Significant Tornado Events

[locomusic01]

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....

Doing my best!

I've been swamped with work lately, so I've been scrambling to try and get it done in any free time I get. And then I found out last night that WordPress' autosave feature tweaked out on me and just completely erased hours of work. So now I've been working on it since like 5:30 this morning to catch up lol

I usually know better than to work directly within any sort of online platform like that, but that was not a fun reminder. Anyway, I'm still gonna try really hard to get it done by sometime tomorrow, but I'm not sure how feasible that's gonna be. Going in the right direction now, at least.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Doing my best!

I've been swamped with work lately, so I've been scrambling to try and get it done in any free time I get. And then I found out last night that WordPress' autosave feature tweaked out on me and just completely erased hours of work. So now I've been working on it since like 5:30 this morning to catch up lol

I usually know better than to work directly within any sort of online platform like that, but that was not a fun reminder. Anyway, I'm still gonna try really hard to get it done by sometime tomorrow, but I'm not sure how feasible that's gonna be. Going in the right direction now, at least.

Good ol' Wordpress right there....man, it's almost as if the entire universe is out to prevent you from finishing it on time. Although, April 6 would also not be a bad deadline, as the outbreak didn't end until that date.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

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

Wow, it is. Pretty incredible. Probably the deadliest Palm Sunday outbreak on record, even crazier that over 400 people were killed by two tornadoes alone.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

One of the most famous tornado events in history is the August 28, 1884 Huron SD F4 tornadoes. They are most famous for being the second tornado ever photographed. What is something lesser known about the tornadoes is that at least one was extremely violent. A section of prairie sod 14 ft square and 1.5 ft deep was scoured out by one of the tornadoes, the body of one boy was carried for a half-mile, an entire farm was completely swept away and another rural home was swept away. Something else interesting is that Laura Wilder wrote about these tornadoes and they appear in the Little House on the Prairie book: "These Happy Golden Years."

 

[buckeye05]

One of the most famous tornado events in history is the August 28, 1884 Huron SD F4 tornadoes. They are most famous for being the second tornado ever photographed. What is something lesser known about the tornadoes is that at least one was extremely violent. A section of prairie sod 14 ft square and 1.5 ft deep was scoured out by one of the tornadoes, the body of one boy was carried for a half-mile, an entire farm was completely swept away and another rural home was swept away. Something else interesting is that Laura Wilder wrote about these tornadoes and they appear in the Little House on the Prairie book: "These Happy Golden Years."

I know the photo you’re talking about. I’ve always thought it looked artificially enhanced or altered.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Another interesting event from 1884 is the 3/25/1884 tornado outbreak. This outbreak was likely very large and widespread but most of the significant tornadoes from the event were F2s. Tornadoes touched down in the Carolinas, the Ohio Valley area, and in the Deep South. 28 significant tornadoes touched down according to Grazulis but the total tornado count was likely much higher with at least 40 tornadoes occurring.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

I know the photo you’re talking about. I’ve always thought it looked artificially enhanced or altered.

It likely was altered but the two horn funnels were likely real as multiple eyewitnesses saw multiple tornadoes on the ground at the same time.

 

[locomusic01]

It likely was altered but the two horn funnels were likely real as multiple eyewitnesses saw multiple tornadoes on the ground at the same time.

The only thing scarier than a hornado is a multivortex hornado.

 

[WIL9287]

It make me think of Altoona tornado from this event. I am very confused about the rating of this tornado.

Altoona Tornado - November 24, 2001

It can be seen from the NWS website that these two pics below was when tornado reached F4 intensity:
emmm... It was just... I even questioned whether these damages can earn EF3 rating nowadays.
View attachment 8334
View attachment 8336

Just now catching up on everything that was posted here today. Here is Grazulis' take on this house; he called it F2.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

One of the most famous tornado events in history is the August 28, 1884 Huron SD F4 tornadoes. They are most famous for being the second tornado ever photographed. What is something lesser known about the tornadoes is that at least one was extremely violent. A section of prairie sod 14 ft square and 1.5 ft deep was scoured out by one of the tornadoes, the body of one boy was carried for a half-mile, an entire farm was completely swept away and another rural home was swept away. Something else interesting is that Laura Wilder wrote about these tornadoes and they appear in the Little House on the Prairie book: "These Happy Golden Years."

What is the first tornado photograph? I always thought it was this event that was first.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

What is the first tornado photograph? I always thought it was this event that was first.

The April 26, 1884 Garnett KS F1

 

[buckeye05]

What is the first tornado photograph? I always thought it was this event that was first.

Totally off topic, nice new profile pic. They're one of my favorite hardcore punk bands.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

One of the most interesting and intense tornado events from the 3/25/1884 outbreak was the Oconee-Spartanburg Counties tornado family. Numerous tenant homes on plantations were swept away and some large plantation homes were also swept away. There was also reported to have been intense vegetation damage as "grass was torn up by the roots," large trees and small bushes were debarked, a thick pine forest was "torn up" with stumps being splattered with scoured topsoil, and rocks were reportedly dragged considerable distances. Grazulis has this tornado as an F3 but some of the damage sounds like F4 intensity.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

It likely was altered but the two horn funnels were likely real as multiple eyewitnesses saw multiple tornadoes on the ground at the same time.

It's probably part of a multivortex structure. If you watch this video of Cullman you can see similar horn like structures poking out of the clouds around the main condensation funnel, especially around 1:20 or so:

 

[buckeye05]

Just now catching up on everything that was posted here today. Here is Grazulis' take on this house; he called it F2.

That’s a pretty low-balled wind speed estimate. I could buy F3, but I typically do not agree with anything lower than that when no walls are left standing, unless we’re talking about tiny cottage style homes or manufactured homes.

 

[TH2002]

That’s a pretty low-balled wind speed estimate. I could buy F3, but I typically do not agree with anything lower than that when no walls are left standing, unless we’re talking about tiny cottage style homes or manufactured homes.

Let's hope he doesn't go along with whatever BS excuses LZK used to lowball Vilonia's rating.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

That’s a pretty low-balled wind speed estimate. I could buy F3, but I typically do not agree with anything lower than that when no walls are left standing, unless we’re talking about tiny cottage style homes or manufactured homes.

That house does look like it collapsed and debris wasn't thrown very far and some walls are still upright. Seems like F2-F3 damage to me. Also the tree damage right next to the home isn't very impressive.

 

[buckeye05]

That house does look like it collapsed and debris wasn't thrown very far and some walls are still upright. Seems like F2-F3 damage to me. Also the tree damage right next to the home isn't very impressive.

Now that you point it out, I do see a wall or two standing. That, along with the context paints a pretty clear picture. Given what I now know about this event, I have to agree with the sentiment that F4 was not the right call.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

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.

In terms of official EF5s Smithville and Hackleburg win in almost every category, no contest (if I had to pick just one Smithville would be the most impressive EF5 on record that I know of). Smithville was just absolutely vicious, extreme ground scouring, extreme tree/forest debarking, automobiles thrown up to a mile and mangled beyond recognition as well as being caked in topsoil and buildings literally vanishing (the bed and breakfast and funeral home being the most notable coming to mind). Hackleburg next for longevity and duration of EF5 intensity, as well as completely leveling the Wrangler plant, scouring concrete and carrying vehicles up to a mile and also mangling them beyond recognition. After that it's El Reno 2011. Then after that a tie (for me, at least) between Joplin, Moore 2013 and Parkersburg as for the most violent of the official EF5s.

 

[pohnpei]

I seems that he really have a rank of each tornado outbreak in the history. 2021/3/25 Outbreak ranked 122 since 1950. Looking forward to see the entire rank in October.
2021/3/17 didn't make the top 400 by the way.

Let's hope he doesn't go along with whatever BS excuses LZK used to lowball Vilonia's rating.

I think he will give Vilonia/Rochell/Chapman/Haper/Chickasha/Goldsby F5 rating without a doubt. He gave a hint about this on Twitter before.