Significant Tornado Events

[buckeye05]

Hackleburg was very intense, but I stand by my decision to keep it at 10. Generally, it comes down to the fact that a majority of the homes swept away by Hackleburg/Phil Campbell were of much poorer construction than those in Smithville, leaving most of the rating based on contextual damage that was extreme, but not on par with Smithville.

Any way you slice it, the damage that occurred in Smithville was in a league of its own. I do sometimes go back and forth with Jarrell and Smithville as the top two, but Hackleburg just wasn’t really a top 3 event damage intensity wise imo, but you’re entitled to your opinion.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Apparently, the 1936 Ruebens ID tornado damaged the foundation of the home with chunks of concrete being “blown great distances.” One 3 ft high and 1 ft wide concrete pillar was ripped out of the barn foundation and dropped down on the hillside a distance away.

 

[speedbump305]

Hackleburg was very intense, but I stand by my decision to keep it at 10. Generally, it comes down to the fact that a majority of the homes swept away by Hackleburg/Phil Campbell were of much poorer construction than those in Smithville, leaving most of the rating based on contextual damage that was extreme, but not on par with Smithville.

Any way you slice it, the damage that occurred in Smithville was in a league of its own. I do sometimes go back and forth with Jarrell and Smithville as the top two, but Hackleburg just wasn’t really a top 3 event damage intensity wise imo, but you’re entitled to your opinion.

i mostly do agree, i will keep my opinion, but would you say that hackleburg was more intense than Joplin, Moore, and parkersburg?

 

[buckeye05]

Uh Smithville was far from a marginal EF5 https://www.tornadotalk.com/the-smithville-ms-ef-5-tornado-april-27-2011/

I completely agree. The waste pipe being unearthed, the trench digging, vehicle damage, other insane instances of damage and overall intensity of the destruction was simply unbelievable. Calling that marginal is crazy talk.

 

[speedbump305]

Apparently, the 1936 Ruebens ID tornado damaged the foundation of the home with chunks of concrete being “blown great distances.” One 3 ft high and 1 ft wide concrete pillar was ripped out of the barn foundation and dropped down on the hillside a distance away.

i’ve seen similar stories to the Sumner county tennessee tornado of 1925. it’s most likely a rumor. Tornadoes have been known to damage foundations and it’s impossible for them to damage them as a whole. it just isn’t possible

 

[Robinson lee]

When it comes to the violent tornado in Iowa, I think the Wallace F4 tornado of April 30, 1936 is also noteworthy. Here are some pictures of tornado damage I found. You can see completely skinned trees and severely damaged vehicles. The tornado also passed through Minnesota, killing three people and injuring more than 50

 

[speedbump305]

I completely agree. The waste pipe being unearthed, the trench digging, vehicle damage, other insane instances of damage and overall intensity of the destruction was simply unbelievable. Calling that marginal is crazy talk.

true you have a point. i’m deeply sorry for calling Smithville a marginal EF5. it was for sure an Extreme EF5 and i agree. Smithville was more intense than Hackleburg now in my opinion. It’s close, but Smithville wins due to the pipe, trench, softwood tree damage, and the granulated brick. now btw i wasn’t say all the damage was mid range EF5, i was speaking of half the damage, the high end EF5 damage was extremely intense and deserved its recognition. i’m sorry y’all

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

When it comes to the violent tornado in Iowa, I think the Wallace F4 tornado of April 30, 1936 is also noteworthy. Here are some pictures of tornado damage I found. You can see completely skinned trees and severely damaged vehicles. The tornado also passed through Minnesota, killing three people and injuring more than 50

I've always been interested in that event. It swept away entire farms.

 

[buckeye05]

i mostly do agree, i will keep my opinion, but would you say that hackleburg was more intense than Joplin, Moore, and parkersburg?

I don’t think so. I see the reasons you gave for Hackleburg but some of those aren’t verifiable, like the collapse of basement walls.

I need to see actual photos to see what kind of basement construction we’re talking about. Poured concrete or CMU? That difference means a lot and we don’t have clarification either way. Honestly, if there’s maybe a tornado that I could’ve put higher on the list it’s Parkersburg.

Edit: shortened it, you get the idea

 

[speedbump305]

I don’t think so. I see the reasons you gave for Hackleburg but some of those aren’t verifiable, like the collapse of basement walls.

I need to see actual photos to see what kind of basement construction we’re talking about. Poured concrete or CMU? That difference means a lot and we don’t have clarification either way. Honestly, if there’s maybe a tornado that I could’ve put higher on the list, it’s Parkersburg. I don’t know of any source saying a tractor was thrown 2 miles either,

Other things you said just aren’t true. The Wrangler plant was absolutely not “swept away”, and there have been tornadoes that have swept away three story or higher buildings in history, such as the Nicollet Hotel in New Richmond, WI or mansions in Tupelo, MS and brick structures in downtown Rocksprings, TX.

It’s also completely untrue that wind rowing and granulation only occurred at the funeral home. It began at the Bed and Breakfast and continued all the way through town, so I don’t know where you’re getting that idea.

i seen the tractor thing somewhere else on this thread. i from the image i saw, it looked like poured concrete but i can’t confirm it. also no i didn’t mean for it to say it like that. i was saying that the most intense wind rowing and debris granulation came at the Funeral home.

 

[buckeye05]

true you have a point. i’m deeply sorry for calling Smithville a marginal EF5. it was for sure an Extreme EF5 and i agree. Smithville was more intense than Hackleburg now in my opinion. It’s close, but Smithville wins due to the pipe, trench, softwood tree damage, and the granulated brick. now btw i wasn’t say all the damage was mid range EF5, i was speaking of half the damage, the high end EF5 damage was extremely intense and deserved its recognition. i’m sorry y’all

Hey no worries or apology needed. At the end of the day it’s inconsequential. We’re just a bunch of weather geeks ogling over damage photos.

 

[buckeye05]

Here's a few interesting instances of damage.

This door was carried by an EF4 tornado from Louisville, MS to the MSU campus, a distance of at least 30 miles:

This was a water pump that was actually lifted out of a well by the first 1974 Tanner tornado:

 

[speedbump305]

Here's a few interesting instances of damage.

This door was carried by an EF4 tornado from Louisville, MS to the MSU campus, a distance of at least 30 miles:

This was a water pump that was actually lifted out of a well by the first 1974 Tanner tornado:

i’ve seen that image of the Water Pump. that’s extremely intense damage and i kinda relate that to the smithville pipe.

 

[pohnpei]

Wow! that seems pretty intense. So earlier i heard someone say that the 2013 El Reno Tornado was more intense than the 2013 Moore Tornado. i really disagreed because the damage in moore was seriously intense and the vegetation scouring and tree damage was more intense overall. 2013 El Reno was overrated and deserves its EF3 rating

I also don't agree the saying of 13 El Reno was stronger than Moore and the house damage of 13 El Reno was at EF3 level for sure. But,always, the peak wind area of this tornado didn't hit any structure. It is always very hard to figure out how strong a tornado is if it only hit several trees or poles at its peak intensity.
The DOW winds at least prove one thing: it was an EF3 tornado in terms of damage, but not an EF3 level tornado certainly.
By the way, it stripped a long section of asphalt near its peak intensity.

 

[speedbump305]

I also don't agree the saying of 13 El Reno was stronger than Moore and the house damage of 13 El Reno was at EF3 level for sure. But,always, the peak wind area of this tornado didn't hit any structure. It is always very hard to figure out how strong a tornado is if it only hit several trees or poles at its peak intensity.
The DOW winds at least prove one thing: it was an EF3 tornado in terms of damage, but not an EF3 level tornado certainly.
By the way, it stripped a long section of asphalt near its peak intensity.

EXACTLY! yes i do in fact know of the gravel road. i do in fact seeing some intense tree damage. the plowed vegetation damage was intense but what i want to know is why there was little ground scouring! buckeye do you happen to know why?

 

[andyhb]

The Smithville tornado was not a "marginal EF5". What?

 

[speedbump305]

The Smithville tornado was not a "marginal EF5". What?

read the posts up above. i explained that the damage path was half/half a lot was high end EF5 and some was mid range EF5. i explained it but i agree that Smithville was overall a little more intense than Hackleburg. the damage it produced was mind boggling

 

[speedbump305]

Am i the only one who’s scared for this tornado season? the setup seems so similar to 2011. a weak start in the winter months, but a very active spring ahead of us!

 

[pohnpei]

EXACTLY! yes i do in fact know of the gravel road. i do in fact seeing some intense tree damage. the plowed vegetation damage was intense but what i want to know is why there was little ground scouring! buckeye do you happen to know why?

Tornados as large as El Reno rarely scour the ground. RMW of tornados as large as El Reno was too large to scour the ground, much like the reason why tropical cyclones never scour the ground. Greensburg07/08, Hallam, Trousdale, Mulhall, Funing, overall they did very little scouring.

 

[speedbump305]

Tornados as large as El Reno rarely scour the ground. RMW of tornados as large as El Reno was too large to scour the ground, much like the reason why tropical cyclones never scour the ground. Greensburg07/08, Hallam, Trousdale, Mulhall, Funing, overall they did very little scouring.

the thing about the Trousdale EF3 is that the tornado did very little ground scouring, but the tree damage was more intense than greensburg