Significant Tornado Events

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Some crazy tornado photos that all have one thing in common:
Pilger, NE 6/16/14

Tuscaloosa, AL 4/27/11

Smithville, MS 4/27/11:

Video here

6/24/03 Manchester, SD

There's a similar one of Rainsville floating around out there.
Also, that Pilger one looks fake; I know it isn't but I can see how someone could find it incredulous or a photoshop, because how often would you see two tornadoes right after your neighborhood was struck?

 

[TH2002]

There's a similar one of Rainsville floating around out there.
Also, that Pilger one looks fake; I know it isn't but I can see how someone could find it incredulous or a photoshop, because how often would you see two tornadoes right after your neighborhood was struck?

Haha I was thinking the same thing when I first saw that image, however given that the source was LiveScience I figured the image was genuine. Definitely a once in a lifetime shot.

 

[buckeye05]

Yeah it’s real all right. I remember it was one of the first photos to show up on Twitter after Pilger got hit. It was uploaded minutes after the tornado left town irrc.

 

[buckeye05]

BTW, would any of our forum members in China be able to fill me in on what exactly happened in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, China? I’m trying to figure out if a tornado has been confirmed and rated, and I suspect there was based on the damage photos I’ve seen.

Also, totally off topic, but I drove through Joplin yesterday and I’m really happy to see how they’ve bounced back. There’s still some construction sites along the path, but overall, it’s not that noticeable. The new hospital looks great too.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

BTW, would any of our forum members in China be able to fill me in on what exactly happened in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, China? I’m trying to figure out if a tornado has been confirmed and rated, and I suspect there was based on the damage photos I’ve seen.

Also, totally off topic, but I drove through Joplin yesterday and I’m really happy to see how they’ve bounced back. There’s still some construction sites along the path, but overall, it’s not that noticeable. The new hospital looks great too.

There were widespread 80+ mph straight-line winds across the Province though there might have been a few embedded tornadoes such as in Xinghua. Nothing officially confirmed though yet.

 

[pohnpei]

BTW, would any of our forum members in China be able to fill me in on what exactly happened in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, China? I’m trying to figure out if a tornado has been confirmed and rated, and I suspect there was based on the damage photos I’ve seen.

Also, totally off topic, but I drove through Joplin yesterday and I’m really happy to see how they’ve bounced back. There’s still some construction sites along the path, but overall, it’s not that noticeable. The new hospital looks great too.

The likely tornado in Xinghua twisted transmission tower and threw cars, causing at least one dead but still nothing confirmed yet from Jiangsu Weather Bureau.
And yes, strong gust front brought widespread 70-80+ mph winds to Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province. The maximize winds recorded by weather station was over 107mph and the maximum 10-mins sustained winds was 63mph.

 

[speedbump305]

buckeye what do you think the strongest tornado of the pilger supercell was?

 

[Marshal79344]

buckeye what do you think the strongest tornado of the pilger supercell was?

Either Stanton or the Pilger twin that did not hit the town

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Videos/photographs from the 2013 Brahmanbaria BD tornado. It looks like it was a pretty intense event.

 

[OHWX97]

Here's another video of the 2013 Brahmanbaria tornado. Some of the most violent motion I've ever seen. The last few minutes are particularly intense.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Here's another video of the 2013 Brahmanbaria tornado. Some of the most violent motion I've ever seen. The last few minutes are particularly intense.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this tornado was violent at some point

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet; Reed Timmer's video of the Manchester, SD tornado:



Tim Samaras placed several probes ahead of the tornado's path and one of them scored a direct hit. It recorded a pressure drop of 100 millibars in the span of five seconds, the deepest and fastest pressure drop ever recorded directly by any instrument in a weather event. The gravel was scoured from the road that the probe was placed in by the tornadic winds but when the probe was lifted there was still gravel underneath it.

Record Pressure Drop Recorded with Manchester Tornado - 24 June 2003

 

[pohnpei]

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet; Reed Timmer's video of the Manchester, SD tornado:



Tim Samaras placed several probes ahead of the tornado's path and one of them scored a direct hit. It recorded a pressure drop of 100 millibars in the span of five seconds, the deepest and fastest pressure drop ever recorded directly by any instrument in a weather event. The gravel was scoured from the road that the probe was placed in by the tornadic winds but when the probe was lifted there was still gravel underneath it.

Record Pressure Drop Recorded with Manchester Tornado - 24 June 2003

The time when 100hpa pressure drop was recorded. Tornado quickly shrinked its size before hitting the probe.

There was an article estimated that pressure change at 30m level is about 40% larger than the pressure change near the ground level.
There was F4 damage near this probe. House destroyed, graves soured and cars tossed but trees seems not debarked.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

The time when 100hpa pressure drop was recorded. Tornado quickly shrinked its size before hitting the probe.
View attachment 9396
There was an article estimated that pressure change at 30m level is about 40% larger than the pressure change near the ground level.
There was F4 damage near this probe. House destroyed, graves soured and cars tossed but trees seems not debarked.

I haven't been able to find many damage photos from this tornado, aside from ground spirals and some general destruction to the town.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Interesting bit of history here. The deadliest F1 (and deadliest weak) tornado in history, the 1978 Whippoorwill tornado. 16 fatalities were recorded when the boat it hit was capsized on Lake Pomona. Despite being very narrow and weak, eyewitnesses saw 3 funnels rotating within it, indicating it had a multivortex structure. This event is an important reminder that all tornadoes, even weak ones are deadly and should be taken seriously.

The 1978 Whippoorwill Tornado - NWS Topeka, KS

Weak tornadoes are deadly, too - ustornadoes.com

When we think of deadly tornadoes, it's usually the big violent ones that come to mind. Their weaker counterparts can also inflict significant damage.

www.ustornadoes.com

 

[CheeselandSkies]

I seem to recall Grazulis writing about an event wherein a poorly supported wall was blown in (perhaps at a school?) and caused a building collapse and numerous fatalities. Supposedly it was still in the books as a weak tornado although the evidence strongly suggests it was a straight-line wind event. I want to say it was in New York?

 

[WhirlingWx]

I seem to recall Grazulis writing about an event wherein a poorly supported wall was blown in (perhaps at a school?) and caused a building collapse and numerous fatalities. Supposedly it was still in the books as a weak tornado although the evidence strongly suggests it was a straight-line wind event. I want to say it was in New York?

I believe this is the event you are referring to. Same outbreak as the November 1989 Huntsville F4. Also, I think it was Fujita who made the analysis.

November 1989 tornado outbreak - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I seem to recall Grazulis writing about an event wherein a poorly supported wall was blown in (perhaps at a school?) and caused a building collapse and numerous fatalities. Supposedly it was still in the books as a weak tornado although the evidence strongly suggests it was a straight-line wind event. I want to say it was in New York?

It'd be interesting to figure out the deadliest tornado by ranking. Deadliest F0, F1, F2, etc.
Also, is this the event you're thinking of?

NATION : Tornado Blows Down N.Y. School Wall, Kills 7 Pupils at Cafeteria

A tornado blew in a cafeteria wall at an elementary school today, killing seven children and injuring nearly two dozen others as they ate their lunch, authorities said.

www.latimes.com

 

[zvl5316]

Interesting bit of history here. The deadliest F1 (and deadliest weak) tornado in history, the 1978 Whippoorwill tornado. 16 fatalities were recorded when the boat it hit was capsized on Lake Pomona. Despite being very narrow and weak, eyewitnesses saw 3 funnels rotating within it, indicating it had a multivortex structure. This event is an important reminder that all tornadoes, even weak ones are deadly and should be taken seriously.

The 1978 Whippoorwill Tornado - NWS Topeka, KS

Weak tornadoes are deadly, too - ustornadoes.com

When we think of deadly tornadoes, it's usually the big violent ones that come to mind. Their weaker counterparts can also inflict significant damage.

www.ustornadoes.com

View attachment 9398

This reminded me about the tragedy of Oriental Star in Jianli, China on June 1, 2015. Only 12 person survived within the 454 on the ship. Like the storm hit the unlucky N.Y. elementary school in 1989, it was first offically reported as a tornadic event. Later researches showed that the ship was actually knocked down by an EF1 downburst. There is actually tornadic wind damage nearby but it did not threat the ship.
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11434-016-1005-2.pdf

 

[zvl5316]

It'd be interesting to figure out the deadliest tornado by ranking. Deadliest F0, F1, F2, etc.
Also, is this the event you're thinking of?

NATION : Tornado Blows Down N.Y. School Wall, Kills 7 Pupils at Cafeteria

A tornado blew in a cafeteria wall at an elementary school today, killing seven children and injuring nearly two dozen others as they ate their lunch, authorities said.

www.latimes.com

There is also a mysterious event. On May 19, 2003, a man in Lebanon, Maine was killed after a nasty dust devil lifted the roof of a two-story building.