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

buckeye05 said:
This is not high-end EF4 damage. It's a brick/masonry basement foundation with some white paint or plaster over it that makes it look solid, but it isn't poured concrete. Old masonry foundations like this lack the continuous load that engineers look for in a sturdy foundation. The mortar between the bricks or blocks is a weak point, especially in older farm homes like this where degradation of the mortar has likely occurred over the decades, so any shifting of the house on the foundation can cause the basement stemwalls to crumble and shear off like you see above. I also see a total lack of anchoring mechanisms here, not even nails, so this is probably a slider that may be rated as low as EF3, despite the impressive look at first glance.
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Well perhaps, but structures with non poured concrete sliders have been rated high before.

Of course, times have changed since then, but these two structures rated ef5 from the Phil Campbell tornado aren’t exactly what you would call a sturdy foundation.

The cinder blocks on the second photo are hollow, and I don’t even know what’s up with the right one. Weak looking structures definitely do have the chance of being highly rated.

But like I said earlier, regardless of what we think it’s the NWS surveyors call to make.
 

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The reason I say "aggregate" as high end EF4 is because when you combine the fact that essentially every structure in the direct path was leveled or swept away, the extensive tree debarking, the vehicle damage, wind rowing (which is some of the most impressive I've seen frankly), and other things like the wind turbines, you arrive at something that should be no less than 185-190 mph.

This is also factoring in the DOW measurements, which IMO should be a factor here because they were actually co-located with intense damage this time.
 
andyhb said:
This is also factoring in the DOW measurements, which IMO should be a factor here because they were actually co-located with intense damage this time.
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Despite my opinion on DOW measurements being that they shouldn't count for a rating, I agree that they should at least be considered if they were measured while they impacted structures, since that's a direct correlation with damage being done.
 
I speak my mind in my own way and people throw a fit. This isn't nwschat its a public forum free for anybody to use. What the heck is y'alls problem? I'm not even being strictly offensive to anyone. You all keep saying that ef-ratings don't matter yet you continue to talk about them.
 
Maxis_s said:
This one "only" moved at an average of about 53.3mph. What caused the tornado this cell produced near Des Moines to move so fast?
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My guess would be its proximity to the frontal boundary or it was in an area where it could take advantage of the best parameters to push it to that speed. And the tornado could have only moved at that speed for some of its life and slowed down to a more average speed as it tracked further out
 
tornado examiner said:
I speak my mind in my own way and people throw a fit. This isn't nwschat its a public forum free for anybody to use. What the heck is y'alls problem? I'm not even being strictly offensive to anyone. You all keep saying that ef-ratings don't matter yet you continue to talk about them.
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I think it’s your overall body of work bro…. Not just today
 
After taking a look over every damage photo and drone video I have been able to find of the Greenfield tornado damage, I have to parrot Andy and say this appears to be a 185-190 MPH type event. I do not think this one is going to make the cut for EF5, but it was clearly a very violent tornado, and this is easily the most intense damage we have seen so far this year. Anything less than 185 MPH will be a gross underestimate of this thing's true intensity.
 
buckeye05 said:
After taking a look over every damage photo and drone video I have been able to find of the Greenfield tornado damage, I have to parrot Andy and say this appears to be a 185-190 MPH type event. I do not think this one is going to make the cut for EF5, but it was clearly a very violent tornado, and this is easily the most intense damage we have seen so far this year. Anything less than 185 MPH will be a gross underestimate of this thing's true intensity.
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It makes me curious what did the tornadoes in say Moore and Joplin do that this one didn't?
 
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