Significant Tornado Events

[locomusic01]

I don't have the specifics handy, but I believe I gathered all of them from archives of the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald.

 

[speedbump305]

I’m gonna do this idea that i had i’m going to list tornadoes that we know have caused the most Intense Ground Scouring of our era of EF5 tornadoes. Let me say, many EF4s do belong on here ( Vilonia and Chapman) let me say i believe both of these were for sure EF5 tornadoes. Vilonia was completely ignored and underrated. but anyway here’s my List

1: Philadelphia: Most intense ground scouring of all time. 2-3 feet trenches with grass and roots being ripped out
2: Jarrell: Scoured Grass very severely with landscapes being reduced to lush mud and fields were scoured up to 18 inches
3: Smithville: The 1 foot trench really stands out. Really similar to Philadelphia
4: Moore 2013: The ground scouring was reminiscent of Jarrell: Slow moving monster that reduced the ground to mud and just lush
5: Bridge Creek: 8 inches of top soil were removed as this tornado moved through grady county.

this is my
top 5 of the most memorable EF5 ground scouring incidents of our 2000/2010 era of EF5s
now does anyone think the 2013 Moore Tornado was stronger than 1999 bridge creek? in my personal opinion, i think 2013 produced probably more intense ground scouring and tree damage. so i’m going with 2013

i’ve still yet to see some ground scouring of Hackleburg alabama. i’ve seen the hillside scouring witch indicates it’s an intense tornado. but i want to see proper scouring.

 

[locomusic01]

By the way, for folks who are interested, there's apparently a digitized version of Significant Tornadoes (the original 1880-1989 version) available on Google Books:

Significant Tornadoes: A chronology of events - Google Play

play.google.com

 

[TH2002]

By the way, for folks who are interested, there's apparently a digitized version of Significant Tornadoes (the original 1880-1989 version) available on Google Books:

Significant Tornadoes: A chronology of events - Google Play

play.google.com

I'd love to get my hands on the print version but copies are hard to come by and are NOT cheap when you do find them. There's one on eBay right now for $105.00 which is WELL out of my price range.

 

[locomusic01]

I'd love to get my hands on the print version but copies are hard to come by and are NOT cheap when you do find them. There's one on eBay right now for $105.00 which is WELL out of my price range.

I had a copy of the Big Green Book (1680-1991) years ago, sold it to help pay medical bills, finally bought another copy a while back for $200.. and then managed to lose it somehow when I moved. Go figure.

Really nice to have a fully searchable digitized version, though. The last I'd heard was that Grazulis still planned on a fall 2021 release for SigTor 2019. Super excited for that but not quite so excited for the $160 (IIRC) price tag.

 

[speedbump305]

I had a copy of the Big Green Book (1680-1991) years ago, sold it to help pay medical bills, finally bought another copy a while back for $200.. and then managed to lose it somehow when I moved. Go figure.

Really nice to have a fully searchable digitized version, though. The last I'd heard was that Grazulis still planned on a fall 2021 release for SigTor 2019. Super excited for that but not quite so excited for the $160 (IIRC) price tag.

Im really excited for what Grazulis has to say about Vilonia, Chapman, Chickasha, and goldsby. i wonder if he will agree that all four deserved EF5 ratings. The price is ridiculous. not really excited as well for that

 

[warneagle]

It seems like most of the damage was done next to a river or something else. thanks for those pics!

Yeah, Kostroma is located on the Volga River.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

I found a collection of Kostroma damage pics a while back, I'll post them once I find it again.

Update: Found them
Source specifically labels these as Kostroma damage pics (Source: КОСТРОМА | История Костромы / Kostroma | History of Kostroma at skyscrapercity.com)

Looks more like F2-F3 damage

 

[Equus]

Haha I don't want to stay how much I paid for my copy... not to mention tracking down the 92-95 update and the F5 booklet. Started setting aside the funds for the update as soon as I heard the update was coming though, super excited for it.

Though he's gone pretty quiet with few updates lately; hope all is still well with the Grazulis family.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Haha I don't want to stay how much I paid for my copy... not to mention tracking down the 92-95 update and the F5 booklet. Started setting aside the funds for the update as soon as I heard the update was coming though, super excited for it.

Though he's gone pretty quiet with few updates lately; hope all is still well with the Grazulis family.

Yeah I sent a email requesting to be given updates on the progress of the new book & when I could purchase a copy, etc. I never heard back, so I really do wonder about him.

The Tornado Project

The Tornado Project is a small company that researches, compiles and makes tornado information available to tornado and severe weather enthusiasts, the public, the meteorological community and emergency management officials in the form of tornado videos, tornado books, and tornado posters.

www.tornadoproject.com

This was the link I sent an email through, fyi.

 

[Equus]

I got an email back about a year ago with further details, then his Twitter has been updated less than a year ago, but other than that it's been pretty quiet. Holding out hope all is well.

 

[Robinson lee]

In the discussion of ancient tornadoes, the medical Lodge tornado of May 7, 1927 seems to be worth mentioning. It is said that tornado is a family of multiple tornadoes with a maximum width of 2 miles, and the tornado hurls heavy agricultural facilities far away. The total leveling of the house resulted in a loss of $1.3 million. The tornado was weakened near Hutchinson, but still destroyed many houses and a factory. This is some of the destruction photos I can find, some from the F5 tornado chronology

 

[buckeye05]

Haha I don't want to stay how much I paid for my copy... not to mention tracking down the 92-95 update and the F5 booklet. Started setting aside the funds for the update as soon as I heard the update was coming though, super excited for it.

Though he's gone pretty quiet with few updates lately; hope all is still well with the Grazulis family.

Wait. The F5 booklet exists and you have it?

 

[Casuarina Head]

Yeah I sent a email requesting to be given updates on the progress of the new book & when I could purchase a copy, etc. I never heard back, so I really do wonder about him.

The Tornado Project

The Tornado Project is a small company that researches, compiles and makes tornado information available to tornado and severe weather enthusiasts, the public, the meteorological community and emergency management officials in the form of tornado videos, tornado books, and tornado posters.

www.tornadoproject.com

This was the link I sent an email through, fyi.

I actually sent an email to Richard Thompson over at the Storm Prediction Center concerning the F5 tornado of 5 May 1960, and he forwarded my email to his colleague Roger Edwards, who in turn explained that Thomas P. Grazulis’ description of the tornado in his NUREG report differed somewhat from the final draft that went into Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991. Nevertheless, Richard Thompson did confirm that he believed Thomas P. Grazulis mentioned one of the 5 May 1960 tornadoes as being possibly among the strongest on record, though he did not recall the exact source. I forwarded both emails to Thomas P. Grazulis, who in turn responded that he completed his reassessment of the 5 May 1960 tornadoes back in 1981 and that he expects one revised volume of Significant Tornadoes, covering 1970–2021, to be released approximately a year from today. His response to me occurred six days ago.

 

[Equus]

Wait. The F5 booklet exists and you have it?

I randomly found a scanned copy on Amazon in 2013; since it's long out of print and haven't seen it available since, it would probably be ok to send a PDF copy

 

[speedbump305]

So i’ve been studying EF5 tornadoes more and more and i am getting very curious. How many EF5s have actually torn anchor bolts out of foundations? how high do y’all think the winds must be to tear them out? my guess would be well over 210 mph

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

I randomly found a scanned copy on Amazon in 2013; since it's long out of print and haven't seen it available since, it would probably be ok to send a PDF copy

You should post it here as many people have been looking for it for years

 

[Equus]

Alright, will put up a scanned copy tonight when I have access to laptop unless told otherwise.

 

[WIL9287]

Tornado Talk has been in communication with Tom Grazulis and his wife Doris, including just as recently as this past Wednesday. He is doing well, but he is extremely busy compiling the book!

 

[Equus]

Teriffic to hear. Just been a little concerned given the tragedies and hardships of the last year.