Significant Tornado Events

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I work right over by where the Andover, KS tornado came through in 1991.

So you work on base? Or just in the Andover/Wichita area? My dad's an Air Force veteran and he was stationed at McConnell around the time of the tornado, although I'm not sure if he was still on base on April 26, 1991.

 

[Shakespeare2016]

So you work on base? Or just in the Andover/Wichita area? My dad's an Air Force veteran and he was stationed at McConnell around the time of the tornado, although I'm not sure if he was still on base on April 26, 1991.

I work at Papa John's as a delivery driver on Andover Rd. I am just in walking distance where the large church and trailer park was swept away by the Andover tornado.

 

[Shakespeare2016]

I doubt this is a controversial opinion but I think both Dunlap tornadoes, Coldwater, Toledo, and Strongsville were all probably F5 strength. All five completely swept away several well-built structures.

I know 18 F4's and not one of them an F5. At least at minimum 2 or 3 should have been rated F5..

 

[warneagle]

I know 18 F4's and not one of them an F5. At least at minimum 2 or 3 should have been rated F5..

Certainly compared to some of the "F5s" from the 70s and 80s.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

The Hesston/Goessel tornado merge. Really interesting that something like this was caught on tape back then:

 

[Tennie]

Certainly compared to some of the "F5s" from the 70s and 80s.

IIRC, there was one tornado that struck Louisiana in the early 1970s that was rated F5 because it had stripped a fairly large building off its basement walls; indeed, for a time an aerial image of the damage was used as an illustration of F5-level damage in official documentation. However, a closer inspection of the image shows that the basement walls were constructed of cinder block without much (if any) reinforcements visible; if that was seen today it would get at most an (E)F2 rating. However, this is just a recollection; I could have some of the details wrong, but hopefully the general gist is still accurate.

 

[pohnpei]

I notice that just after Bassfield MS tornado did that most insane tree debarking, the tornado strike a place that used to had some buildings based on Google Earth. But I'm not even sure wheather these buildings existed before the tornado hit because there was nothing left in the drone video.

 

[pohnpei]

TVS Hall Of Fame

A good webasite that collected TOP60 strongest Overall TVS and Gate to Gate velocity in recent years. Most of these tornados either were rated EF4-5 or remained in open field for most of its lifespan.

 

[pohnpei]

Ah yes, the Hitchcock County, Nebraska tornado of 1990. Here are some pics of it and the damage:

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This tornado really reminds me of Coleridge NE tornado in 2014. I believe both of them may have F/EF5 potential if they hit a town at its peak.
I believe I saved this from old thread.

some damage form 2014 Coleridge tornado

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

This tornado really reminds me of Coleridge NE tornado in 2014. I believe both of them may have F/EF5 potential if they hit a town at its peak.
I believe I saved this from old thread.
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some damage form 2014 Coleridge tornado
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The ground scouring there is almost Jarrell-like in places. Can't believe this wasn't given an EF5 rating. So many EF4s that should have given an EF5 rating in the past decade, amazing really.

 

[buckeye05]

The ground scouring there is almost Jarrell-like in places. Can't believe this wasn't given an EF5 rating. So many EF4s that should have given an EF5 rating in the past decade, amazing really.

That one was actually rated high-end EF3 due to the fact that it was slow-moving and only hit unanchored homes. It was clearly much stronger than that though.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

That one was actually rated high-end EF3 due to the fact that it was slow-moving and only hit unanchored homes. It was clearly much stronger than that though.

Interesting, so one of the reasons this was rated EF3 WAS for slow movement? Interesting, considering Jarrell wasn't. I know there was a paper that said the majority of Jarrell's COULD have been done by F3 winds if the storm was moving that slow.
Also, is there a consensus as to what exactly allowed Jarrell to do the extreme damage it did?

 

[andyhb]

Interesting, so one of the reasons this was rated EF3 WAS for slow movement? Interesting, considering Jarrell wasn't. I know there was a paper that said the majority of Jarrell's COULD have been done by F3 winds if the storm was moving that slow.
Also, is there a consensus as to what exactly allowed Jarrell to do the extreme damage it did?

My opinion is that it was both the fact that it was slow moving, but also of exceptional intensity. Coleridge visually was a very strong tornado, almost undoubtedly a high end EF4 or EF5 had it struck anything substantial. There are a few videos of the Jarrell tornado at peak intensity, and they all show both extreme horizontal and vertical motions in the tornado. A couple of them remind me of a slow-moving version of the Red Rock tornado on 4/26/91.

There have been other large/strong, slow-moving tornadoes over the years (Bennington, KS on 5/28/13 comes to mind) that did not produce damage anywhere near the level of the Jarrell tornado to vegetation or ground scouring.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

My opinion is that it was both the fact that it was slow moving, but also of exceptional intensity. Coleridge visually was a very strong tornado, almost undoubtedly a high end EF4 or EF5 had it struck anything substantial. There are a few videos of the Jarrell tornado at peak intensity, and they all show both extreme horizontal and vertical motions in the tornado. A couple of them remind me of a slow-moving version of the Red Rock tornado on 4/26/91.

There have been other large/strong, slow-moving tornadoes over the years (Bennington, KS on 5/28/13 comes to mind) that did not produce damage anywhere near the level of the Jarrell tornado to vegetation or ground scouring.

Could the fact that it was moving southeast had something to do with the extremity?

 

[andyhb]

Could the fact that it was moving southeast had something to do with the extremity?

Southwest along the boundary, and yes probably -> highly deviant motion = stronger storm relative helicity than what may have been indicated (which may have been enhanced by the boundary). Extreme instability certainly helped the parent storm have a nuclear-grade updraft. The storm had also been producing tornadoes for awhile prior to arriving in Jarrell, so it definitely modified its local environment as it moved southward.

See this paper from Stephen Corfidi (formerly a lead forecaster at SPC) for more: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfidi/jarrell.htm

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I doubt this is a controversial opinion but I think both Dunlap tornadoes, Coldwater, Toledo, and Strongsville were all probably F5 strength. All five completely swept away several well-built structures.

What's interesting is there's a site (original link went down but I could dig for it through the Internet Archives) were at least 2 (possibly 3) of those tornadoes were explicitly mentioned as having caused F5 damage. The site may have been quoting from some of Fujita's original papers on the event, I'd have to dig for it but could probably find it eventually.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Smithville, MS EF5 damage. Note the Philadelphia-like scouring that occurred outside of down. Very deep trench digging occurred. Also note the scouring of lawn grass in the yards of several homes in town. The first and last pics are of the same house, which sustained the worst damage to a concrete slab foundation I've ever seen as a result of any tornado. Smithville was in my opinion, the most impressive of the 4/27 tornadoes in terms of damage.

Also , I have damage photo collections of every official EF5 since the implementation of the EF scale. Will slowly post them on this thread.

I can't decide between Smithville or Hackleburg when it comes down to which was most impressive. The sheer longevity and duration of EF5 intensity of the Hackleburg tornado is just incredible, but the absolute ferocity of Smithville is hard to beat. I do recall the old thread had a ton of hard to find Hackleburg pics...be nice if someone could find those again.

 

[Equus]

I can dig some out when I have time but for now the excellent aerial site I used to browse is still up https://www.sellersphoto.com/p370159506

 

[buckeye05]

I can't decide between Smithville or Hackleburg when it comes down to which was most impressive. The sheer longevity and duration of EF5 intensity of the Hackleburg tornado is just incredible, but the absolute ferocity of Smithville is hard to beat. I do recall the old thread had a ton of hard to find Hackleburg pics...be nice if someone could find those again.

I have a huge collection of all the most impressive Hackleburg/Phil Campbell pics. Will upload them tonight.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

When it comes to pre-1950 tornadoes, the Leedey, OK event was surprisingly well-documented for its time: