Significant Tornado Events

[MNTornadoGuy]

Whoops, I missed a group of photos from around the Tiffin area, near the start of the path. These are all from the same property.

A before and after of the family's home:





Two of the family cars destroyed:





Their barn and other assorted wreckage:

Wow, that vehicle damage, those concrete pillars ripped up, and that debris granulation is very impressive. And of course, this tornado only has an F3 rating in the official database. Many of the Palm Sunday outbreak tornadoes are very underrated.

 

[locomusic01]

Pretty impressive video from Palm Sunday in Elkhart County. I've seen it posted on a couple different Youtube accounts but I didn't see it in this thread:



Similarly impressive video from the Rainbow Lake tornado, shot immediately south of Shipshewana:



Not a ton here, but this is from Shelby County, OH (the Swanders-Maplewood F4):



6 Mile Rd in Comstock Park:



Also just noticed I had this one saved but tbh I don't think I've actually watched it yet lol. Doesn't say where it's from; if it's any good I may try to find out:



The Crystal Lake Historical Society has several videos as well:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF6ZhPYz6TCiMpPG_o1vp6g/videos

 

[locomusic01]

Wow, that vehicle damage, those concrete pillars ripped up, and that debris granulation is very impressive. And of course, this tornado only has an F3 rating in the official database. Many of the Palm Sunday outbreak tornadoes are very underrated.

Yeah, it's amazing how many of the Palm Sunday tornadoes were underrated, overshadowed or both. I've really gotta revisit it eventually.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Yeah, it's amazing how many of the Palm Sunday tornadoes were underrated, overshadowed or both. I've really gotta revisit it eventually.

The IA/WI area of the outbreak is pretty overshadowed. There were multiple higher end F3s in WI and one long-tracked F4 in IA.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

The IA/WI area of the outbreak is pretty overshadowed. There were multiple higher end F3s in WI and one long-tracked F4 in IA.

I have a feeling there were a lot more tornadoes on that day in the IA/WI area that weren't recorded as they went through rural or underpopulated areas.

 

[locomusic01]

Bunch of photos from the Swanders-Maplewood, OH F4 - the train cars thrown from the B&O tracks near Swanders:





Damage to a property north of Sidney:







Near the very beginning of the track in Fort Loramie:







Some more damage between Sidney and Maplewood:

 

[locomusic01]

Don't feel like going back through every previous post on it, so I'll just hope I'm not reposting anything. Just looking through my Flint-Beecher folder and a few caught my eye, especially the vehicle damage:

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Don't feel like going back through every previous post on it, so I'll just hope I'm not reposting anything. Just looking through my Flint-Beecher folder and a few caught my eye, especially the vehicle damage:

Way back in the thread Flint was discussed and I posted this YouTube video. The sheer amount of mangled cars is crazy:




My previous post on it:

Significant Tornado Events

Looks like there was a significant tornado in Mongolia yesterday. 30 injuries, including 3 critical. Again showing that China is likely much more active tornado wise than previously though. I would love to hear from some of our posters in China if they have any info about this event!

talkweather.com

Another poster's previous post on it, with more vehicle damage. The car with the engine removed impaled/wrapped around a tree is the standout:

Significant Tornado Events

I’ve said this before, but estimating wind speed based on spiral markings is complete and utter pseudoscience. Unfortunately, Dr. Fujita used this method for some of his ratings, namely Goessel and Xenia. Both of those have undeserved reputations for being remarkably violent because of this. In...

talkweather.com

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

While on the topic of violent Michigan tornadoes I might as well bring up Hudsonville 1956 as somehow it hasn't come up on this thread. This thing was surprisingly well-documented for its time by numerous magazines.

1. The remains of a home where a man and his young son were killed. Vegetation around the bare foundation was scoured from the ground and the fallen tree trunk behind the home was debarked and stripped of branches. Much of the furniture and debris from the home was found more than a quarter mile away. Amazingly, the homeowner’s wife and daughter survived the tornado, though both were critically injured. (Image by Thelma Bakker)




2. Extreme damage to cars near Port Sheldon Street. The mangled car at right originated from a home where four fatalities occurred. (Images by Thelma Bakker)




3. Aerial view of F5 damage to two homes along 40th Avenue. The tornado’s narrow path was made visible by streaks of pronounced wind rowing, an indication of extreme intensity. Similar wind rowing was photographed throughout the tornado’s damage path.



Sources:

1. https://extremeplanet.wordpress.com...est-tornadoes-ever-recorded-pre-1970-part-ii/

2. https://www.flickr.com/photos/50000032@N03/

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Some more Hudsonville photographs. Note the extreme ground scouring and debris granulation from this thing.

Also in the last picture you can see how narrow and defined the core from this thing was, note the obliterated building near the road in the center right of the photo with a granary tower still standing.

 

[buckeye05]

While on the topic of violent Michigan tornadoes I might as well bring up Hudsonville 1956 as somehow it hasn't come up on this thread. This thing was surprisingly well-documented for its time by numerous magazines.

1. The remains of a home where a man and his young son were killed. Vegetation around the bare foundation was scoured from the ground and the fallen tree trunk behind the home was debarked and stripped of branches. Much of the furniture and debris from the home was found more than a quarter mile away. Amazingly, the homeowner’s wife and daughter survived the tornado, though both were critically injured. (Image by Thelma Bakker)

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2. Extreme damage to cars near Port Sheldon Street. The mangled car at right originated from a home where four fatalities occurred. (Images by Thelma Bakker)

View attachment 10373


3. Aerial view of F5 damage to two homes along 40th Avenue. The tornado’s narrow path was made visible by streaks of pronounced wind rowing, an indication of extreme intensity. Similar wind rowing was photographed throughout the tornado’s damage path.
View attachment 10374


Sources:

1. https://extremeplanet.wordpress.com...est-tornadoes-ever-recorded-pre-1970-part-ii/

2. https://www.flickr.com/photos/50000032@N03/

That first pic is still one of the cleanest sweeps I’ve ever seen. Wind-rowing and total obliteration of a structure is one thing, but a total lack of debris pattern at all is something that is rarely seen. Even the tile flooring was apparently gone at that residence.

 

[atrainguy]

I've often wondered why powerful tornadoes used to be a fairly common occurrence here in Michigan, and then they just stopped happening in the 70s. Not that I'm disappointed, of course, it's great not having a Beecher 2.0 or another Palm Sunday Outbreak. Just interesting how violent tornadoes were fairly common around here for a while, and then they basically just stopped happening in the late 70's (I believe the last F4s were in 1977, IIRC). Occasionally an F3/EF3, but even those we haven't seen in 9 years now.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Damage from the 2006 Westminster TX tornado. The wheel axles are from a trailer that was tossed around 530 yards.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Damage from the 2006 Westminster TX tornado. The wheel axles are from a trailer that was tossed around 530 yards.
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Might as well toot my own horn here and link to my previous post on this beast from another long since dead thread:

Which tornado do you think deserved an EF-5 rating?

Tuscaloosa tornado. There was some wicked damage as it was exiting city limits NE into Holt. Between Chastain Manor Apartments and the train trestle over Hurricane Creek, I think it achieved EF-5 strength. Absolutely mangled that train track and the train on it. I think there is a good...

talkweather.com

The ground scouring from this thing was phenomenal, somehow it got slapped with an F3 rating.

 

[TH2002]

More Westminster photos that I find extremely impressive. If this is F3 damage then please shoot me.

Assorted vehicle parts with completely shredded and debarked vegetation.


Well-built house swept completely away. Reminds me of Bridge Creek


Tremendous ground scouring. No grass left and clumps of dirt pulled up.


Clumps of dirt (closer view)

 

[buckeye05]

Damage from the 2006 Westminster TX tornado. The wheel axles are from a trailer that was tossed around 530 yards.
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That stormtrack thread where one of the surveyors elaborates on his rationale for the F3 rating makes me want to pull my hair out. If they were trying to ascertain the lowest feasible wind speed a house could potentially fail at, even if very unlikely, while completely ignoring overwhelming contextual evidence of a violent tornado, they did a great job.

If the goal was to accurately determine the wind speed of a tornado by examining the available evidence (You know, like the actual intended purpose of the scale? Crazy idea I know), then they failed miserably.

 

[buckeye05]

One thing that to be fair, I have not determined regarding Westminster, is if any of the slabbed homes were anchor bolted to their slabs. If not, the contextual damage alone still puts it solidly within the violent category, but if they were, it makes the already absurd rating even more egregious.

Does anybody know? I hesitate to say that this tornado slabbed “well-built” homes because of this.

 

[Shakespeare 2016]

One thing that to be fair, I have not determined regarding Westminster, is if any of the slabbed homes were anchor bolted to their slabs. If not, the contextual damage alone still puts it solidly within the violent category, but if they were, it makes the already absurd rating even more egregious.

Does anybody know? I hesitate to say that this tornado slabbed “well-built” homes because of this.

I wouldn't be shocked considering how violent that tornado was. I say F5 myself because of the overwhelming extreme context. The houses were probably well-built but I am not 100% sure of that. However, fixtures, pipes, and other household items were violently ripped from the foundation and that even moves me toward an F5 rating.

 

[TH2002]

One thing that to be fair, I have not determined regarding Westminster, is if any of the slabbed homes were anchor bolted to their slabs. If not, the contextual damage alone still puts it solidly within the violent category, but if they were, it makes the already absurd rating even more egregious.

Does anybody know? I hesitate to say that this tornado slabbed “well-built” homes because of this.

Only thing I've seen is this video at about the 1:04 mark, but unfortunately the video is too dark to conclusively tell.


With that said, I do believe it's at least fair to say that considering the extreme contextual damage, the tornado was more than capable of causing F5 damage to well-built homes.

 

[buckeye05]

I wouldn't be shocked considering how violent that tornado was. I say F5 myself because of the overwhelming extreme context. The houses were probably well-built but I am not 100% sure of that. However, fixtures, pipes, and other household items were violently ripped from the foundation and that even moves me toward an F5 rating.

I just don’t believe that an F5 or EF5 rating should be given in any situation where there is a lack of anchor bolting, regardless of context. Not saying that’s definitely the case here, but it is possible.

I’d also be careful about putting to much weight on the removal of plumbing features, as I don’t know of any study or case where plumbing damage was used as basis for an F5 or EF5 rating. I do know it was used as anecdotal support in Smithville, but there was already an immense amount of additional evidence that screamed EF5.