Severe Weather Threat 5/19-5/22/2024

[Maxis_s]

Oh goodness, as if we needed any more bad news. I fear the total death toll from this storm when it’s revealed.

Oh my god.

 

[vanni9283]

Unbelievable.

That probably means the winds at ground level alone were easily over 200 mph!

 

[joshoctober16]

Oh my god.

oh .... does anyone one know if this is confirmed to be a chaser? if so what one?

 

[Tempestas Tonitrua]

This Met has been posting some damage pictures I hadn’t seen from Greenfield

 

[UK_EF4]

Looking at all the evidence holistically, I reckon this is one of the most violent tornadoes in some time (personally think since Mayfield but of course everyone has a varying opinions on tornado intensity etc) and even a fairly strong EF5 candidate (Whether it receives an EF4/5 is for the most part irrelevant, was clearly violent. I trust the NWS will make an accurate rating given the constraints of the scale and either category could be justified).

Not only was structural damage extremely impressive, with multiple homes (some look to have had anchor bolts on social media) completely obliterated, but contextual damage was extremely impressive and perhaps more so than at first glance:

• Vehicle damage is approaching similar levels to past high end EF4/5 tornadoes, with cars either crumpled or completely stripped to the chassis
• Debris was granulated and quite heavily wind rowed (wind rowing is also maybe more severe than it actually looks given how the debris density of the funnel would have been so large given the number of structures and width of the tornado, likely resulting in the debris just being dumped in the long piles of debris rather than rowed extremely long distances)
• Hardwood trees debarked

But what I find most unbelievable is that all that damage would have been done in an incredibly small time. The tornado itself was moving at 50-60mph ish, and the core was incredibly narrow based on images. The dwell time for the strongest winds must have been just a few seconds. Would be interesting to see some basic calculations on that, probably wouldn't bee too hard to figure it once the width comes in from the survey.

And on top of that, radar recorded winds of 250-290mph pretty much at ground level. Unbelievably strong tornado. Absolutely awful what it did to Greenfield, and really hope it can recover as quickly as possible.

 

[JBishopwx]

Is there a new thread for today's activity, or are we still using this one?

 

[jiharris0220]

Here’s a clearer view of the tornado and according to this chaser was right before it entered the town.

 

[notsoencrypted]

Has there been any news about the truck drivers in that video yesterday? I'm hoping they are not among the fatalities...

Also, CheeselandSkies covered what things look like here pretty well. There are quite a few trees and large limbs down in my suburb. I helped a neighbor a bit with theirs. My trees are fine, thankfully, but we still don't have power, though the neighbor I helped did. Madison schools were canceled today, largely because there were so many roads that were impassable due to trees being down.

 

[keithGA]

It will be interesting to see what the survey determines the width of the tornado was. The funnel itself was rather compact, but the damaging wind field was huge.

 

[Brice W]

Looking at all the evidence holistically, I reckon this is one of the most violent tornadoes in some time (personally think since Mayfield but of course everyone has a varying opinions on tornado intensity etc) and even a fairly strong EF5 candidate (Whether it receives an EF4/5 is for the most part irrelevant, was clearly violent. I trust the NWS will make an accurate rating given the constraints of the scale and either category could be justified).

Not only was structural damage extremely impressive, with multiple homes (some look to have had anchor bolts on social media) completely obliterated, but contextual damage was extremely impressive and perhaps more so than at first glance:

• Vehicle damage is approaching similar levels to past high end EF4/5 tornadoes, with cars either crumpled or completely stripped to the chassis
• Debris was granulated and quite heavily wind rowed (wind rowing is also maybe more severe than it actually looks given how the debris density of the funnel would have been so large given the number of structures and width of the tornado, likely resulting in the debris just being dumped in the long piles of debris rather than rowed extremely long distances)
• Hardwood trees debarked

But what I find most unbelievable is that all that damage would have been done in an incredibly small time. The tornado itself was moving at 50-60mph ish, and the core was incredibly narrow based on images. The dwell time for the strongest winds must have been just a few seconds. Would be interesting to see some basic calculations on that, probably wouldn't bee too hard to figure it once the width comes in from the survey.

And on top of that, radar recorded winds of 250-290mph pretty much at ground level. Unbelievably strong tornado. Absolutely awful what it did to Greenfield, and really hope it can recover as quickly as possible.

The way this tornado looked just screamed violent. This tornado literally was walking (dead man walking) towards Greenfield. Horrifying stuff.

 

[Maxis_s]

Debris was granulated and quite heavily wind rowed (wind rowing is also maybe more severe than it actually looks given how the debris density of the funnel would have been so large given the number of structures and width of the tornado, likely resulting in the debris just being dumped in the long piles of debris rather than rowed extremely long distances)

If you look at where the tornado exited the town in aerial shots, you can still see extreme windrowing for hundreds of yards, but the most shocking part is that nearly all of the debris in this section is tiny fragments of extremely granulated debris. This tornado was seriously incredible.

 

[notsoencrypted]

oh .... does anyone one know if this is confirmed to be a chaser? if so what one?

Since the name hasn't been released, it's not confirmed. The article just says the folks who live there said it was a chaser. I don't doubt that it could be, but we'll have to wait for confirmation, which, if it is a chaser, may take a bit longer for them to get in contact with family/ emergency contacts.

 

[tornado examiner]

It's to be expected but greenfield officially ef3+

 

[jiharris0220]

Ef3 damage of the bat.

 

[Maxis_s]

Ef3 damage of the bat.

Before weenies get mad, just understand that all tornadoes start off as EF3+ before a QRT comes in and rates it any higher.

 

[notsoencrypted]

Is there a new thread for today's activity, or are we still using this one?

I'd personally tend toward making a new thread so this one can discuss damage more clearly?

 

[Brice W]

Ef3 damage of the bat.

Looks like they’re gonna be taking their time with this tornado understandably so.

 

[vanni9283]

Looking at all the evidence holistically, I reckon this is one of the most violent tornadoes in some time (personally think since Mayfield but of course everyone has a varying opinions on tornado intensity etc) and even a fairly strong EF5 candidate (Whether it receives an EF4/5 is for the most part irrelevant, was clearly violent. I trust the NWS will make an accurate rating given the constraints of the scale and either category could be justified).

Not only was structural damage extremely impressive, with multiple homes (some look to have had anchor bolts on social media) completely obliterated, but contextual damage was extremely impressive and perhaps more so than at first glance:

• Vehicle damage is approaching similar levels to past high end EF4/5 tornadoes, with cars either crumpled or completely stripped to the chassis
• Debris was granulated and quite heavily wind rowed (wind rowing is also maybe more severe than it actually looks given how the debris density of the funnel would have been so large given the number of structures and width of the tornado, likely resulting in the debris just being dumped in the long piles of debris rather than rowed extremely long distances)
• Hardwood trees debarked

But what I find most unbelievable is that all that damage would have been done in an incredibly small time. The tornado itself was moving at 50-60mph ish, and the core was incredibly narrow based on images. The dwell time for the strongest winds must have been just a few seconds. Would be interesting to see some basic calculations on that, probably wouldn't bee too hard to figure it once the width comes in from the survey.

And on top of that, radar recorded winds of 250-290mph pretty much at ground level. Unbelievably strong tornado. Absolutely awful what it did to Greenfield, and really hope it can recover as quickly as possible.

250-290 was recorded 144 ft above the ground. But I don't doubt, as I said before, that winds at ground level, easily exceeded 200 mph with the given wind speeds recorded at that height.

 

[Brice W]

The way this tornado was looked just screamed violent. This tornado literally was walking (dead man walking) towards Greenfield. Horrifying stuff.

Read got some incredible drone footage of it doing just this, go to about 0:40 seconds, and that’s when it really kicks in.

 

[UK_EF4]

Since the name hasn't been released, it's not confirmed. The article just says the folks who live there said it was a chaser. I don't doubt that it could be, but we'll have to wait for confirmation, which, if it is a chaser, may take a bit longer for them to get in contact with family/ emergency contacts.

Wow, thanks for letting me know. Just another thing to go on the list of how violent this tornado was.