Significant Tornado Events - Global Edition

[pohnpei]

I'm personally skeptical of the F5 rating for the 1930 Montello tornado. While large stone buildings were severely damaged, the vegetation damage right next to the buildings is not really what you would expect for an F5. Some of the trees aren't even defoliated. Also, I'm not sure if the structural damage is bad enough as usually F5 damage for these types of structures would it being completely leveled. While I do think this tornado deserves an F4 rating I don't think it was an F5.

From what I know, this church had been rated DOD8 which basically fall in the EF5 range on EU's standard.

The level of the damage to this church was similar to Harrisburg tornado 2012 which only been given 170mph low end EF4 rating.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

From what I've seen the strongest candidate for an F5 in Europe is officially rated as an F4, the 1957 Robecco Pavese, Italy tornado. This narrow but violent tornado leveled masonry/stone buildings, trees were debarked, and cars were mangled.

 

[buckeye05]

From what I've seen the strongest candidate for an F5 in Europe is officially rated as an F4, the 1957 Robecco Pavese, Italy tornado. This narrow but violent tornado leveled masonry/stone buildings, trees were debarked, and cars were mangled.

This and the 1970 Venice tornado are the two most interesting tornado events in Italian history imo. Weren’t some heavy masonry homes actually swept away in Robecco Travese, or at least partially so?

Also, what few damage pics from Venice 1970 that I’ve seen are pretty impressive. 21 of the 37 deaths occurred when a boat full of tourists was actually lofted into the air and dropped back into the water.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

This and the 1970 Venice tornado are the two most interesting tornado events in Italian history imo. Weren’t some heavy masonry homes actually swept away in Robecco Travese, or at least partially so?

Also, what few damage pics from Venice 1970 that I’ve seen are pretty impressive. 21 of the 37 deaths occurred when a boat full of tourists was actually lofted into the air and dropped back into the water.

Some damage photos of the Venice tornado:

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

The 2014 Mongolian tornado was probably one of the most violent Asian tornadoes of the 21st century. Vehicles (Honda Civic, Toyota Prado, and a truck) were mangled (one was reduced to an engine block and wheels) and thrown 300 to 500 meters, grass was scoured down to bare soil, a few homes were leveled (some might have been swept away), a 5-cm thick metal water tank that was anchored to cement was blown away, and debris from homes was scattered up to ~2-6 miles. One person was killed and 20 others were injured. Not many photos are available.

 

[buckeye05]

Some damage photos of the Venice tornado:

View attachment 11881
View attachment 11883

Trying to figure out what that last picture shows. Are those a bunch of small houses that were swept away? If so, they appear to have built on wooden beam foundations. That’s some of the worst construction quality I’ve ever seen, if that’s indeed what I’m looking at.

 

[Robinson lee]

2014 年的蒙古龙卷风可能是 21 世纪最猛烈的亚洲龙卷风之一。车辆（Honda Civic、Toyota Prado 和一辆卡车）被撞毁（其中一辆只剩下发动机缸体和车轮）并被抛到 300 到 500 米外，草被冲刷到裸露的土壤中，一些房屋被夷为平地（有些可能已经被夷为平地）被冲走），一个固定在水泥上的 5 厘米厚的金属水箱被吹走，房屋碎片散落至 2-6 英里。1人死亡，20人受伤。没有多少照片可用。

this tornado has always been fascinating. As for the intensity, I feel that in Asia in the 21st century, it may only be inferior to Funing tornado in 2016 and Baochang tornado last year

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Trying to figure out what that last picture shows. Are those a bunch of small houses that were swept away? If so, they appear to have built on wooden beam foundations. That’s some of the worst construction quality I’ve ever seen, if that’s indeed what I’m looking at.

It was a campground so it was likely a bunch of small cabins that were swept away. The F4 damage apparently occurred in this area and it might have been due to cars being thrown over a hundred yards.

 

[gregassagraf]

Here is a great presentation made by geographer Robert Dyer! He noticed some interesting features in satellite photographs made in the 60s and 70s of forest throughout the region encompassed by the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the Provinces of Missiones, Corrientes, Entre Ríos and Buenos Aires in Argentina: various straight line forest clearings, some of which appeared out of nowhere in pictures with less than 1 year in difference. Some of them was as long as 70 km in length and as much as 2 km wide. Another feature noticed is that almost all of them were somewhat in parallel, towards the southeast direction. He than concluded that the only explanation to the phenomena were tornadoes! This is probably the first decent study about this type of event in Brazil.


(the presentation starts at minute 4:00 and ends at minute 9:34)

Also, you can find the presentation in article form in this PDF, which greatly eases the translation! (you can take a screenshot of the page and pass it to google translate which hopefully will give you a better sense of what is being said). The article starts at page 78 and ends at page 94.
PDF

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Photos of vehicular and structural damage from the 2014 Mongolia tornado. While the structures don't seem like they were well-built the contextual damage was high-end.

 

[TH2002]

Not sure if this has been posted before, but some footage of the 2014 Mongolia tornado

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Not sure if this has been posted before, but some footage of the 2014 Mongolia tornado

That was posted in here earlier.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

What was likely the worst tornado outbreak in South America of the post-1950 era, struck Brazil on 8/13/1959. At least ~9 tornadoes touched down, 2 of which were likely violent. Sadly, 90-92 people were killed by tornadoes during this outbreak.

Palmas/Fortaleza - F4:
This violent tornado moved through rural areas north of Palmas and through the farming community of Fazenda Fortaleza. This community was devastated with numerous homes being completely leveled/swept away and some homes reportedly "vanished." Large swaths of forests were mowed down and trees were debarked. A 5.5-ton tractor was thrown 40 meters, and a jacket was found 70 km away. 35 people died in Fazenda Fortaleza.

Rios dos Pardos - F3/F4:
This tornado destroyed the farming community of Rios dos Pardos. Multiple homes/buildings were leveled and swept away. Numerous trees were denuded and debarked. 18 people were killed by this tornado.

Agua Azul - F3:
This intense tornado destroyed most of the community of Agua Azul. A masonry church with thick walls was mostly destroyed with only one exterior wall standing. Several homes were also destroyed and trees were mowed down. Thankfully no-one was killed by this tornado.

Lages - F2+:
This tornado moved through the town of Lages. 50 homes were reportedly destroyed with some being "razed to the ground." A warehouse or factory building was "totally destroyed." 5 people were killed and possibly as many as 100 injured.

Porto União - F?:
Struck the municipalities of Port Uniao and Uniao das Vitorias. No descriptions of the damage or damage photos are known but the fact that 12-14 people were killed suggests that this tornado was likely significant.

Veranópolis - F3+:
This intense tornado moved through mountainous terrain, destroying multiple homes and buildings. Hundreds of trees were snapped/uprooted with some being denuded. 9 people were killed.

Talo - F2?:
15 homes were reportedly completely destroyed and 2 people were killed.

Papanduva - F2+:
Struck the settlement of Floresta and several other small settlements in the Papanduva municipality. Numerous homes were destroyed with some of the homes being completely destroyed. 9 people were killed.

There was another possible tornado in Itapiranga of which nothing is known about it.

 

[andyhb]

Trying to figure out what that last picture shows. Are those a bunch of small houses that were swept away? If so, they appear to have built on wooden beam foundations. That’s some of the worst construction quality I’ve ever seen, if that’s indeed what I’m looking at.

Might be better for earthquakes though?

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Might be better for earthquakes though?

Its a campsite so it probably wasn't built with earthquakes in mind.

 

[gregassagraf]

What was likely the worst tornado outbreak in South America of the post-1950 era, struck Brazil on 8/13/1959. At least ~9 tornadoes touched down, 2 of which were likely violent. Sadly, 90-92 people were killed by tornadoes during this outbreak.

Palmas/Fortaleza - F4:
This violent tornado moved through rural areas north of Palmas and through the farming community of Fazenda Fortaleza. This community was devastated with numerous homes being completely leveled/swept away and some homes reportedly "vanished." Large swaths of forests were mowed down and trees were debarked. A 5.5-ton tractor was thrown 40 meters, and a jacket was found 70 km away. 35 people died in Fazenda Fortaleza.
View attachment 11910

Rios dos Pardos - F3/F4:
This tornado destroyed the farming community of Rios dos Pardos. Multiple homes/buildings were leveled and swept away. Numerous trees were denuded and debarked. 18 people were killed by this tornado.

Agua Azul - F3:
This intense tornado destroyed most of the community of Agua Azul. A masonry church with thick walls was mostly destroyed with only one exterior wall standing. Several homes were also destroyed and trees were mowed down. Thankfully no-one was killed by this tornado.

Lages - F2+:
This tornado moved through the town of Lages. 50 homes were reportedly destroyed with some being "razed to the ground." A warehouse or factory building was "totally destroyed." 5 people were killed and possibly as many as 100 injured.

Porto União - F?:
Struck the municipalities of Port Uniao and Uniao das Vitorias. No descriptions of the damage or damage photos are known but the fact that 12-14 people were killed suggests that this tornado was likely significant.

Veranópolis - F3+:
This intense tornado moved through mountainous terrain, destroying multiple homes and buildings. Hundreds of trees were snapped/uprooted with some being denuded. 9 people were killed.

Talo - F2?:
15 homes were reportedly completely destroyed and 2 people were killed.

Papanduva - F2+:
Struck the settlement of Floresta and several other small settlements in the Papanduva municipality. Numerous homes were destroyed with some of the homes being completely destroyed. 9 people were killed.

There was another possible tornado in Itapiranga of which nothing is known about it.

Also don’t forget the brutal tornado outbreak from april 13/14, 1993 in Buenos Aires province! Modern estimates put a number over 100 tornadoes struck the region in the evening from 13 to 14 of April.
I’ll write a post on this event later, as there are fewer and fewer resources on this event in the internet as time progresses. (I could not find the original satellite image, just this cached thumbnail on google.)

Facebook post about the event from the national weather service of Argentina

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Also don’t forget the brutal tornado outbreak from april 13/14, 1993 in Buenos Aires province! Modern estimates put a number over 100 tornadoes struck the region in the evening from 13 to 14 of April.
I’ll write a post on this event later, as there are fewer and fewer resources on this event in the internet as time progresses. (I could not find the original satellite image, just this cached thumbnail on google.)

Facebook post about the event from the national weather service of Argentina

I'm skeptical of the claim of >100 tornadoes, it appears to have come from a random weather forum and I can't find the primary source. Some sources list the # of tornadoes from that outbreak as low as 19.

 

[pohnpei]

A nighttime tornado hit Wuwei AnHui Province on July 8 2003 killed 16 people acrossed 10 villages. House damage seems very significant but vegatation damage nearby oddly not.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

A nighttime tornado hit Wuwei AnHui Province on July 8 2003 killed 16 people acrossed 10 villages. House damage seems very significant but vegatation damage nearby oddly not.
View attachment 11914View attachment 11915View attachment 11916View attachment 11917

That's something I noticed with some of the cases of masonry building damage. A masonry structure would be leveled or severely damaged while the nearby vegetation damage isn't bad at all. I wonder if it is because of less flying debris compared to areas with wooden structures or just poor construction.

 

[pohnpei]

That's something I noticed with some of the cases of masonry building damage. A masonry structure would be leveled or severely damaged while the nearby vegetation damage isn't bad at all. I wonder if it is because of less flying debris compared to areas with wooden structures or just poor construction.

My best guess here is small pieces of wood torn from wood frame structure cause things like debarking. Stone/heavy brick is hard to accelerate into high speed to debark. Also brick/stone walls of masonry structure can serve us a shelter for vegatations nearby.
Damage features that can be seen from wood frame structures like rowing or granulation also seems much harder on masonry structures. These things make the comparsion of intensity between different areas more difficult.