apartment damage combined with the tree devastation were the reason for the upgrade



However, the damage from the apartments is really significantly below what you would otherwise expect for an EF4 rating - even if they were very well constructed.




This makes me think the tree damage played a significant role in the rating - though you are correct that it was based on the apartments too. I think (hope I'm not misremembering) @buckeye05 saw some of this damage in person so maybe can provide more insight.

 

[tornado examiner]

So many EF3’s…not a single EF4 yet. Welcome to the plains.

 

[OH-IOan]

So many EF3’s…not a single EF4 yet. Welcome to the plains.

When did the cell first start producing or have a tornadic presentation on radar? I'm curious how many EF3s they're going to survey.

 

[AJS]

So many EF3’s…not a single EF4 yet. Welcome to the plains.

Has Grinnell been finalized? If so, that may join my list as one of the worst surveys i’ve seen this year.

 

[N0mz]

To be honest, I still can’t get over how utterly insane that vegetation/ground scouring was from the Grinnell, KS tornado. Legitimately no word of a lie some of the most intense i’ve ever seen.

Greensburg/Plevna had some pretty wicked ground scouring as well (nick smego on twitter)

 

[AJS]

Greensburg/Plevna had some pretty wicked ground scouring as well (nick smego on twitter)
View attachment 43008View attachment 43009

Jesus christ…

 

[N0mz]

When did the cell first start producing or have a tornadic presentation on radar? I'm curious how many EF3s they're going to survey.

I think the spot they have the first DI at is pretty good

 

[N0mz]

Jesus christ…

On hard Kansas dirt as well

 

[AJS]

How many intense/violent tornadoes were actually spawned by that cell? From what I saw, I think there were 3.

 

[OH-IOan]

Has Grinnell been finalized? If so, that may join my list as one of the worst surveys i’ve seen this year.

No, they're still updating and "refining" it, although chances are there won't be an upgrade.

 

[OH-IOan]

How many intense/violent tornadoes were actually spawned by that cell? From what I saw, I think there were 3.

5+ EF3s.

 

[AJS]

No, they're still updating and "refining" it, although chances are there won't be an upgrade.

Like @buckeye05 said, there’s simply too much evidence to settle for a mid range EF3. There were very obvious violent damage contextuals.

 

[N0mz]

How many intense/violent tornadoes were actually spawned by that cell? From what I saw, I think there were 3.

DAT has four doesnt it? Greensburg-Brenham, Brenham-Haviland, Cullison-Iuka, and Iuka-Plevna