Significant Tornado Events

[speedbump305]

I would put Parkersburg and El Reno '11 as the two most impressive of the official EF5s. Smithville next. Hackleburg stands out for breadth and longevity, and Joplin for the damage to the hospital and office buildings. Moore is right up there as well. Although really, it's splitting hairs because when you are talking about E/F5s (except those highly questionable ratings like Belmond 1966) and even most high-end EF4s, you are talking about the strongest 1% (or less) of all tornadoes and are going to see extreme/"incredible" instances of damage in all cases.

i feel like El Reno 2011, Parkersburg, Hackleburg, And Smithville are at the top of the official small club of EF5s joplin and moore deserve a top spot too Joplin deserves a spot because of the hospital damage

 

[buckeye05]

Parkersburg did some ridiculous damage in the town yet cannot be explained like this one,
some sort of rubber layer being peeled off a concrete telephone pole?
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Another two mangled cars with only the twisted axles remaining
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Car axle and a tire wrapped around a tree
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Some extreme ground scouring occurred in the windward slope near a small county Rd, as entire top layer of soil and grass were removed, note the windward slope tend to accelerate the horizontal wind and lead to more violent upward motion in microscale environment, similar phenomenon was pointed out by Jeff Piotrowski during the Jonesboro tornado damage survey last year
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Common extreme debarking that you'll see in every other high-end EF5s.
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This is a cemetery looking from a different angle of your pic 6
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Incredible stuff, some of which I haven't seen before. Btw, the substance stuck to that pole was mud from nearby farm fields if I remember correctly.

 

[Marshal79344]

Another one of several important Significant Tornado Event Anniversaries that falls on the date April 4th occurred on April 4th, 1977. A dynamic storm system was moving through the area, providing strong kinematic support, resulting in strong wind shear values and aided in updraft intensity. While a widespread discrete supercell event failed to take shape, one supercell thunderstorm managed to get its act together and was interacting with this environment below as it sped towards the Northern Birmingham Subdivisions. Given this type of wind shear and updraft-stretching profile, you just know that a violent tornado was going to occur with this supercell.



I personally feel that this was one of the more forgotten Tuscaloosa-Birmingham Metropolitan area violent tornadoes, being overshadowed by the 1998 and 2011 tornadoes. However, the damage that this tornado produced was textbook of a violent, high-end tornado. There were just slabs, wind-rowing of debris, granulated debris, and debarked trees present all over the stricken district along Smithfield Lane.

One of many homes swept away. Note the severe tree debarking in the background at left. You can also see what appears to be the remains of a mattress forcefully wrapped and shredded on that fallen tree. You can see significant debris granulation along the wall at the bottom left, although it may have been partially created by cleanup crews.



Here's a street-level view of the worst-hit area. Note how the vegetation in the background is completely debarked. You can see debris that has been granulated to some extent spread out all over the vicinity.



A ground-level view of one of many brick homes swept completely away.



Ruined automobiles and debarked trees



Some aerials that I have. All of them show classic wind-rowing of debris and tons of slabbed foundations.

 

[speedbump305]

Another one of several important Significant Tornado Event Anniversaries that falls on the date April 4th occurred on April 4th, 1977. A dynamic storm system was moving through the area, providing strong kinematic support, resulting in strong wind shear values and aided in updraft intensity. While a widespread discrete supercell event failed to take shape, one supercell thunderstorm managed to get its act together and was interacting with this environment below as it sped towards the Northern Birmingham Subdivisions. Given this type of wind shear and updraft-stretching profile, you just know that a violent tornado was going to occur with this supercell.

View attachment 8357

I personally feel that this was one of the more forgotten Tuscaloosa-Birmingham Metropolitan area violent tornadoes, being overshadowed by the 1998 and 2011 tornadoes. However, the damage that this tornado produced was textbook of a violent, high-end tornado. There were just slabs, wind-rowing of debris, granulated debris, and debarked trees present all over the stricken district along Smithfield Lane.

One of many homes swept away. Note the severe tree debarking in the background at left. You can also see what appears to be the remains of a mattress forcefully wrapped and shredded on that fallen tree. You can see significant debris granulation along the wall at the bottom left, although it may have been partially created by cleanup crews.

View attachment 8359

Here's a street-level view of the worst-hit area. Note how the vegetation in the background is completely debarked. You can see debris that has been granulated to some extent spread out all over the vicinity.

View attachment 8360

A ground-level view of one of many brick homes swept completely away.

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Ruined automobiles and debarked trees

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Some aerials that I have. All of them show classic wind-rowing of debris and tons of slabbed foundations.

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Wasnt this a tornado fujita considered giving an F6 rating?

 

[buckeye05]

Wasnt this a tornado fujita considered giving an F6 rating?

That rumor is associated with this tornado, Guin, Xenia, and Jordan. It's entirely unverifiable and no reliable source can be found that quote Fujita ever making these statements. It's hearsay.

Edit: Actually disregard, I'm wrong about this one.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Another one of several important Significant Tornado Event Anniversaries that falls on the date April 4th occurred on April 4th, 1977. A dynamic storm system was moving through the area, providing strong kinematic support, resulting in strong wind shear values and aided in updraft intensity. While a widespread discrete supercell event failed to take shape, one supercell thunderstorm managed to get its act together and was interacting with this environment below as it sped towards the Northern Birmingham Subdivisions. Given this type of wind shear and updraft-stretching profile, you just know that a violent tornado was going to occur with this supercell.

View attachment 8357

I personally feel that this was one of the more forgotten Tuscaloosa-Birmingham Metropolitan area violent tornadoes, being overshadowed by the 1998 and 2011 tornadoes. However, the damage that this tornado produced was textbook of a violent, high-end tornado. There were just slabs, wind-rowing of debris, granulated debris, and debarked trees present all over the stricken district along Smithfield Lane.

One of many homes swept away. Note the severe tree debarking in the background at left. You can also see what appears to be the remains of a mattress forcefully wrapped and shredded on that fallen tree. You can see significant debris granulation along the wall at the bottom left, although it may have been partially created by cleanup crews.

View attachment 8359

Here's a street-level view of the worst-hit area. Note how the vegetation in the background is completely debarked. You can see debris that has been granulated to some extent spread out all over the vicinity.

View attachment 8360

A ground-level view of one of many brick homes swept completely away.

View attachment 8362

Ruined automobiles and debarked trees

View attachment 8363

Some aerials that I have. All of them show classic wind-rowing of debris and tons of slabbed foundations.

View attachment 8366
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I'd love to find photographs of the two dump trucks that were supposedly carried off a ridge, according to an eyewitness. Also, this aerial:



Literally nothing but slabbed homes.

 

[Marshal79344]

That rumor is associated with this tornado, Guin, Xenia, and Jordan. It's entirely unverifiable and no reliable source can be found that quote Fujita ever making these statements. It's hearsay.

I wonder where all of these rumors are coming from? Sheesh they are much more widespread than I ever thought.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I wonder where all of these rumors are coming from? Sheesh they are much more widespread than I ever thought.

It's also been associated with Jarrell and Bride Creek-Moore 1999. I'm wondering if they began on the old thread or perhaps some typos in a Storm Data publication. Or by some users on severe weather forums. Really have no clue at this point, probably from multiple sources.

 

[A Guy]

That rumor is associated with this tornado, Guin, Xenia, and Jordan. It's entirely unverifiable and no reliable source can be found that quotes Fujita ever making these statements. It's hearsay.

It isn't

 

[speedbump305]

It's also been associated with Jarrell and Bride Creek-Moore 1999. I'm wondering if they began on the old thread or perhaps some typos in a Storm Data publication. Or by some users on severe weather forums. Really have no clue at this point, probably from multiple sources.

Jarrell tho, i’m not saying it was an F6, would actually be a reasonable candidate if people thought it was an F6

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

It isn't

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He likely downgraded it later when he realized an F6 would be impossible to identify. Also, he says there are reports.

 

[buckeye05]

It isn't

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Holy crap. Well I stand corrected. This is the first time I have ever seen this in official document text. My apologies for being so dismissive.

 

[A Guy]

He likely downgraded it later when he realized an F6 was nearly impossible to identify.

His application changed a bit over the years and wasn't quite set in stone in 1974. You'll also notice that the Hamburg tornado is F5 while the first Tanner tornado is not.

 

[buckeye05]

His application changed a bit over the years and wasn't quite set in stone in 1974. You'll also notice that the Hamburg tornado is F5 while the first Tanner tornado is not.

That's interesting. Grazulis does mention that the Hamburg tornado produced near-F5 damage in the big green book.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

His application changed a bit over the years and wasn't quite set in stone in 1974. You'll also notice that the Hamburg tornado is F5 while the first Tanner tornado is not.

Fujita made lots of questionable ratings early on his career, which is understandable when you're just starting out. That said, it's interesting to see a source confirming an F6 rating was briefly considered a possibility. Doesn't justify all the rumors, but it does explain how they started.

 

[A Guy]

Holy crap. Well I stand corrected. This is the first time I have ever seen this in official document text. My apologies for being so dismissive.

I've gotta level with you here having been reading here and elsewhere for a decade. Many of your statements along the lines of a tornado being a certain intensity or a building being of a certain construction seem to me to be based in opinion, not evidence. If you were me I'd tone it down when asserting that something is or isn't true without reasonably conclusive documentation being on hand.

 

[buckeye05]

I've gotta level with you here having been reading here and elsewhere for a decade. Many of your statements along the lines of a tornado being a certain intensity or a building being of a certain construction seem to me to be based in opinion, not evidence. If you were me I'd tone it down when asserting that something is or isn't true without reasonably conclusive documentation being on hand.

I'll admit, I have a tendency to be pretty skeptical. I'll definitely keep that in mind. With that said, I do know quite a bit about modern housing construction and how it relates to EF scale application, so my views aren't without basis.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

One of the most poorly documented and mysterious tornado outbreaks in history is the 5/2/1930 Michigan tornado outbreak. There were 8 long-tracked tornado families that reportedly ranged in width from a mile to only a few yards that occurred during the morning hours. There were multiple reports of funnel clouds and the damage patterns were consistent with that of tornadoes according to the Weather Bureau. Grazulis only lists one of these tornadoes, an F2 that struck Grand Rapids. Debris was driven 18 inches into the ground in some cases.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

So I just realized that tomorrow will be the 85th anniversary of the 1936 Tupelo tornado, I wonder if stormstalker's article on it will be complete by then....

 

[WhirlingWx]

So I just realized that tomorrow will be the 85th anniversary of the 1936 Tupelo tornado, I wonder if stormstalker's article on it will be complete by then....

Speaking of which...


I never realized this was on a Palm Sunday either, and it also ties into the conversations I've seen here regarding more unknown and possibly also violent tornado(es) from that day (given that we know so little about other officially documented tornadoes that day), per @locomusic01's research