MNTornadoGuy
Member
I would say this tornado was definitely stronger than both the 2017 Russian F4 and the 2015 Mira F4. This was likely the strongest European tornado in many decades.
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What I find most interesting about this tornado is the striking difference the damage leaves between how US homes are built and how European homes are built.At the very least I could see an argument for a contextual F5 rating for the Moravia tornado. It certainly reached that intensity at some point; the contextual damage is incredible.
I think if this tornado had hit a subdivision of US homes, particularly tract homes, we would be seeing rows of slabs. Pembroke is a good comparison IMO; the contextual damage wasn't nearly as intense as the Moravia tornado yet well built (by US standards) homes were still slabbed.
Definitely the strongest since Hautmont, which leveled multiple similarly well-built brick homes and reportedly caused intense vegetation damage (though I haven't been able to find photos of this).I would say this tornado was definitely stronger than both the 2017 Russian F4 and the 2015 Mira F4. This was likely the strongest European tornado in many decades.
Off hand I don't know much about the construction practices of European homes other than that they're often constructed with much heavier materials than US homes, usually thick masonry walls. I would imagine ideas such as "anchor bolts" (at least with traditional anchor bolted sill plating as seen in US construction) and "wall studs" immediately get thrown out the window.What I find most interesting about this tornado is the striking difference the damage leaves between how US homes are built and how European homes are built.
Tornado in West India today.
What’s the street name?While on the topic of European tornadoes, I think I finally narrowed down the location of that leveled brick home in Mikulcice. Turns out it was closer to the center of town than I had thought. Took me a while to find it, but unfortunately, the street it is on doesn't have street view on google maps.
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Street names aren't showing up for some reason, but here's the exact location. Also a second photo where if you look closely, you can just barely see the yellow car on top of the rubble, confirming it is the building in question.What’s the street name?
OK I'll stop posting about the Moravia F4 after this, but here's a few more interesting finds.
The survey mentions that the largest and most intense segment of F4 damage occurred in eastern Mikulcice, where trees were completely debarked and brick homes were destroyed. Some of the most violent damage in this area appears to have occurred just northeast of where a road goes under the railroad tracks via a small bridge.
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A yellow masonry home, visible in the upper left hand corner, seems to have suffered the most intense damage here, totally collapsing and being left mostly leveled.
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Another white masonry home mostly collapsed nearby, though not to the extent of the yellow house. This one is harder to see, but visible in the center between the two homes that are severely damaged but still standing. The masonry row houses shown in the survey that sustained F4 damage were hit just beyond the horizon in this photo.
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Closer view of the three homes that sustained F4 damage right as the tornado entered Mikulcice. The survey mentions that one of them was completely destroyed (the one on the right I presume), however, the one on the left looks essentially flattened to me as well, save for a tiny part of a brick wall left standing around the front doorway.
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That house in the 4th photo might have been the one under construction.OK I'll stop posting about the Moravia F4 after this, but here's a few more interesting finds.
The survey mentions that the largest and most intense segment of F4 damage occurred in eastern Mikulcice, where trees were completely debarked and brick homes were destroyed. Some of the most violent damage in this area appears to have occurred just northeast of where a road goes under the railroad tracks via a small bridge.
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A yellow masonry home, visible in the upper left hand corner, seems to have suffered the most intense damage here, totally collapsing and being left mostly leveled.
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Another white masonry home mostly collapsed nearby, though not to the extent of the yellow house. This one is harder to see, but visible in the center between the two homes that are severely damaged but still standing. The masonry row houses shown in the survey that sustained F4 damage were hit just beyond the horizon in this photo.
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Closer view of the three homes that sustained F4 damage right as the tornado entered Mikulcice. The survey mentions that one of them was completely destroyed (the one on the right I presume), however, the one on the left looks essentially flattened to me as well, save for a tiny part of a brick wall left standing around the front doorway.
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Yeah that's my impression as well.That house in the 4th photo might have been the one under construction.
Yeah Hautmont was definitely comparable, and its "in the books" as an F4 by now. I have heard that about the F3 rating, but that is no longer the case from what I understand. It is currently listed as an F4 by the European Severe Weather Database, ESSL, and every other recent study and publication on it I can find. Sounds like the initial call of F3 was overruled, and with the ESSL and ESWD on board, it doesn't really get more official than that.Since we're discussing Moravia, I'm gonna post stuff on Hautmont, France as it caused arguably the only tornado damage in Europe on par with Moravia. What's remarkable about this thing is how narrow its damage path and how violent it got. Some meteorologists believed the tornado deserved an F4 rating, but the ever-conservative French meteorological board gave the tornado an F3 rating.
Damage pics:
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2 fatalities occurred in the home on lower right.
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A two-story home that was obliterated. Homes in France are likely built with stronger materials and require much stronger winds to be destroyed, like with the Czech Republic. This thing should've been rated F4 based on the home damage alone.
Tree damage:
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Some PDFs on it: