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Enhanced Fujita Ratings Debate Thread

I wanna have a simulated visual representation of exactly what was going on inside the core of the smithville tornado in real time.
What kind of horrific velocities were happening. Maybe one day we’ll get that.
 
I thought I saw one of it over the river, which was shortly before it drilled into the earth? Here, I have a photo but need more time to find the exact video:
View attachment 43138
This image was taken by a group that was getting into their storm cellar I believe - IIRC this is where it was slabbing the B&B, where it obliterated two semis and embedded them into the ground. It was after it scoured the ground for sure though.
 
This is nuts, to this day. As far as I’m aware Joplin is the only tornado that’s done this to parking lots.
I'm definitely of the opinion that Joplin is more violent than its reputation and have made posts on it before, but there is a bit of an asterisk here IMO. If you look at a larger version of this photo and of the aerial view, you can see it looks like only part of the parking lot was paved over, leaving a thin layer of asphalt with a slightly raised edge. It looks like the wind got under that edge near the marked area here, resulting in most of the new section getting peeled up in big chunks. You can sort of see the progression of how it happened in the aerial view:

VRfPYyU.png


F9tJAEe.jpeg


Also worth noting that Pizza By Stout is a bit south of the core - here's the location in relation to the damage path (probably have to open full size to see it well):

zhJdKiu.jpeg
 
I'm definitely of the opinion that Joplin is more violent than its reputation and have made posts on it before, but there is a bit of an asterisk here IMO. If you look at a larger version of this photo and of the aerial view, you can see it looks like only part of the parking lot was paved over, leaving a thin layer of asphalt with a slightly raised edge. It looks like the wind got under that edge near the marked area here, resulting in most of the new section getting peeled up in big chunks. You can sort of see the progression of how it happened in the aerial view:

VRfPYyU.png


F9tJAEe.jpeg


Also worth noting that Pizza By Stout is a bit south of the core - here's the location in relation to the damage path (probably have to open full size to see it well):

zhJdKiu.jpeg
Did Joplin cause much ground scouring? I haven’t really seen many images of any noticeable ground scouring from Joplin. Absolutely no shortage of extreme debarking, vehicle damage, wind rowing/granulation, and other incredible phenomena.
 
Did Joplin cause much ground scouring? I haven’t really seen many images of any noticeable ground scouring from Joplin. Absolutely no shortage of extreme debarking, vehicle damage, wind rowing/granulation, and other incredible phenomena.
I'm of the opinion that scouring is (at least in part) heavily dependent on soil and grass/ground cover. There was no Bridge Creek-esque scouring or anything in Joplin where every blade of grass is torn out in a huge swath, but there were lots of smaller patches throughout the city, especially on slopes and other more exposed surfaces. I can post more later, but the area around (especially north of) the hospital is a good example:

AB2E6z9.jpeg
 
Interjecting to cover what I believe are the two major things to contextualize a tornado as E/F4+. This is based on my knowledge of past EF4/5s as well as the video evidence we have of other EF4/5s. This isn't a catch all, but I think does justice.

Fujita's original idea of incredible/inconceivable damage is one factor.

Cars being lofted a mile+ (New Wren 2011)
Extreme trenching (Smithville/Philadelphia 2011)
Steel Truss Bridges being lofted and tossed (Tuscaloosa 2011/Moore 2013)
Extreme Windrowing (WKY 2021, Rochelle 2015)

Just as a few examples.

The second is more eyewitness/video evidence based. A lot of upper-echelon tornados get the descriptor of "boiling cloud" applied to them. Where the vertical motion of the wind is such that it looks like a figurative boil is occurring. I find it more commonplace in videos versus horizontal vortices. Some classic and modern videos support this, such as

Andover 1991
Pampa 1995
Moore 1999
Joplin 2011
Tuscaloosa 2011
Marion 2025 as seen above

Fujita's descriptor works better than plain video evidence, but both together tend to make a solid argument for a tornado IMHO.
 
I just write an article involving my thoughts about the meaning of tornado intensity. Not entirely sure where is the best place to put so I leave it here.
 
Interjecting to cover what I believe are the two major things to contextualize a tornado as E/F4+. This is based on my knowledge of past EF4/5s as well as the video evidence we have of other EF4/5s. This isn't a catch all, but I think does justice.

Fujita's original idea of incredible/inconceivable damage is one factor.

Cars being lofted a mile+ (New Wren 2011)
Extreme trenching (Smithville/Philadelphia 2011)
Steel Truss Bridges being lofted and tossed (Tuscaloosa 2011/Moore 2013)
Extreme Windrowing (WKY 2021, Rochelle 2015)

Just as a few examples.

The second is more eyewitness/video evidence based. A lot of upper-echelon tornados get the descriptor of "boiling cloud" applied to them. Where the vertical motion of the wind is such that it looks like a figurative boil is occurring. I find it more commonplace in videos versus horizontal vortices. Some classic and modern videos support this, such as

Andover 1991
Pampa 1995
Moore 1999
Joplin 2011
Tuscaloosa 2011
Marion 2025 as seen above

Fujita's descriptor works better than plain video evidence, but both together tend to make a solid argument for a tornado IMHO.
Ooh, the Tri-State tornado was referred to as a “boiling cloud” and “wall of death” by people who witnessed it! It was likely a Joplin-type tornado, which didn’t look like a tornado and thus people didn’t take shelter.
 
Ooh, the Tri-State tornado was referred to as a “boiling cloud” and “wall of death” by people who witnessed it! It was likely a Joplin-type tornado, which didn’t look like a tornado and thus people didn’t take shelter.
The modern tornado Tri-State is most commonly compared to in terms of physical appearance is Hackleburg. One particular account from Murphysboro was essentially a 100% match for that one Hackleburg photo with a field of red flowers in the foreground and the chonk wedge in the background.
 
I just write an article involving my thoughts about the meaning of tornado intensity. Not entirely sure where is the best place to put so I leave it here.
...? uh ....
1748199272578.png
this is all i see.... cant really check it out....
 
The modern tornado Tri-State is most commonly compared to in terms of physical appearance is Hackleburg. One particular account from Murphysboro was essentially a 100% match for that one Hackleburg photo with a field of red flowers in the foreground and the chonk wedge in the background.
Eh, at least Hackleburg was recognizable as a tornado. Joplin… not so much.
 
I just write an article involving my thoughts about the meaning of tornado intensity. Not entirely sure where is the best place to put so I leave it here.
Fantastic read up so far - I have been finding myself somewhat confused on some of the figures due to the lack of captions underneath the majority of them, but I figured them out for the most part on my own. The major discrepancies between the damage from Mulhall and Bridge Creek are really quite fascinating considering the very similar windspeed measurements between the two of them, and also I didn't even think about the fact that debris-loaded tornadoes may lead to the radar underestimating the true peak winds of tornadoes too. I appreciate you going into some detail about the types of radar as well, helps clear some things up about how they work.
 
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