Significant Tornado Events

[speedbump305]

What’s y’all’s opinion on the El Reno 2011 EF5? It seems to be the most underrated EF5 of that year, But after seeing what it really did, i kinda feel like it might have been the strongest of the year besides Phil Campbell and Smithville.

 

[locomusic01]

What’s y’all’s opinion on the El Reno 2011 EF5? It seems to be the most underrated EF5 of that year, But after seeing what it really did, i kinda feel like it might have been the strongest of the year besides Phil Campbell and Smithville.

IMO, quite possibly the most violent tornado in a year absolutely packed with historically violent tornadoes. You're sort of splitting hairs when you get to that level of intensity, but El Reno '11 has always blown me away. The area around the Cactus 117 site, in particular, really stands out. Obviously everybody knows by now about the 1.9 million pound drilling rig being toppled/rolled, the one-inch steel cables at the bunkhouse (rated for 10,000 pounds) being snapped, etc. but the vegetation damage and debris granulation in that general area were just about as extreme as it gets (especially outside of a populated area). Also not far from where a tanker truck was thrown a mile and a Chevy Avalanche was thrown ~1/2 mile and absolutely mangled:

 

[speedbump305]

IMO, quite possibly the most violent tornado in a year absolutely packed with historically violent tornadoes. You're sort of splitting hairs when you get to that level of intensity, but El Reno '11 has always blown me away. The area around the Cactus 117 site, in particular, really stands out. Obviously everybody knows by now about the 1.9 million pound drilling rig being toppled/rolled, the one-inch steel cables at the bunkhouse (rated for 10,000 pounds) being snapped, etc. but the vegetation damage and debris granulation in that general area were just about as extreme as it gets (especially outside of a populated area). Also not far from where a tanker truck was thrown a mile and a Chevy Avalanche was thrown ~1/2 mile and absolutely mangled:

View attachment 7357

I’m gonna say this right now, The ground scouring, tree damage, home damage, vehicle damage, oil rig damage, was quite possibly the most violent damage of the year. In my opinion, The El Reno Tornado of 2011 is probably the most violent of the year. It caused more intense scouring than a majority of the EF5s that year, just behind philadelphia, But the Vehicle and tree damage was just REMARKABLY intense.

 

[speedbump305]

IMO, quite possibly the most violent tornado in a year absolutely packed with historically violent tornadoes. You're sort of splitting hairs when you get to that level of intensity, but El Reno '11 has always blown me away. The area around the Cactus 117 site, in particular, really stands out. Obviously everybody knows by now about the 1.9 million pound drilling rig being toppled/rolled, the one-inch steel cables at the bunkhouse (rated for 10,000 pounds) being snapped, etc. but the vegetation damage and debris granulation in that general area were just about as extreme as it gets (especially outside of a populated area). Also not far from where a tanker truck was thrown a mile and a Chevy Avalanche was thrown ~1/2 mile and absolutely mangled:

View attachment 7357

Do you generally think it was the most violent of the year?

 

[Shakespeare 2016]

IMO, quite possibly the most violent tornado in a year absolutely packed with historically violent tornadoes. You're sort of splitting hairs when you get to that level of intensity, but El Reno '11 has always blown me away. The area around the Cactus 117 site, in particular, really stands out. Obviously everybody knows by now about the 1.9 million pound drilling rig being toppled/rolled, the one-inch steel cables at the bunkhouse (rated for 10,000 pounds) being snapped, etc. but the vegetation damage and debris granulation in that general area were just about as extreme as it gets (especially outside of a populated area). Also not far from where a tanker truck was thrown a mile and a Chevy Avalanche was thrown ~1/2 mile and absolutely mangled:

View attachment 7357

Not to mention the Chickasha and Goldsby tornado that day which was just right behind it in intensity. I think the vehicular damage and ground scouring near Chickasha may have been just as violent as the El Reno tornado that day.

 

[speedbump305]

Not to mention the Chickasha and Goldsby tornado that day which was just right behind it in intensity. I think the vehicular damage and ground scouring near Chickasha may have been just as violent as the El Reno tornado that day.

In my opinion, Chickasha was for sure extremely violent, but i wouldn’t say it wasn’t as violent. Few tornadoes are able to do what the El Reno tornado did. But i’m for sure positive it reached intensity similar to the El reno tornado. I think El Reno was stronger. The ground scouring and vehicle damage chickasha did was remarkable. Same with Goldsby. But El Reno produced more extreme damage for sure

 

[speedbump305]

In my opinion, Chickasha was for sure extremely violent, but i wouldn’t say it wasn’t as violent. Few tornadoes are able to do what the El Reno tornado did. But i’m for sure positive it reached intensity similar to the El reno tornado. I think El Reno was stronger. The ground scouring and vehicle damage chickasha did was remarkable. Same with Goldsby. But El Reno produced more extreme damage for sure

Chickasha should definitely be EF5 along with goldsby. Literally i’ve seen what they were both able to do and i’m like why weren’t they EF5!!! i just can’t believe Greensburg gets an EF5 and they don’t. By the way i didn’t mean to say “ For sure “ sorry bout that

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

IMO, quite possibly the most violent tornado in a year absolutely packed with historically violent tornadoes. You're sort of splitting hairs when you get to that level of intensity, but El Reno '11 has always blown me away. The area around the Cactus 117 site, in particular, really stands out. Obviously everybody knows by now about the 1.9 million pound drilling rig being toppled/rolled, the one-inch steel cables at the bunkhouse (rated for 10,000 pounds) being snapped, etc. but the vegetation damage and debris granulation in that general area were just about as extreme as it gets (especially outside of a populated area). Also not far from where a tanker truck was thrown a mile and a Chevy Avalanche was thrown ~1/2 mile and absolutely mangled:

View attachment 7357

As impressive as this all is, I still think Smithville beats El Reno in terms of intensity and was probably the most violent tornado of 2011 (although Hackleburg is pretty close). It did a few things that are on another level even for EF5 tornadoes:

These pics are from Tornado Talk's article on Smithville, this tornado was easily the most ferocious of 4/27/11 (although Hackleburg still beats it in terms of duration of EF5 intensity and longevity, at least in my mind). Absolutely insane damage is documented below:

Source: https://www.tornadotalk.com/the-smithville-ms-ef-5-tornado-april-27-2011/

1. A bed & breakfast that was demolished, the majority of cinderblocks were pulverized into chunks, only a few remained in one piece:



2. The mud you see on the foundation is actually granulated brick, considering the 70+ mph forward speed, this is extremely impressive.



3. To quote the article directly "Perhaps the most intense vegetation damage ever photographed in tornado history. Not only was the bark blasted off of a particularly durable species of hardwood, pieces of the wood itself began to shave off".


4. Supposedly a leaf is shorn into the bark of this tree, but it can't be confirmed (at least for now).



5. The funeral home. Usually an exaggeration when people report that buildings have "vanished", but not in this case:





Funeral home from above:

 

[speedbump305]

As impressive as this all is, I still think Smithville beats El Reno in terms of intensity and was probably the most violent tornado of 2011 (although Hackleburg is pretty close). It did a few things that are on another level even for EF5 tornadoes:

These pics are from Tornado Talk's article on Smithville, this tornado was easily the most ferocious of 4/27/11 (although Hackleburg still beats it in terms of duration of EF5 intensity and longevity, at least in my mind). Absolutely insane damage is documented below:

Source: https://www.tornadotalk.com/the-smithville-ms-ef-5-tornado-april-27-2011/

1. A bed & breakfast that was demolished, the majority of cinderblocks were pulverized into chunks, only a few remained in one piece:

View attachment 7358

2. The mud you see on the foundation is actually granulated brick, considering the 70+ mph forward speed, this is extremely impressive.

View attachment 7359

3. To quote the article directly "Perhaps the most intense vegetation damage ever photographed in tornado history. Not only was the bark blasted off of a particularly durable species of hardwood, pieces of the wood itself began to shave off".
View attachment 7360

4. Supposedly a leaf is shorn into the bark of this tree, but it can't be confirmed (at least for now).

View attachment 7361

5. The funeral home. Usually an exaggeration when people report that buildings have "vanished", but not in this case:

View attachment 7362

View attachment 7363

Funeral home from above:

View attachment 7364

I think El Reno, Hackleburg, And Smithville were all the most violent of 2011. In my opinion, i think the funeral home and near the forest was where Smithville probably reached peak intensity. And probably near where the pipe was uprooted. Interestingly if you look at the Restaurant in Mount Hope from Hackleburg, it looks like cinder blocks have been destroyed where the foundation was damaged. I don’t know if it is, but it for sure looks like it. Also I have an image of the 2013 Moore Tornado and i have an image of tree damage moore did that looked very similar to it. I don’t know if i’ve posted it or not, but will later if i can. Also sorry if you think i’m spreading lies, but i do have an image and if you would like to see i could share it

 

[speedbump305]

I think El Reno, Hackleburg, And Smithville were all the most violent of 2011. In my opinion, i think the funeral home and near the forest was where Smithville probably reached peak intensity. And probably near where the pipe was uprooted. Interestingly if you look at the Restaurant in Mount Hope from Hackleburg, it looks like cinder blocks have been destroyed where the foundation was damaged. I don’t know if it is, but it for sure looks like it. Also I have an image of the 2013 Moore Tornado and i have an image of tree damage moore did that looked very similar to it. I don’t know if i’ve posted it or not, but will later if i can. Also sorry if you think i’m spreading lies, but i do have an image and if you would like to see i could share it

That granulated brick is on another level compared to other debris granulation. I’ve yet to see a more
impressive look of debris granulation from the brick at the funeral home. I kinda wonder if maybe Joplin or Parkersburg were able to granulate brick because they both produced extremely intense granulation as well

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

One outbreak that is completely forgotten but deserves more attention is the 5/21/1918 Iowa-Wisconsin tornado outbreak. Seven F3s, three F4s, and one F5 occurred. The first notable event of the outbreak was the Carroll IA F5 which completely swept away multiple farms, debarked trees, carried mattresses for 2 miles, produced intense ground scouring as meadow sod was torn up and plowed ground was ditched, mangled farm machinery, and devasted more than 20 farms.


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The second notable event was an F3 that also struck near Carroll IA. 200 ft of railroad track was torn up and destroyed multiple farmhouses.
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The third notable event was the Boone IA F4. This massive (probably a mile-wide) and extremely violent tornado produced severe damage in the SE part of Boone. Numerous homes were leveled, two entire farms were completely swept away (likely F5 damage), groves of trees were shredded and machinery was destroyed.


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The fourth notable event was the Guttenburg IA to Lone Rock WI F4 tornado family. Homes were unroofed in Guttenburg (though some farms in the same county were leveled) but the event was much more intense near Lone Rock with entire farms being leveled, homes were swept away and refrigerator railcars were rolled 50 yards.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I think El Reno, Hackleburg, And Smithville were all the most violent of 2011. In my opinion, i think the funeral home and near the forest was where Smithville probably reached peak intensity. And probably near where the pipe was uprooted. Interestingly if you look at the Restaurant in Mount Hope from Hackleburg, it looks like cinder blocks have been destroyed where the foundation was damaged. I don’t know if it is, but it for sure looks like it. Also I have an image of the 2013 Moore Tornado and i have an image of tree damage moore did that looked very similar to it. I don’t know if i’ve posted it or not, but will later if i can. Also sorry if you think i’m spreading lies, but i do have an image and if you would like to see i could share it

I don't think you're spreading lies, it's just if you have any images of interest post them instead of constantly saying you're going to. Also, I think I know the image you're talking about, but post away. I might be wrong.

 

[Austin Dawg]

I think El Reno, Hackleburg, And Smithville were all the most violent of 2011. In my opinion, i think the funeral home and near the forest was where Smithville probably reached peak intensity. And probably near where the pipe was uprooted. Interestingly if you look at the Restaurant in Mount Hope from Hackleburg, it looks like cinder blocks have been destroyed where the foundation was damaged. I don’t know if it is, but it for sure looks like it. Also I have an image of the 2013 Moore Tornado and i have an image of tree damage moore did that looked very similar to it. I don’t know if i’ve posted it or not, but will later if i can. Also sorry if you think i’m spreading lies, but i do have an image and if you would like to see i could share it

It's splitting hairs to say which is the strongest. You are correct in that most of the worst damage in Smithville was near that area because my brother told me what it did and he lived at the south end of the road in front of the funeral home.

I cannot fathom what Hackleburg was and truly believe it is probably as close to the TriState as we will see in our lifetimes.

El Reno is hard to gauge because like Smithville, a lot of it's path was in not populated areas with few buildings,

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

It's splitting hairs to say which is the strongest. You are correct in that most of the worst damage in Smithville was near that area because my brother told me what it did and he lived at the south end of the road in front of the funeral home.

I cannot fathom what Hackleburg was and truly believe it is probably as close to the TriState as we will see in our lifetimes.

El Reno is hard to gauge because like Smithville, a lot of it's path was in not populated areas with few buildings,

I'd put Smithville and Hackleburg at the top of the list for most violent tornado of 2011, El Reno would be #3.

 

[speedbump305]

I'd put Smithville and Hackleburg at the top of the list for most violent tornado of 2011, El Reno would be #3.

I agree with you on that. Hackleburg and Smithville produced damage that is rarely seen by other EF5s anyways i’ll post the images in a minute

 

[speedbump305]

I just wanted to say this as well, But Hackleburg and Smithville produced the worst damage to a slab i’ve seen from any EF5 tornado. So anyway, if you look at the damaged part of the foundation, which had a lot of things done to it, You’ll see a bunch broken concrete laying around. it’s way to small to be the foundation part and it looks very similar to the broken cinder blocks from smithville, also if you look at the 3 main cinder blocks that are standing at center left, the left most one is chipped. And if you also look around the slab, barely any cinder blocks are seen. I don’t know if this is in fact cinder blocks, but if it isn’t. feel free to tell me! Juliett what do you think?

 

[pohnpei]

Seems like a Smithville's picture. Not sure whether it had been posted here before.

 

[speedbump305]

Seems like a Smithville's picture. Not sure whether it had been posted here before.

that’s a very good clear shot of the Smithville Tornado. I don’t know if that was when it was in Alabama or Mississippi thought.

 

[A Guy]

As an aside, the Trove database is absolutely phenomenal. I relied on that for probably 80% of the research for Cyclone Mahina. I also found several other cyclones with extremely low recorded pressures (usually by ship captains, but occasionally land-based barometers). Sort of suggests there have been plenty of high-end extreme weather events Down Under that we know little to nothing about, which I suppose shouldn't be surprising considering how vast and sparsely populated much of the continent was (and is).

The only problem with it (aside from recent interface changes making it harder to navigate) is that it only goes up to 1954 for all but a few titles. This actually makes it harder to find information on more recent events than older ones. I'd like to try find more info on some sixties and seventies events but it just isn't there. Otherwise it's head and shoulders above anything else, and it's all free (well, except for the taxes). Compare that to the exorbitant prices charged by the archives in many other countries.

do wonder if there are any extremely violent Australian tornadoes hidden in newspaper archives from the pre-1940 era.

I very much doubt there'd be any that aren't already known. Violent damage generally means hitting populated areas and that makes people sit up and notice. It'd be mostly small events that hit nothing and were seen by no-one. Violent events tend to stick out, given us things like the April 1920 outbreak with only 17 recorded tornadoes but six potential violent ones.

Anyway, a few more notable events (none spectacular, but if Grazulis considers F2 significant and this thread is for significant tornado events, that's good enough).

The earliest tornado photographed in Australia was at Marong, near Bendigo on 27/9/1911. It tracked an irregular path from the (now) locality of Derby parallel to the railway line past Leichardt before passing crossing Wilsons Hill and destroying houses south of Marong and near Lockwood. The path was at least 14 km long, and may have been much longer causing minor damage to fences 'for miles' beyond the last significant structures. It was very narrow as the photograph shows, varying from five chains to as narrow as one chain (100 down to 20 metres). It was reported to have moved at about 20 mph, though considering how long lasting it would have been at that speed I suspect it was probably faster. Numerous houses were largely destroyed and one person died from their injuries two days later, his house had one wall standing. The consensus rating seems to be F3. The storm was accompanied with large hail.
There is an Australian Geographic article in which an amateur researcher and local chaser claims reports said a six-ton stamper battery was shifted several miles, in case you thought ludicrous exaggerations (like the supposed pickup being carried 20 miles by the Lawrence F5) were only an American thing. I can't find any reference to this in newspaper reports and the supposed weather bureau report by Henry A. Hunt is unfindable to me. From the newspaper reports I have the battery stood across the road from the house where the fatal injury occurred and the Bendigo Independent reported a 3 hundredweight (c.150 kg) pipe was moved moved 40 metres and and a 12 cwt (c.600 kg) bucket 100. There were also damaging tornadoes at Marong in 1892 and 1940.

The other strong tornado to impact a major city aside form the Brisbane '73 event was the Brighton Tornado in Melbourne on 2/2/1918. It killed two and caused £100k or so damage. It has been retroactively rated F3 although I am somewhat sceptical.

The deadliest tornado in Australia was in the locality of Wahpunga near the village of Kin Kin, near Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. This is a region regularly visited by supercells in November and December but the tornado was on 14 August 1971 and I'm not entirely sure what weather patterns would have generated it, as that area rarely gets any sort of storm at that time of the year. It struck at night on a damage path described as up to 1/2 mile wide and five miles long. Luckily it missed the main village. Eight houses were destroyed, some, likely unanchored, lifted small distances off their foundations. Not rated, but F2 to maybe F3 would seem appropriate. There also damaging tornadoes there about four decades prior and in 1985.



The last deadly tornado in Australia as of the time of writing was at Sandon, Victoria, on 13/11/1976. it had a path of 6 km and was apparently up to 400 metres wide, although again I'm a bit sceptical there as reports indicate the funnel was visually narrow. A couple was killed when their car was lifted and thrown or rolled 100 metres into a ditch, both victims were thrown from the car and had their clothes stripped. The rating was strong F2 or F3. The first two images were supposedly near the end of the tornado's life, I know there is a slightly earlier one where it looks stouter. The fourth was included in at least one article, not sure when it was taken. There was more than one tornado reported and it may not show it. The third is the wreck of the deceased couple's car.

Since then there have been some events causing considerable damage to a few houses or so, but with the exception of some events already described here nothing quite as notable as these.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Another forgotten Upper Midwestern outbreak is the 4/5-6/1929 MN-WI tornado outbreak. This was a deadly outbreak with 15 deaths occurring in IA, MN, and WI. The first violent tornado of this event began near Lake Minnetonka and damaged homes in northern Minneapolis before moving across the river into the Columbia Heights-Fridley area and through the Forest Lake area. Here the tornado reached violent intensity as a radio station building was swept away, multiple farms were leveled with some being completely swept away, trees were debarked, steel aerial posts were twisted and torn, a 3-ton truck was carried 50 ft, and cars were thrown hundreds of yards and mangled beyond recognition. 3 miles south of Chisago City there was a shift in the tornado's path which might indicate it cycled. The possible new tornado crossed the St Croix River into Wisconsin where it produced F4 damage to 2 of the 20 farms hit.





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The second violent tornado of this outbreak touched down SW of River Falls WI to near Campia. This "huge monster of death" killed 7 people were five different farmhouses that were swept away. This was probably the strongest tornado of this outbreak as it shredded/debarked trees, mangled cars and completely swept away entire farms.

View attachment Wausau_Daily_Herald_Wed__Apr_10__1929_.jpg


(one picture shows a mangled car but this site isn't letting me upload it)
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The final violent tornado of the outbreak was the Exeland WI F4 which was likely produced by the same supercell that produced the previous tornado. This tornado leveled entire farms between Meteor and Exeland, killing 5 people. Ford cars were carried several hundred feet and mangled, numerous trees were destroyed and debris was scattered for miles from homes. The twin supercells that produced these tornadoes might have continued producing tornadoes as far as the Michigan border.