Significant Tornado Events

[speedbump305]

Three radar based violent tors from one cyclic supercell tracking from SW Happy TX to Washburn TX if I recall correctly for yesterday's outbreak.Most photographs including the two I published above all came from the first one near Happy TX to Ogg TX.Calculating the tornado windspeed based on the radar-based algorithm given by SPC, you'll get a 188mph couplet at this point.
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The one you mentioned recorded winds meet the EF5 range should be the one near the Palo Duro Canyon State Park, it did meet the EF5 range.No doubt about the strongest couplet we've seen so far since the Bassfield tornado
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But again, they're just RADAR ESTIMATING ALGORITHM, not the true wind speed.Needless to say the EF scale is a damage rating system.Considering the desolation in central TX Panhandle and Canyon, it's not strange to see these monsters will only be rated EF2 or much lower since they barely encountered anything, even trees.But we all clear AT LEAST they have some potential to reach violent status at some point

Yes i do agree with you. and holy moly! that radar couplet is definitely similar in intensity to the Bassfirld tornado maybe a little less intense. Anyways, Yes they were over open country for sure, but if they did manage to hit anything at peak, we know for sure they would be rated EF4, But all we know is that they are estimates and we don’t know how much damage they really did. All we can hope is that they hit nothing at peak and that no fatalities or injuries are reported.

 

[speedbump305]

Yes i do agree with you. and holy moly! that radar couplet is definitely similar in intensity to the Bassfirld tornado maybe a little less intense. Anyways, Yes they were over open country for sure, but if they did manage to hit anything at peak, we know for sure they would be rated EF4, But all we know is that they are estimates and we don’t know how much damage they really did. All we can hope is that they hit nothing at peak and that no fatalities or injuries are reported.

The talk about the Laverne tornado got me thinking. I wonder how intense it really was. The Car damage was definitely high end and it almost for sure capable of much more. Did the Laverne tornado produce any notable tree debarking or ground scouring? i don’t think i’ve seen all the damage pics but i’m sure there had to be some pretty intense tree damage

 

[Brice Wood]

This tornado was definitely violent at one point, I posted a video of a storm chaser chasing this tornado, and the most definitely seemed it was indeed violent, and yes this tornado reminds of the Canadian Texas tornado, it’s motion, it’s width, and the storm itself, the low surface-based storm with a wedge tornado being reported and chased

 

[eric11]

TX Panhandle maybe the best place for chasing, but the worst place for EF rating, tons of big wedges got ignored or underestimated if they hit nothing.Some of them were lucky enough to get observed by DOW/Raxpol or multiple storm crews, others were not.
This monster wedge near Dougherty TX on 6/5/1995 seemed to be unfortunate, not rating was applied as far as I know

6/2/1995 Dimmitt TX was lucky enough as it was the first tornado that got well-documented and researched by multiple storm chasers and VORTEX I. Though only rated F2(some sources listed it as an F4), the tornado thrown at least two cars for 200 yards with no ground contact and mangled them.Asphalt were found ripped off the road and scattered across the scoured fields.

The same day another violent tornado touched down near Friona TX.At the very beginning, the tornado derailed an intermodal train just west of town and nearly destroyed the Hi-Pro feed mill east of town.Damage at this site was rated F4. I remembered the tor clearly cuz there's a video clip shows the VORTEX crew was chasing by the tornado.



The tornado then turned into a mile wide wedge and hid in the rain.Another famous damage pic you guys may remembered is the one which only a piano left on the clean slab


I also mentioned the Fourway TX tornado on 6/27/1992 in this thread https://talkweather.com/threads/his...missing-from-youtube-the-internet.1521/page-4
video appearance was pretty close to yesterday's tors

 

[speedbump305]

TX Panhandle maybe the best place for chasing, but the worst place for EF rating, tons of big wedges got ignored or underestimated if they hit nothing.Some of them were lucky enough to get observed by DOW/Raxpol or multiple storm crews, others were not.
This monster wedge near Dougherty TX on 6/5/1995 seemed to be unfortunate, not rating was applied as far as I know
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6/2/1995 Dimmitt TX was lucky enough as it was the first tornado that got well-documented and researched by multiple storm chasers and VORTEX I. Though only rated F2(some sources listed it as an F4), the tornado thrown at least two cars for 200 yards with no ground contact and mangled them.Asphalt were found ripped off the road and scattered across the scoured fields.
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The same day another violent tornado touched down near Friona TX.At the very beginning, the tornado derailed an intermodal train just west of town and nearly destroyed the Hi-Pro feed mill east of town. I remembered the tor clearly cuz there's a video clip shows the VORTEX crew was chasing by the tornado.
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The tornado then turned into a mile wide wedge and hid in the rain.Another famous damage pic you guys may remembered is the one which only a piano left on the clean slab
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Yet more underrated Texas Tornadoes.

 

[CheeselandSkies]

TX Panhandle maybe the best place for chasing, but the worst place for EF rating, tons of big wedges got ignored or underestimated if they hit nothing.Some of them were lucky enough to get observed by DOW/Raxpol or multiple storm crews, others were not.
This monster wedge near Dougherty TX on 6/5/1995 seemed to be unfortunate, not rating was applied as far as I know
View attachment 6871
6/2/1995 Dimmitt TX was lucky enough as it was the first tornado that got well-documented and researched by multiple storm chasers and VORTEX I. Though only rated F2(some sources listed it as an F4), the tornado thrown at least two cars for 200 yards with no ground contact and mangled them.Asphalt were found ripped off the road and scattered across the scoured fields.
View attachment 6872
The same day another violent tornado touched down near Friona TX.At the very beginning, the tornado derailed an intermodal train just west of town and nearly destroyed the Hi-Pro feed mill east of town.Damage at this site was rated F4. I remembered the tor clearly cuz there's a video clip shows the VORTEX crew was chasing by the tornado.
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The tornado then turned into a mile wide wedge and hid in the rain.Another famous damage pic you guys may remembered is the one which only a piano left on the clean slab
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I also mentioned the Fourway TX tornado on 6/27/1992 in this thread https://talkweather.com/threads/his...missing-from-youtube-the-internet.1521/page-4
video appearance was pretty close to yesterday's tors
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Thanks for posting all this, I've mentioned it before but there's frustratingly little official documentation available (damage surveys/photos, radar loops, etc) available for the June 1995 TX Panhandle tornado outbreaks, despite their being some of the most significant outbreaks for the region of all time and being some of the first big successes/intercepts for VORTEX. I believe it wasn't until sometime last year (and probably in this very thread) that I saw a decent regional radar loop of the 6/8 outbreak. Still don't think I've seen one of 6/2.

 

[andyhb]

What kind of back asswards logic is that from LZK? Smfh. “Don’t correct a huge error because there are other errors?”

Give me a break.

 

[Equus]

LZK is getting a pretty decent reputation when it comes to tornado related errors, I see

 

[speedbump305]

LZK is getting a pretty decent reputation when it comes to tornado related errors, I see

I really wish people would fix up tornado studies and actually put accurate resources on twitter. If people just put false information and errors, it’s just gonna cause you to have a bad reputation. Y’all are doing excellent on the thread with ur studies and posts, but seriously, ever since Vilonia, Jeez it’s been rough. We need real stuff not false errors.

 

[speedbump305]

And i know we weren’t talking about Tornado EF errors, but i feel like ever since Vilonia, studies have been more false and errors are becoming more evident

 

[Gail]

Since I lived in Smithville and am blessed with a photographic memory of my surroundings when I have been to a place for a while, I can tell you one of the things that Moore, Joplin, Jarrell, and several of the F5's discussed here is the complete lack of anything left in these areas.

Smithville was green with huge oaks and pines all over that side of town and new homes and buildings. Afterward, there were no debarking of trees, there just were no 100-year-old + huge oaks there. Not knocked over or uprooted, just nothing left but the ground and some concrete slabs.

It's like you took a razor and cut everything away at ground level. I see the same thing in the other pictures of these events.

My brother never found his boat so I imagine it was pulverized. His aluminum boat was found a few miles away wrapped in the top of a 30-foot white oak.

I love just south of Monroe county so we’re up that way often. 4/27 completely changed the town of Smithville. I see it in several Alabama towns also when we drive to Huntsville.

 

[speedbump305]

I love just south of Monroe county so we’re up that way often. 4/27 completely changed the town of Smithville. I see it in several Alabama towns also when we drive to Huntsville.

4/27 was just a absolutely horrible day. Smithville, Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, Rainsville, Cullman, Arab, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Cordova, Shoal Creek and ringgold were all completely devastated. These were all beautiful towns and cities and on that day, these places had parts of their beautiful town/city just demolished. Everything about that day screamed “ Horrible “

 

[Gail]

4/27 was just a absolutely horrible day. Smithville, Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, Rainsville, Cullman, Arab, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Cordova, Shoal Creek and ringgold were all completely devastated. These were all beautiful towns and cities and on that day, these places had parts of their beautiful town/city just demolished. Everything about that day screamed “ Horrible “

Agree. 10 years later, you can still see the effects of that day.

 

[Equus]

Though it's a really minor thing compared to the homes and lives obliterated in these events, it's pretty sad to me to see towns hit so hard still barren of trees even all these years later. In the deep south, completely empty yards is just a constant reminder that a big disaster happened to remove everything on it even when houses are rebuilt. I grow tree seeds for a personal hobby and am thinking about going ham next year ordering a massive amount and taking the results once they come up to some of the towns still reeling with the aftermath of 4/27 to be distributed.

 

[speedbump305]

Though it's a really minor thing compared to the homes and lives obliterated in these events, it's pretty sad to me to see towns hit so hard still barren of trees even all these years later. In the deep south, completely empty yards is just a constant reminder that a big disaster happened to remove everything on it even when houses are rebuilt. I grow tree seeds for a personal hobby and am thinking about going ham next year ordering a massive amount and taking the results once they come up to some of the towns still reeling with the aftermath of 4/27 to be distributed.

Yeah. I feel like some of the 4/27 tornadoes really deserved more attention. Tuscaloosa was probably the defining tornado of the outbreak because it hit two major alabama cities. In my opinion, all the EF5s on that day were a bit underrated and were over shadowed by Cullman and Tuscaloosa. and yet the towns the EF5s hit were completely devastated and the homes and lives destroyed was heartbreaking.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

The only photographs I could find from the 1936 Ruebens ID tornado. The first image shows a 2-foot diameter cottonwood tree that was snapped in half and the pond that had its water blown out by the tornado (it was refilled during following rainstorms.)

The second photo shows the concrete foundation of the home in the background and the site of the barn in the foreground.

 

[Marshal79344]

Never had I had an idea what would happen when I post this three days ago, Happy TX pairs definitely can join the "Twin Wedge" Group
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That was actually a main mesocyclonic tornado and its large, anticyclonic twin. NWS Meteorologist Evan Bentley pointed this out in his tweet:

 

[Marshal79344]

I feel that the intensity of the violent tornado that devastated Ringgold, Georgia on April 27, 2011, is really underappreciated. Satellite imagery noted sporadic tree damage south of Ringgold before the tornado moved right through town doing no more than marginal EF2 damage. However, the path immediately widened as the tornado exited the town, and the intensity increased so rapidly as the tornado moved into the Cherokee Valley area. These photographs were taken in the hard-hit Cherokee Valley vicinity:

 

[speedbump305]

I feel that the intensity of the violent tornado that devastated Ringgold, Georgia on April 27, 2011, is really underappreciated. Satellite imagery noted sporadic tree damage south of Ringgold before the tornado moved right through town doing no more than marginal EF2 damage. However, the path immediately widened as the tornado exited the town, and the intensity increased so rapidly as the tornado moved into the Cherokee Valley area. These photographs were taken in the hard-hit Cherokee Valley vicinity:
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That tree damage reminds me of the tree damage Hackleburg left in Mount Hope. Ringgold was seriously so underrated. Definitely left more intense damage than tuscaloosa

 

[Equus]

I recall there was quite a bit of discussion on the old site about the apparent under-rating of some of the FFC tornadoes, especially Ringgold; if ever there was a Georgia tornado in the modern era capable of being rated EF5, Ringgold would likely be it. Contextual evidence is even present that would back that up. Not as violent as the official EF5s of the day, but certainly enough with the debarked shredded snags, destroyed vehicles, and overall brown muddy appearance of the debris path. Wind-rowing was spectacular with a good bit of granulation as shown in the photos. Even though the homes were poorly attached, I feel as though the damage would have been similar with strongly attached homes and Ringgold was definitely capable of EF5.

At the very least, it should be said that the official rating in FFC of 175 is ridiculously low, with multiple 180-rated EF4s I remember causing significantly less contextual damage. Cherokee Valley contextual damage was certainly 190-caliber.