Significant Tornado Events

[speedbump305]

I wonder if El Reno was also able to bend anchor bolts and tear some out concrete slabs like some of the april 27 tornadoes, Elie, bassfield, and grandbury

 

[Brice Wood]

I wonder if El Reno was also able to bend anchor bolts and tear some out concrete slabs like some of the april 27 tornadoes, Elie, bassfield, and grandbury

I don’t think this tornado was not being able to do that and it probably did it was literally the strongest tornado of the 2010s

 

[speedbump305]

I don’t think this tornado was not being able to do that and it probably did it was literally the strongest tornado of the 2010s

in my opinion it for sure was

People really don’t realize just how violent the tornado really was, it produced some of the most intense tree debarking, ground scouring, vehicle damage, home damage, and contextual damage i’ve ever seen. i honestly feel like El Reno probably damaged a foundation and even tore anchors out. the granulation from what i’ve seen is on par with smithville and other EF5s from what i’ve seen in the images, of course i could be wrong!

 

[speedbump305]

I noticed that the school damages made by Moore tornado were among one of the strongest ever, much severe than Joplin High School. Both Plaza Towers Elementary School and Briarwood Elementary School were rated 190mph,highest DOD of JHSH DI.
scouring around this area
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Both schools weren’t actually well built too well, Joplin schools were actually built really well i heard, i remember seeing that the moore schools had structural flaws

 

[KoD]

That channel has a lot of very good videos and practically no views. Most are <100. Thanks for sharing, I'm enjoying these.

 

[manofthenaders23]

This link has aerial footage of the Tri-State tornado's path through Murphysboro and De Soto. As you'd expect from footage taken with a 1925 camera from a 1925 plane, it's pretty lacking from a fine detail perspective. But man the scope of the damage is astonishing.This may also be the first instance of tornado damage being documented by aerial film/photography but I'm not sure. Think it also slightly more footage and may be of slightly better quality than what's available on YouTube.
https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/MVTN/id/3249

 

[TH2002]

El Reno 2011 did this to a garage foundation. Not sure if this was from the winds directly or impact with a large object however.

 

[GA Stormchaser]

That channel has a lot of very good videos and practically no views. Most are QUOTE]

That is a great find. Just watched the video showing the correlation of excessive rainfall in the days proceeding big tornado outbreaks and the orientation of the jet stream. Fascinating stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[locomusic01]

This link has aerial footage of the Tri-State tornado's path through Murphysboro and De Soto. As you'd expect from footage taken with a 1925 camera from a 1925 plane, it's pretty lacking from a fine detail perspective. But man the scope of the damage is astonishing.This may also be the first instance of tornado damage being documented by aerial film/photography but I'm not sure. Think it also slightly more footage and may be of slightly better quality than what's available on YouTube.
https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/MVTN/id/3249

There's a (relatively) high-quality version of the aerial video that's been image-stabilized that really brings out a lot more detail. Unfortunately, the website that had it disappeared years ago and I haven't been able to find it anywhere else since. Wish I'd had a way to download it back then.

It does reinforce the scale of the disaster, though. We're sort of accustomed to seeing a few miles' worth of total destruction, but not mile after mile after mile. And then you realize even the aerial footage only covers a small portion of the total path, and the intensity of the damage was seemingly almost constant from start to finish. It's hard to wrap your head around.

 

[buckeye05]

I think it's largely meaningless to compare these data. For example, it seems that Hackleburg maintained more than 20 miles EF5 intensity and Moore OK 2013 had only 9 EF5 rating places and Bridge Creek Ok 1999 had only 17 EF5 rating places which was quite fragmentary compared to its entire path.
But the rating criterion among different NWS on different tornado event was so SO different.
There was hugh mount of DI like MHSW, Softwood trees, hardwood trees, vehicle had been rated EF5 along Hackleburg's path. These pictures below were very small part of it and we know that no way softwood tree damage can be rated EF5 under any circumstance(let alone the pics they showed was not completely debarked). In contrast, despite of tons and tons of extreme tree damage of Moore OK tornado, there was only one place had been rated EF4 tree damage by NWS Norman.
Someone in reddit recently also found this survey questionable in other aspect:


These questionable rating mainly occurred in NWS Huntsville section but also in NWS Brimingham
NWS Brimingham mentioned the reason of EF5 rating in there section:

Hackleburg Tornado - April 27, 2011

Actually this "well built house" mentioned here was questioned by Tim Marshall. It seems that it was in fact not well built. Also vehicle tossed 150-200 yards as an EF5 indicator was very liberal compared to rating nowadays.

As these questionable rating above, Hackleburg was still the strongest tornado in the history to me and it maintained high intensity for increible long time. Just wnat to say it have to consider more when comparing these data between different tornados.
And I honestly don't think Tri State tornado maintained EF5 strength for like 100 miles or so. But it also depends on your definition about "EF5 strength". If say EF5 rating for 100 miles continuously, no way any tornado can do this under rating criterion nowadays.
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This post right here addresses an uncomfortable truth. The surveyors simply went way overboard with the EF5 markers along the path of this tornado. A vast majority of the structures that this tornado hit were NOT well-built and in any other event, would not be rated as highly. I got criticized for putting Hackleburg-Phil Campbell pretty low on my list of most violent tornadoes, but this post shows exactly where I'm coming from. Further personal research from my end found only ONE well anchored slabbed home in Hackleburg, ZERO well-anchored homes in Phil Campbell, one or two well-anchored homes in Oak Grove, and one well-anchored restaurant in Mount Hope. Otherwise, this tornado hit structures of sub-par construction. The reputation that Hackleburg-Phil Campbell has is not consistent with much of the damage it produced. Now with that said, there is no doubt this was an EF5, and the damage in the Oak Grove and Mount Hope areas was pretty remarkable, but if we're being honest here, it doesn't quite compare to the insane feats of damage produced by other tornadoes discussed on this thread.

 

[buckeye05]

El Reno 2011 did this to a garage foundation. Not sure if this was from the winds directly or impact with a large object however.
View attachment 8280

I’d say this is almost certainly a result of debris impact, given the lack of impressive contextual damage surrounding the slab.

 

[Equus]

I've never really seen the Hackleburg tornado as exceptional among the EF5s, but the most impressive thing to me is the sheer length of time it maintained EF4 intensity - or at least the capability thereof - with EF5 pockets. The longevity of violent damage, exceptional path length (132 miles) and death toll (72, deadliest in state history, and an apparently very severe above ground survival ratio) are probably more impressive than the relatively standard EF5 damage it caused; both Mississippi EF5s were likely more intense.

 

[speedbump305]

I've never really seen the Hackleburg tornado as exceptional among the EF5s, but the most impressive thing to me is the sheer length of time it maintained EF4 intensity - or at least the capability thereof - with EF5 pockets. The longevity of violent damage, exceptional path length (132 miles) and death toll (72, deadliest in state history, and an apparently very severe above ground survival ratio) are probably more impressive than the relatively standard EF5 damage it caused; both Mississippi EF5s were likely more intense.

Idk about that man, hackleburg produced very extreme damage as well

 

[speedbump305]

Idk about that man, hackleburg produced very extreme damage as well

Stem walling being sheared, torn concrete, concrete storm shelter, the damage in Oak Grove

 

[buckeye05]

Stem walling being sheared, torn concrete, concrete storm shelter, the damage in Oak Grove

Like I said, it was clearly an EF5 and the rating was well-deserved, but in terms of actual structural damage, it only hit a handful of true EF5 eligible structures, and that is a fact. Even the lead damage surveyor would tell you that, and he made a post confirming this on the old forum.

Like Equus said, it was more of the scope of the devastation, rather than the intensity that made this event so remarkable. Also yes, the Oak Grove damage and unearthing of the storm shelter pretty crazy and classic EF5, any way you slice it.

BUT, the other things you mentioned have elements of questionability, especially the stem walls. They were clearly lacking any type of internal reinforcement, and it is entirely possible that the shifting of the house caused them to crumble, rather than the wind. There is also distinct possibility that the broken concrete slab in Hackleburg was a result of a debris impact, much like the one posted earlier from El Reno 2011. In all, I stand by my previous post.

 

[speedbump305]

Like I said, it was clearly an EF5 and the rating was well-deserved, but in terms of actual structural damage, it only hit a handful of true EF5 eligible structures, and that is a fact. Even the lead damage surveyor would tell you that, and he made a post confirming this on the old forum.

Like Equus said, it was more of the scope of the devastation, rather than the intensity that made this event so remarkable. Also yes, the Oak Grove damage and unearthing of the storm shelter pretty crazy and classic EF5, any way you slice it.

BUT, the other things you mentioned have elements of questionability, especially the stem walls. They were clearly lacking any type of internal reinforcement, and it is entirely possible that the shifting of the house caused them to crumble, rather than the wind. There is also distinct possibility that the broken concrete slab in Hackleburg was a result of a debris impact, much like the one posted earlier from El Reno 2011. In all, I stand by my previous post.

probably, i still think it’s well deserved an EF5 rating but you have some point

 

[TH2002]

Regarding Hackleburg-Phil Campbell, this is the only photo I can find of the "exceptionally" well-anchored house obliterated in Oak Grove. Does anyone have any close-up pictures of the remains of this home?


Here's another photo from a PDF called "Extreme Damage Instances in the 4/27/11 Super Outbreak" or something like that. Not sure what to make of this one.

 

[TH2002]

Like I said, it was clearly an EF5 and the rating was well-deserved, but in terms of actual structural damage, it only hit a handful of true EF5 eligible structures, and that is a fact. Even the lead damage surveyor would tell you that, and he made a post confirming this on the old forum.

Like Equus said, it was more of the scope of the devastation, rather than the intensity that made this event so remarkable. Also yes, the Oak Grove damage and unearthing of the storm shelter pretty crazy and classic EF5, any way you slice it.

BUT, the other things you mentioned have elements of questionability, especially the stem walls. They were clearly lacking any type of internal reinforcement, and it is entirely possible that the shifting of the house caused them to crumble, rather than the wind. There is also distinct possibility that the broken concrete slab in Hackleburg was a result of a debris impact, much like the one posted earlier from El Reno 2011. In all, I stand by my previous post.

In terms of damage severity, would you say Joplin was more violent than Hackleburg?

 

[buckeye05]

probably, i still think it’s well deserved an EF5 rating but you have some point

Again, I’m not calling Hackleburg’s rating into question, just the amount of damage points that actually met the EF5 criteria.

 

[buckeye05]

In terms of damage severity, would you say Joplin was more violent than Hackleburg?

That’s a real apples to oranges comparison, considering one spent its whole life in rural areas, and the other struck only heavily populated areas. If I had to guess, I’d say they were about equal intensity wise.