Significant Tornado Events - Global Edition

[Ivanthetornadoenthusiast]

Additional Damage photos from Mobara, Japan 1990:

 

[wdotornadoes]

On May 20th, 2022, a notable cyclic supercell took place in western Germany, producing several strong tornadoes.

1st Tornado
The first tornado from this supercell touched down near the villages of Eickelborn and Benninghausen, where roofs were destroyed and dozens of trees were downed. The tornado grew quickly and reached its peak intensity and width over rural areas between Benninghausen and Lippstadt, where it mowed down trees, demolished the tower of a church and destroyed agricultural buildings:



The tornado then directly impacted the city of Lippstadt (70.000 inhabitants), where hundreds of trees and buildings were damaged:



2nd Tornado

The tornado dissipated east of Lippstadt, while the supercell was already forming a new, even stronger rotation, which shortly afterwards produced another strong tornado west of Paderborn (population 148,000). This tornado moved across the entire city, including the downtown area, causing damage to thousands of trees and hundreds of buildings:


© by www.tornadomap.org

The damage amounted to at least 150 million euros ($160 million). This made it the second costliest tornado in the world in 2022, surpassed only by the Winterset, Iowa tornado. In the west of the city (@the “Riemekeviertel”), the upper floor of an apartment building was ripped off. A spectacular video shows the moment the tornado caused this damage:



Strong damage was also caused in an industrial area in northeastern Paderborn:



The tornado then weakened but continued for several kilometers before dissipating. At least 47 people were injured, some seriously. People were hit without any warning although the cell being clearly tornadic on radar. Videos show that many people were outside while the tornado hit, especially in the directly affected city center.

3rd & 4th Tornado

The supercell cycled and produced at least one moderate tornado in the Höxter area before again cycling and putting down another significant tornado over the “Solling” low mountain ranges, where large swaths of trees were flattened (up to 750 m / 820 yrds wide):



This Tornado also directly impacted the small villages of Merxhausen and Mackensen, destroying roofs:




1st cycle (east of Lippstadt) on Radar:


GFS sounding (19 May 2022 06z) and ESTOFEX forecast (issued 20 May 2022):



There were numerous other supercells that day, some of which brought large hail and additional tornadoes.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

On July 23, 2003, a severe F3 tornado between Alcañiz and Valdeagorfa , Spain, produced intense damage and ground scouring.


Personally, I believe that this supercell was classic, a textbook classic supercell.





Finally, I attach photos of the radar and damage.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

Another violent supercell occurred in Spain on June 1, 1999. In the province of Soria, a very clear SP at radar level had thrown huge hail, some of which were even 16 cm in size.

Some time later, it hit a low populated rural area, uprooting more than 400,000 healthy trees between Navaleno and San Leonardo de Yagüe. Meteorologists suggested that this tornado could have reached severe winds.

In fact, one of the meteorologists in charge of analyzing the tornado, Miquel Gaya, said the following: "if any group of hikers had been in the mountains during the event, they would have been seriously injured or killed, it was a major twister".
The estimated speed of this tornado was between 280 and 310km/h, at some moments it could have reached speeds in excess of 330km/h, close to EF-4 rating today.

Radar view of the supercell.





Few photos of the significant tornado damage.

 

[Ivanthetornadoenthusiast]

While on the topic of Nigerian tornadoes, on May 13 of this year a potentially violent tornado struck the towns of Maiduna and Mangor. Masonry homes were leveled and potato fields were scoured to bare soil.

The photos won't load

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

On October 2, 2013, between Palencia and Burgos, Spain, a long tracked supercell produced multiples reports of damaging winds and severe hail.
This supercell produced two tornadoes, the first one was a really big wedge, the second one was smaller. Both tornadoes affected only rural areas and were unqualified.



This was the tornadic supercell.

The first tornado, It was a huge wedge in open fields.

Second tornado, much smaller than the first one.


To conclude, the same storm at night.

 

[TH2002]

On October 2, 2013, between Palencia and Burgos, Spain, a long tracked supercell produced multiples reports of damaging winds and severe hail.
This supercell produced two tornadoes, the first one was a really big wedge, the second one was smaller. Both tornadoes affected only rural areas and were unqualified.
View attachment 21889
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This was the tornadic supercell.
View attachment 21892
The first tornado, It was a huge wedge in open fields.
View attachment 21893
Second tornado, much smaller than the first one.
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To conclude, the same storm at night.

This is particularly interesting. Tornadoes aren't horrifically uncommon in Spain but large wedges like this are something you rarely see outside of the US, South America's 'tornado corridor' and a few parts of Europe (Poland, Germany and certain parts of Italy). Great post.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

This is particularly interesting. Tornadoes aren't horrifically uncommon in Spain but large wedges like this are something you rarely see outside of the US, South America's 'tornado corridor' and a few parts of Europe (Poland, Germany and certain parts of Italy). Great post.

In fact, the east and northeast of Spain is a good place for the development of organized storms and tornadoes, Teruel, Catalonia, Zaragoza, the Balearic Islands, etc...
But being some areas quite unpopulated, therefore, there is no one around to witness these events and often go unnoticed.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

Another powerful tornado took place in Seville on December 27, 1978. This funnel went straight through the airport, tore the roof off 3 of the 6 terminals, threw entire rows of cars into the parking lot, nearby electrical towers were absolutely twisted and even knocked down, It generated a series of significant damages, and crossed the airport during peak flight times, but there were no fatalities.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

On September 27, 1986, a severe wedge tornado up to 1 kilometer wide crossed the town of Ojos Negros, in Teruel. One of the workers who were in a mine was thrown 50 meters away, the outer walls of some buildings collapsed and twisted metal towers into an "s" shape.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

On May 12, 1885, a severe category F3 tornado moved 40 kilometers through the interior of Spain, affecting its capital, Madrid.
There, it produced the most intense damage, knocked down the outer walls of houses, tore off roofs completely, crushed thousands of trees, threw carriages and killed 47 people.




These are the only real photos that exist, the first, an institutional building with a very resistant structure, the second, one of the many cloud to ground lighting produced by the supercell.


Recreations of what the damage would have looked like in person.

 

[TH2002]

One notable tornado event to occur in Colombia is the 2012 Sabanalarga tornado. According to various sources, this tornado left one person dead, an unknown number of injuries, and 5000 others homeless. I couldn't find any published rating information but it looks to have caused F2 damage.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

On May 24, 2010 a severe weather and tornado outbreak took place in eastern Germany. Although a linear organization mode was initially expected within the low cape high shear environment, several isolated supercells formed over Germany, one of which was extremely well organized and caused downburst and tornado damage along a path at least 100 kilometers long.

View attachment 21428
(c) eswd.eu

The supercell showed a very large hook echo on radar, including a vortex hole at times.

View attachment 21429

The most notable tornado was a very wide, rain wrapped F3, that hit areas around the city of Großenhain. First, the villages of Colmnitz and Bauda were hit, leaving large parts of the communities damaged.

View attachment 21430

Almost every building in the following village of Kleinthiemig was damaged or destroyed. Including a severely damaged forest area. Due to it being a national holiday, a lot of people were enjoying the nice weather in their gardens when the tornado hit. Some people got lifted into the air and were thrown or hit by debris, leaving many injured.

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The tornado then hit the northern parts of Großenhain. A video captured in an apartment building shows a dense and huge wall of rain hiding the tornado.

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The same apartment building was heavily damaged by the tornado shortly thereafter. Big parts of the concrete roof were thrown.
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In the northern part of the city, a large factory building was damaged, parts of the industrial chimney broken off and huge masonry walls destroyed. A construction crane collapsed, roofs were destroyed, and tiles thrown into thick brick walls. Sadly, a young girl was killed.
View attachment 21435

It is one of only few fatal tornadoes in recent German history. People were struck without any warning although the cell being visibly tornadic on radar.

The Butzow tornado was a very large wedge wrapped in rain and very difficult to see.
One of the few videos where the tornado can be seen clearly is taken from a river, and the appearance is really scary.
Easily one of the best german tornadoes caught on video.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

On August 29, 2020, a severe HP supercell significantly damaged several localities in the north of the island of Mallorca.

An unusually long-lived supercell (8 hours of life), produced hail of a size ranging between 6 and 9 centimeters, a downburst that produced gusts of wind that ranged between 170 and 195 km/h and several tornadoes, the most intense was a wedge with a diameter greater than 1 km that generated medium and high-end EF-2 damage.

As it was an HP supercell, the cascade of precipitation and hail wrapped the tornadoes, making them invisible and dangerous.






The supercell structure.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

Now I am going to attach the few photos that show the tornado and the storm's rotation area.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

Here are some of the various EF-2 damages produced by the wedge.

 

[TornadoGénesisX_1995]

Another notable event took place in Huelva, southwestern Spain in 2021, when a classic SP produced hail greater than 6 centimeters.
This same storm generated a narrow but intense multivortex tornado that uprooted several trees and caused considerable EF-2 damage to vegetation.



View of the mesocyclone.

The EF-2 multivortex tornado.

 

[wdotornadoes]

The Butzow tornado was a very large wedge wrapped in rain and very difficult to see.
One of the few videos where the tornado can be seen clearly is taken from a river, and the appearance is really scary.
Easily one of the best german tornadoes caught on video.

Yes, the tornado that hit the town of Bützow (northeastern Germany) on May 5th, 2015 is a very interesting one. The early stages of the tornado are actually quite well documented. It formed very quickly underneath a huge wallcloud and after just a few seconds had already taken on a strongly developed form.



Another angle of this very early stage closer to the tornado:


Another interesting angle of the tornado touching down:


The tornado then grew rapidly and hit the town of Bützow, causing up to high-end F3 damage just moments after it touched down while becoming increasingly more rain wrapped:



On a river, people on a boat filmed the distant tornado (this is probably the video you spoke about). It is very clear here how the tornado became rain wrapped:


These images show the tornado while being rain wrapped. Powerflashes can be seen to the right (~ notheast), while the left (~ southwestern) side is completely obscurred by rain. The width of the tornado peaked at around 1500 m / 1 mile.


Radar images:

(c) Kachelmannwetter

 

[Ivanthetornadoenthusiast]

Wedge in Paraguay

 

[gregassagraf]

Tornado this afternoon in the Paraná State, Brazil. Municipality of São José da Boa Vista.