Significant Tornado Events

[buckeye05]

I personally have never seen anything from Hesston that makes me go “yup, definitely an F5.” I need to see evidence of solid anchoring, and I see a lot of homes swept from their subflooring instead. Also as mentioned above, I can’t tell if it’s ground scouring, or just dead, muddy, post snowmelt, early spring grass in a lot of the Hesston pics.

On the old scale I guess it does technically qualify though. Would it be a 5 by today’s standards? Doubtful.

 

[TH2002]

Does anyone have any photos of the home reportedly swept off its foundation by the 2011 Reading tornado?

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Hard to say since I'm not sure how long each section will be. I'm done with Moshannon, Beaver Falls, Johnstown, Corry, Barrie, Tionesta and a handful of smaller ones. Partly done with Atlantic and Niles-Wheatland. Up to around 13,000 words altogether, but still a lot of work to do. I have a bad habit of vastly underestimating how much I'll be sucked into a project like this and end up making so much more work for myself than I ever anticipated. I'm sure you couldn't tell lol

Have you uncovered any other tornadoes from that day that you think are a bit underrated in terms of publicity or damage?

 

[locomusic01]

Have you uncovered any other tornadoes from that day that you think are a bit underrated in terms of publicity or damage?

I've talked about Beaver Falls a few times and Johnstown, OH I think I mentioned the other day. I'd add Saegertown-Centerville to that list as well. I think there are reasons to wonder whether Atlantic and/or Tionesta might've reached F5 at some point, but I wouldn't say I've seen any clear/unambiguous evidence, and I think both tornadoes are pretty well-known as being among the most violent of the outbreak.

Two tornadoes I've heard some fairly impressive things about are the Alma, ON and Mesopotamia-North Bloomfield, OH F3s. Been tough to find more than a handful of photos from either of them, though, so I haven't really seen anything crazy yet. Same deal with the second Centerville tornado (which was actually closer to Hydetown/Titusville), except I don't think I've got any pictures from that. I've also talked to a couple people who were first responders to the New Waterford, OH F3 and they told me that tornado "swept away" several new-ish homes, but I'm skeptical. I've got a fair number of photos and I haven't seen anything beyond F3. Maybe high-end F3, but that's it so far.

Also the Bastress/Elimsport/Allenwood/Watsontown/whatever you wanna call it tornado is listed as an F4 by both Storm Data and Grazulis but usually as an F3 everywhere else. I'm inclined to agree with F4 - most of the damage doesn't seem to have been that intense, but I think I finally found the area that earned the higher rating. A large home and a town hall sort of building were completely demolished. Not far away, several vehicles (including a few school buses) were thrown considerable distances and badly damaged. I had it as an F3 on my map, but I'm probably gonna upgrade it.

 

[TH2002]

Despite being the only other fatal tornado of May 9, 2016 (next to Katie-Wynnewood) the Connerville OK tornado has been completely forgotten. It's also nearly impossible to find damage photos but I did find one of a mangled truck thrown 250 yards from an obliterated residence where the fatality occurred. I've also heard the tornado caused severe debarking of trees and ground scouring and it more than likely reached EF4 intensity. Would love to see more damage photos from this thing.

 

[TH2002]

Damage photos from Murfreesboro 2009. If you ask me this was definitely stronger than 170MPH EF4, especially considering the low lying vegetation debarking:


Ground scouring?


A swept-clean home bolted to a CMU foundation:


Another home swept off its foundation:


More debarking:

 

[locomusic01]

Haven't had a chance to do anything with them yet, but I came across a bunch of aerial photos of the famous 6/3/1980 Grand Island "Night of the Twisters":

 

[TH2002]

Haven't had a chance to do anything with them yet, but I came across a bunch of aerial photos of the famous 6/3/1980 Grand Island "Night of the Twisters":

Do you plan on writing an article about that outbreak eventually? In the meantime I think you should post one or two you find really impressive.

edit: Duh you posted an Imgur album. As my browser has NoScript I can't see any external sites embedded unless I temporarily turn it off.

 

[TH2002]

I know there's been plenty of Moore discussion in this thread but here are two photos from that tornado I find absolutely incredible.


*note: PTES stands for Plaza Towers Elementary School

I understand this area was initially rated EF5 but downgraded to EF4 some time later due to Tim Marshall's study finding most or all of the homes in the area were nailed rather than bolted to their foundations, but the contextual damage was incredible and it would be foolish to assume the tornado wasn't at EF5 intensity in this area. Aside from the obvious that ENTIRE ROWS of homes have been obliterated and swept away, the nails used to attach the homes to the foundations were reportedly bent towards the center of the tornado, an indication of extreme low level winds. Grass was completely scoured in this area as well and vehicles were completely ripped to pieces.

For comparison here's an area Tim Marshall rated EF5, and while I do agree with the EF5 rating for these homes as they were all well-bolted brick homes, note significantly more debris left near the foundations. That being said, contextual damage in this area was also extreme with plenty of ground scouring evident and more vehicles torn to pieces:

*MMC - Moore Medical Center

 

[TH2002]

On another note, I do have a strong feeling the 3/3/2020 Cookeville tornado likely reached EF5 intensity but haven't been able to find any photos of clear EF5 level damage. Were there any homes bolted to poured concrete foundations swept away, or were all the swept away homes either unachored or built on CMU foundations?

 

[buckeye05]

Fatality confirmed with the Philly suburbs high-end EF2.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Like a few of the other tornadoes that day, it sort of pulsed in size. It was fairly narrow (300-ish yards) at that point, with the most violent damage confined to about 100 yards or so. At a few other points, it was closer to 500-600 yards. The overall intensity at those points was lower, but the worst damage extended more like 200-300+ yards.


It weakened dramatically about a mile and a half from the shore - to the point that you have to look closely to find any damage at all - before very rapidly intensifying, expanding and becoming violent again. Then it started to weaken once more, but that was probably due to the cooler, more stable air near the lake. Hard to say what would've happened without the lake, but it's striking how quickly it reintensified.

Here's a rough outline of the intensity throughout the path:

Perhaps you'll go into more details into this in your completed article but why did so many tornadoes pulse in size that day? Was the environment so volatile due to numerous supercells being in close contact with one another or was there more to it than that?
Also, I'll have to dig for it but there used to be an article floating around where it was suggested that Grand Valley may actually have been two separate tornadoes due to a significant wobble, weakening and narrowing in the middle of the path before widening up again, but my memory could be foggy here. Not sure if you have any thoughts on that? Of course, given how remote and rural most of the terrain it traversed was it would be difficult to prove if it cycled for sure.

 

[locomusic01]

Perhaps you'll go into more details into this in your completed article but why did so many tornadoes pulse in size that day? Was the environment so volatile due to numerous supercells being in close contact with one another or was there more to it than that?
Also, I'll have to dig for it but there used to be an article floating around where it was suggested that Grand Valley may actually have been two separate tornadoes due to a significant wobble, weakening and narrowing in the middle of the path before widening up again, but my memory could be foggy here. Not sure if you have any thoughts on that? Of course, given how remote and rural most of the terrain it traversed was it would be difficult to prove if it cycled for sure.

I dunno, I haven't really thought much about it yet tbh. Tornado paths in general are a lot weirder than the straight-ish uniform lines they're usually represented as, so there may not even be a specific causal mechanism. This is by far the most detail I've ever gone into as far as mapping out paths for an event, so I'm not sure I can put it in proper context.

Re: Grand Valley, there were a couple of pretty dramatic wobbles and some fluctuations in intensity, but I haven't found anything yet to indicate a break. If there were any breaks it'd probably be in the Holland Marsh area (roughly south of Bradford West Gwillimbury), which is where the biggest shift in the path occurred and where the rural terrain makes damage points more sparse:

You might be thinking of the Johnstown, OH F3? It dramatically narrowed and weakened as it crossed Route 13, to the point that reports often mention it "lifting" or "jumping" the highway. But I also talked to a couple of people who said there was some tree damage on both sides of the highway, so for my purposes I'm treating it as a single tornado. Very possible that people just saw the condensation funnel "lifting" while at least a weak circulation still remained on the ground.

 

[buckeye05]

On another note, I do have a strong feeling the 3/3/2020 Cookeville tornado likely reached EF5 intensity but haven't been able to find any photos of clear EF5 level damage. Were there any homes bolted to poured concrete foundations swept away, or were all the swept away homes either unachored or built on CMU foundations?

All foundations in Cookeville were CMU, and the tree and vehicle damage was nowhere near what you’d see in an EF5. High-end EF4 at most.

I do think the wind speed estimate for that one was too low, however.

 

[Oakhurst_Wx]

Damage photos from Murfreesboro 2009. If you ask me this was definitely stronger than 170MPH EF4, especially considering the low lying vegetation debarking:
View attachment 10300

Ground scouring?
View attachment 10301

A swept-clean home bolted to a CMU foundation:
View attachment 10302

Another home swept off its foundation:
View attachment 10303

More debarking:
View attachment 10304

Some aerial photos I have on standby:


EDIT: I had more than 6 planned to upload, but 4 of the 6 were flagged down by the "OOPS WE RAN INTO SOME PROBLEMS" feature

 

[TH2002]

Here's something different (and a little humorous):

My (Subjective) List of The WORST TORNADO DAMAGE SURVEY FAILS OF ALL TIME

Joplin MO 2011 (NIST and ASCE) - At least the official damage survey conducted by NWS Springfield and Tim Marshall was good, and thankfully appropriately assigned an EF5 rating. NIST and ASCE on the other hand can take their 175MPH EF4 rating and go kick rocks.
Westminster TX 2006 (Tim Marshall and NWS Fort Worth) - High end F3 for a tornado that rips dirt clumps out of the ground, obliterates low lying vegetation, sweeps away well-constructed homes and tears vehicles to pieces. Okay.
Barnesville GA 2011 (NWS Peachtree City) - Pretty much the same story as Westminster. Maybe this tornado wasn't quite as violent, but was at least deserving of a high end EF4 rating. Why does it sometimes seem like some NWS offices are so unbelivably hesitant to go above high end EF3?
Smithfield NY 2014 (NWS Binghamton) - There is absolutely NO situation I can EVER think of where a well-bolted three story home swept away should be rated 135MPH EF2. Ever. The current constraints of the EF Scale don't even allow swept away FR12 homes to be rated lower than EF3!
Vilonia AR 2014 (NWS Little Rock) - Enough said.
Jarrell TX 1997 (NIST and ASCE) - Jarrell and F3. It makes so little sense, it's incomprehensible. At least the official damage survey VERY appropriately assigned an F5 rating.
Spencer SD 1998 (NWS Sioux Falls) - Marginal F4 huh? This tornado certainly deserved a high end F4 rating, if not a low end F5 rating. For those who don't know, a two story apartment complex was nearly leveled to the ground killing five people, and numerous homes (some of which were well-bolted to their foundations) were swept away in town.
Louisville MS 2014 (NWS Jackson) - While not the worst lowball on this list, generally speaking, a tornado that sweeps away two very large well constructed brick homes and mows down and completely debarks entire swaths of trees should not be rated 185MPH EF4. I guess a 200MPH EF4 rating would have been more understandable, but they could have easily gone with an EF5 rating.
Capitol MT 2018 (NWS Bismarck) - What this thing did to farm equipment and other vehicles almost defies logic, and quite frankly the 136MPH EF3 rating is an insult.
Chapman KS 2016 (NWS Topeka) - What the tornado did to those railroad tracks was unbelievable, not to mention the well-constructed homes swept away. At least one of the foundations was severely cracked in the process and it seems other homes were left out of the survey entirely.
Bridgton ME 2017 (NWS Caribou) - Trees of up to two feet in diamater were snapped literally inches above the ground and "no significant debarking" kept the rating at high end EF1. What?
Muitos Capões Brazil 2005 - So many Brazilian tornadoes are poorly rated but this one possibly takes the cake as THE worst lowball ever? High end F1/marginal F2 for a tornado that levels masonry homes, debarks large trees and tears vehicles to pieces. I'll let that speak for itself.

Honorable Mentions:
Bakersfield Valley TX 1990 (NWS Midland) and Culbertson NE 1990 (NWS Goodland) - Unfortunately little information is available about these tornadoes, but what is available indicates they were no-brainer F5 candidates. That being said, it's quite possible they were so violent the survey teams had little left to go off of.
Rochelle IL 2015 (NWS Chicago) and Washington IL 2013 (NWS Chicago) - You're free to debate whether these tornadoes were rated appropriately, or were worthy of an EF5 rating.
Bassfield MS 2020 (NWS Jackson) - High end EF4 for this tornado isn't the worst lowball ever, but incredible context makes this tornado an easy EF5 candidate.

 

[pohnpei]

Here's something different (and a little humorous):

My (Subjective) List of The WORST TORNADO DAMAGE SURVEY FAILS OF ALL TIME

Joplin MO 2011 (NIST and ASCE) - At least the official damage survey conducted by NWS Springfield and Tim Marshall was good, and thankfully appropriately assigned an EF5 rating. NIST and ASCE on the other hand can take their 175MPH EF4 rating and go kick rocks.
Westminster TX 2006 (Tim Marshall and NWS Fort Worth) - High end F3 for a tornado that rips dirt clumps out of the ground, obliterates low lying vegetation, sweeps away well-constructed homes and tears vehicles to pieces. Okay.
Barnesville GA 2011 (NWS Peachtree City) - Pretty much the same story as Westminster. Maybe this tornado wasn't quite as violent, but was at least deserving of a high end EF4 rating. Why does it sometimes seem like some NWS offices are so unbelivably hesitant to go above high end EF3?
Smithfield NY 2014 (NWS Binghamton) - There is absolutely NO situation I can EVER think of where a well-bolted three story home swept away should be rated 135MPH EF2. Ever. The current constraints of the EF Scale don't even allow swept away FR12 homes to be rated lower than EF3!
Vilonia AR 2014 (NWS Little Rock) - Enough said.
Jarrell TX 1997 (NIST and ASCE) - Jarrell and F3. It makes so little sense, it's incomprehensible. At least the official damage survey VERY appropriately assigned an F5 rating.
Spencer SD 1998 (NWS Sioux Falls) - Marginal F4 huh? This tornado certainly deserved a high end F4 rating, if not a low end F5 rating. For those who don't know, a two story apartment complex was nearly leveled to the ground killing five people, and numerous homes (some of which were well-bolted to their foundations) were swept away in town.
Louisville MS 2014 (NWS Jackson) - While not the worst lowball on this list, generally speaking, a tornado that sweeps away two very large well constructed brick homes and mows down and completely debarks entire swaths of trees should not be rated 185MPH EF4. I guess a 200MPH EF4 rating would have been more understandable, but they could have easily gone with an EF5 rating.
Capitol MT 2018 (NWS Bismarck) - What this thing did to farm equipment and other vehicles almost defies logic, and quite frankly the 136MPH EF3 rating is an insult.
Chapman KS 2016 (NWS Topeka) - What the tornado did to those railroad tracks was unbelievable, not to mention the well-constructed homes swept away. At least one of the foundations was severely cracked in the process and it seems other homes were left out of the survey entirely.
Bridgton ME 2017 (NWS Caribou) - Trees of up to two feet in diamater were snapped literally inches above the ground and "no significant debarking" kept the rating at high end EF1. What?
Muitos Capões Brazil 2005 - So many Brazilian tornadoes are poorly rated but this one possibly takes the cake as THE worst lowball ever? High end F1/marginal F2 for a tornado that levels masonry homes, debarks large trees and tears vehicles to pieces. I'll let that speak for itself.

Honorable Mentions:
Bakersfield Valley TX 1990 (NWS Midland) and Culbertson NE 1990 (NWS Goodland) - Unfortunately little information is available about these tornadoes, but what is available indicates they were no-brainer F5 candidates. That being said, it's quite possible they were so violent the survey teams had little left to go off of.
Rochelle IL 2015 (NWS Chicago) and Washington IL 2013 (NWS Chicago) - You're free to debate whether these tornadoes were rated appropriately, or were worthy of an EF5 rating.
Bassfield MS 2020 (NWS Jackson) - High end EF4 for this tornado isn't the worst lowball ever, but incredible context makes this tornado an easy EF5 candidate.

Let's not forget Delmont SD tornado May 10 2015...and New Wren MS 2011

 

[TH2002]

Let's not forget Delmont SD tornado May 10 2015...and New Wren MS 2011

Obviously I haven't heard of every tornado ever (especially but not limited to outside the United States) so any addition to the list counts!

 

[buckeye05]

Let's not forget Delmont SD tornado May 10 2015...and New Wren MS 2011

Delmont p***ses me off. Aerial photos show that it scoured grass from the ground. High-end EF2? Not a chance.

 

[TH2002]

Delmont p***ses me off. Aerial photos show that it scoured grass from the ground. High-end EF2? Not a chance.

Looking at the damage photos I have no idea how I missed that thing. Smithfield tier lowballing, if not even worse.