Significant Tornado Events

[Lake Martin EF4]

Lol wut. Even for Wikipedia that is exceptionally bad.
Almost on par with the truck carried 20 miles by the Lawrence County (Forgotten) F5 nonsense.

Yeah, I guess someone accidentally put in the wrong distance measurement for that tornado (the Clinton tornado)

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

For some reason Wikipedia says it got to 2.5 miles (oh Wiki monkeys, you and your penchant for misinformation).

I think that was locomusic that said 2.5.

 

[locomusic01]

I think that was locomusic that said 2.5.

I dunno, it might've been. It depends on how you measure it. It maxed out at 2.4-2.5 miles if you include the swaths of damage that sometimes extend out from the main path via terrain-induced flow channeling. If you don't count that, the main vortex itself may have reached somewhere between 1.75 and 2 miles. I think maybe the 2.25 mile figure that you see sometimes is meant to be something of a middle ground between the two. Personally I think it makes sense to include any part of the visible damage swath that's related to the flow of the tornado itself, although for simplicity I didn't do that with my track map.

 

[tornado examiner]

just five more pages of chatting and the page count will finally match the number of tornadoes during the april 2011 super outbreak of 360

 

[locomusic01]

Lol wut. Even for Wikipedia that is exceptionally bad.
Almost on par with the truck carried 20 miles by the Lawrence County (Forgotten) F5 nonsense.

Speaking of which, there's apparently a similar - and even more ludicrous - urban legend attached to 5/31/85. I've had multiple people tell me slightly different versions of it, but the basic gist is that a small RV was found near Tionesta completely mangled except for part of the frame with an Ohio license plate affixed to it. There was a search for anyone from Ohio who'd come up to the area to camp, but eventually it was discovered that the couple who owned it hadn't been anywhere near there. In fact, the RV had been parked in their driveway when their home was destroyed.

..A home, by the way, that was ostensibly located somewhere in the Kermont Heights/Hubbard/Masury area. For anyone who's curious, that's a little over 60 miles to the southwest of where it was allegedly found. So apparently this RV sprouted a set of wings and a rocket engine somewhere in the process of getting destroyed. I have to admit I'm not totally sure what the DOD is for that.

There was an RV near Tionesta that was thrown a pretty considerable distance and obliterated, and I suppose it could've had Ohio plates, but I'm fairly confident it didn't fly 60 miles.

 

[buckeye05]

Speaking of which, there's apparently a similar - and even more ludicrous - urban legend attached to 5/31/85. I've had multiple people tell me slightly different versions of it, but the basic gist is that a small RV was found near Tionesta completely mangled except for part of the frame with an Ohio license plate affixed to it. There was a search for anyone from Ohio who'd come up to the area to camp, but eventually it was discovered that the couple who owned it hadn't been anywhere near there. In fact, the RV had been parked in their driveway when their home was destroyed.

..A home, by the way, that was ostensibly located somewhere in the Kermont Heights/Hubbard/Masury area. For anyone who's curious, that's a little over 60 miles to the southwest of where it was allegedly found. So apparently this RV sprouted a set of wings and a rocket engine somewhere in the process of getting destroyed. I have to admit I'm not totally sure what the DOD is for that.

There was an RV near Tionesta that was thrown a pretty considerable distance and obliterated, and I suppose it could've had Ohio plates, but I'm fairly confident it didn't fly 60 miles.

Similar thing happened with a car after Vilonia. IRRC, there were reports that a car that originated in Mayflower was found in Vilonia, but it turned out there was a misunderstanding about where the car originated from. Probably a similar situation in Tionesta.

 

[locomusic01]

Some random vehicular destruction from Wichita Falls '79:

 

[buckeye05]

Some random vehicular destruction from Wichita Falls '79:

#1 and #4 are seriously impressive.

 

[locomusic01]

By the way, speaking of vehicular destruction, what the hell happened here?! I was aware of the 3/28/2020 Jonesboro EF3 but I haven't really kept up that well with more recent events, so this flew under my radar.

 

[SouthFLwx]

By the way, speaking of vehicular destruction, what the hell happened here?! I was aware of the 3/28/2020 Jonesboro EF3 but I haven't really kept up that well with more recent events, so this flew under my radar.

The Jonesboro tornado was weird. I remember seeing pictures of structural damage that wasn’t higher than EF2-3, but it completely mangled some vehicles in EF4-5 fashion.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

By the way, speaking of vehicular destruction, what the hell happened here?! I was aware of the 3/28/2020 Jonesboro EF3 but I haven't really kept up that well with more recent events, so this flew under my radar.

That was a UPS truck.

 

[TH2002]

Some random vehicular destruction from Wichita Falls '79:

#1 is the 1973 Union City tornado, not Wichita Falls.

 

[buckeye05]

Regarding Jonesboro, I’d assume that the box-like profile and relatively weak frame of a mail truck would cause it to separate from the chassis a little easier compared to most vehicles.

 

[locomusic01]

That was a UPS truck.

Regarding Jonesboro, I’d assume that the box-like profile and relatively weak frame of a mail truck would cause it to separate from the chassis a little easier compared to most vehicles.

Yeah, that makes sense then. I thought it might've been some kind of commercial vehicle but it's hard to tell exactly what.

 

[locomusic01]

#1 is the 1973 Union City tornado, not Wichita Falls.

Good catch, thanks.

 

[pohnpei]

These violent level vehicle damage of Jonesboro were in the first half of its lifespan when It went through several large parking lots with a host of vehicles which increase the chance of making violent vehicle damage. Visual appearance in this stage showed strong updraft motion amd the tornado probably was one cell structure which also enhance the change of making violent vehicle damage. I can't find any impressive vehicle damage in its mature stage when It was in subdivisions. That vehicle above was a UPS truck which was not that heavy and relatively easy to mangle compared with normal vehicle. There is a case that weak tornado can also do impressive vehicle damage which would be large pieces of debris hit exactly the vehicle like fallen roof or something else.

 

[pohnpei]

So Grazulis made additional opinion about Vilonia. At least It's good to see he think it's EF5 worthy.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

So Grazulis made additional opinion about Vilonia. At least It's good to see he think it's EF5 worthy.

EF4 damage.

No. No. Hell No.

Alright, it's time for Part Three. The tornado reached extreme intensity, well beyond the EF5 range as it began to rip through subdivisions southwest of Vilonia. Although the EF4+ damage contour of the tornado at this stage was not wide, it was very well-defined and extremely dense. Crossing the path of the 2014 Tornado, the tornado struck several homes along Cody Drive, leaving nothing behind but bare slabs from most of them. Two young boys lost their lives here and their parents were seriously injured. The Damage Assessment Toolkit stated that cars were thrown over 100 yards away from these homes. The ground nearby was also scoured. A home just northeast of here was also completely slabbed and wind-rowed a long distance away.

A side view of the homes along Cody Lane. The home where the boys perished is third from top. Notice how all the debris is wind-rowed and tossed far away, indicative of an extremely high-end tornado.

View attachment 12911

An aerial view of the slabbed home just northeast of Cody Lane

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Four homes were destroyed along Rocky Point road before the tornado crossed a highway at maximum strength, slabbing two more homes just north of the highway. A mid-aged woman was killed in one of these homes.

An aerial of the homes just north of the highway. The woman perished in the slabbed home just to the right of the highway.

View attachment 12913

As the tornado bore down on Vilonia, it hit a newly built school, which was set to open that fall. Needless to say, it did not open on schedule. The tornado caused the outer-bearing walls to collapse inwards, causing major structural failure of the building. Tim Marshall said that the only safe place for students would have been inside the hallways. The tornado barely missed some baseball and sports fields northeast of the school, where debris was strewn all over the place.

The destroyed remains of the school northeast of Vilonia.

View attachment 12914

The tornado became extremely catastrophic in strength as it hit downtown Vilonia. On the southern end of Main Street, one of, at least according to Tim Marshall's damage survey of the event, most incredible feats of tornado damage occurred. A tank that weighed 30,000 pounds was thrown "1192 meters," which is equal to about 3,910 feet, before coming to a rest along the tornado centerline. A Dollar General on the south side of street was totally obliterated and nearly pulled off of its foundation completely. The Vilonia Shopping Center took a direct hit and was completely destroyed and structurally compromised. Trees nearby sustained complete debarking.

The Dollar General that was nearly pulled off of its foundation

View attachment 12915

The structurally comprised Vilonia Shopping Center

View attachment 12916

On the northern side of the road, a swath of particularly extreme tornado damage commenced. A car dealership was totally obliterated, and cars that were at the dealership at the time were thrown and strewn across a field northeast of there. Several homes were completely destroyed in this area as well, killing a couple in one of them. A restaurant located in the field was swept away with little trace and hasn't been rebuilt as of today. Major ground scouring and total debarking of all vegetation took place in the EF5 swath at this location.

Little was left of the car dealership after it sustained a direct hit from the tornado

View attachment 12917

Very little was left of the restaurant that was leveled.

View attachment 12918

The sons of the couple killed in downtown Vilonia standing near the destroyed home of their parents.

View attachment 12919

Northeast of here, the home of David Mallory was slabbed. Mr. Mallory was aware that the tornado was coming, as his brother had called him, but the tornado was just too strong. It left a clean foundation behind and tossed Mr. Mallory's prized 1950s Chevy a long distance into a tree, where it lay a useless scrap of iron. Major tree debarking and ground scouring occurred near Mr. Mallory's home as well.

The destroyed remains of Mr. Mallory's home

View attachment 12920

Unfortunately, I am only able to attach 10 files per post, so it looks like we will have to see part four. The damage that will be highlighted in part four will be of extraordinary severity and is among the most violent tornado damage I've ever seen.

It's a real fucking shame @Marshal79344 never got around to posting part four. That damage he's hyping up seems to be absolute EF5 no matter how you look at it.

Tim Marshall has more or less become the next John Robinson. There's no way we're ever seeing any positive change in the EF scale now.

It seems the EF scale failed its mission.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

One of the most forgotten intense tornadoes of the 2000s is the 7/5/2000 Fleming CO F3. This intense tornado was dropped by an isolated supercell and only hit rural areas. A farm was destroyed, trees were debarked, and farm machinery/vehicles were mangled.

 

[pohnpei]

EF4 damage.

No. No. Hell No.

It's a real fucking shame @Marshal79344 never got around to posting part four. That damage he's hyping up seems to be absolute EF5 no matter how you look at it.

Tim Marshall has more or less become the next John Robinson. There's no way we're ever seeing any positive change in the EF scale now.

It seems the EF scale failed its mission.

In my understanding, the damage caused by EF5 winds should automaticly be "EF5 damage". I can't really understand the meaning of "EF5 winds, EF4 damage."