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Severe WX Severe Weather Threat 3/14-3/16

So it looks like at least 2 or 3 violent tornadoes (EF4+), which would be more than any outbreak last year I believe. Wouldn't be surprised seeing EF3 ratings for any or all of them with how conservative the NWS had gotten and @buckeye05's comments.

The damage is especially impressive because of the short lived nature of the tornadoes. They just reached down from the sky, slapped a small neighborhood, then disappeared. Can't believe how many mobile home parks got hit too. Such a strange outbreak. Definitely way different than anything we see on the plains.
 
Absolutely cannot imagine sending a modern-day structural engineering team back in time to the 1880s to inspect damage. I think they'd have an aneurysm trying to compare houses from that time and being unable to locate anchor bolts. Not to mention they would probably revise everything down by 3 levels.
[PDF] Damage Survey of the June 12, 1899 New Richmond, Wisconsin Tornado

Engineers from the NIST and ASCE went back in time and conducted a damage survey of tornado damage in New Richmond, Wisconsin after the tornado of 1899. While officially rated F5, the highest damage found corresponded to a rating of high-end EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with winds of approximately 165 MPH. The structures in the area were poorly built, with no anchor bolts present. The brick hotel that was leveled to its first floor, while it was a candidate for a low-end EF4 rating, engineers found it had been pummeled by debris from other structures, exacerbating the level of destruction. The hardwood trees could have been debarked by wind speeds as low as the EF2 range.

Meteorologist Ted Fujita dissented, but we decided he didn't know what the hell he was talking about.
 
[PDF] Damage Survey of the June 12, 1899 New Richmond, Wisconsin Tornado

Engineers from the NIST and ASCE went back in time and conducted a damage survey of tornado damage in New Richmond, Wisconsin after the tornado of 1899. While officially rated F5, the highest damage found corresponded to a rating of high-end EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with winds of approximately 165 MPH. The structures in the area were poorly built, with no anchor bolts present. The brick hotel that was leveled to its first floor, while it was a candidate for a low-end EF4 rating, engineers found it had been pummeled by debris from other structures, exacerbating the level of destruction. The hardwood trees could have been debarked by wind speeds as low as the EF2 range.

Meteorologist Ted Fujita dissented, but we decided he didn't know what the hell he was talking about.
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So it looks like at least 2 or 3 violent tornadoes (EF4+), which would be more than any outbreak last year I believe. Wouldn't be surprised seeing EF3 ratings for any or all of them with how conservative the NWS had gotten and @buckeye05's comments.

The damage is especially impressive because of the short lived nature of the tornadoes. They just reached down from the sky, slapped a small neighborhood, then disappeared. Can't believe how many mobile home parks got hit too. Such a strange outbreak. Definitely way different than anything we see on the plains.
I feel pretty confident in saying that Bakersfield-Diaz Arkansas will be rated an EF4.
 
I know a lot of folks will call this a Forecasted Convective Amplification Deficiency but I’m thankful for the development of that rain over North Alabama. If not for that I would have had a potentially destructive, long track tornado track right over my house in South Huntsville. I’d guess there were at least 3-4 storms that could have been major tornado producers that either weren’t able to maintain or gain enough strength once they got north of 278.
 
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