Significant Tornado Events

[locomusic01]

Do you think that Moshannon State Forest was likely the most intense of the outbreak it just didn't hit as many DIs capable of registering it higher than F4? Obviously Niles-Wheatland's F5 rating is WELL deserved but in terms of the overall outbreak there were likely more intense tornadoes, at least that's what I think.
One thing about Niles-Wheatland I've never understood is that it didn't do any ground scouring or tree/vegetation debarking at any point in its path. It does seem tornadoes that occur in the Ohio River Valley area of the country don't do much in the way of this type of damage, so maybe it's a soil/tree/vegetation species thing. Or maybe I'm just imagining things.
I also find it interesting how the Moshannon tornado made a pivot as it dropped into a valley before coming back up and regaining strength; this sort of phenomena was documented in many tornadoes in 4/27/11 and I think it also happened with Guin in 1974; perhaps local terrain/topography does play a role in tornado formation, width, longevity and intensity? Sorry, lots of questions of here. But really cool you're doing this outbreak.

Several of the tornadoes produced some really impressive contextual damage, although I don't wanna give everything away already lol. I don't think it's possible to infer that kind of extreme intensity just from that, though. The thing about Niles-Wheatland is that, even though the total damage path sometimes extended for half a mile or more, the core of it was only like 50-100 yards wide. Sometimes even narrower. But inside that tiny little core it was super violent.

Regarding scouring, soil differences are definitely huge. I dunno about all of PA, but most of the places I've lived in this state have had more clay-ish soil that tends to be quite dense and compacted. I'd imagine that would be a lot harder to scour out than looser, less dense soil. Probably the type of grass/vegetation plays an important role too.

My personal theory is that this also ties into debarking. We know from simulations that scoured soil can cause significant debris loading, slowing near-surface wind speeds but adding more mass and force. And with (literally) tons of tiny particles in the air, it also creates sort of an abrasive sandblasting effect. I suspect that's probably a key to a lot of the severe vegetation damage that we sometimes see even when there are no obvious debris sources nearby. You can definitely get debarking/denuding without ground scouring and vice versa, but I think there's probably a link there. And, if so, it makes sense that you'd see less debarking in places where the soil is more resistant to scouring. Along with a whole bunch of other factors obviously.

Anyway, there have been several studies exploring how tornadoes interact with terrain - I'll post some links later. It's extremely complex and depends on a ton of different factors (the internal structure of the tornado, its forward speed, surface roughness, etc), but as a very, very general rule, vortex stretching tends to cause intensification on downslopes and compression tends to cause weakening/general messiness on upslopes. There are often sharp deflections in the path as well.

 

[locomusic01]

This is really graphic, so I'd recommend not reading it if you're at all squeamish. I won't be including it in my article because a lot of survivors will be reading it, but I tracked down a few people who were at the Niles Park Plaza (the area where seven of the fatalities occurred) either when the tornado struck or immediately after. What they described was as horrific as anything I've encountered while researching tornadoes:

Spoiler

One person, who was pulled out of their car by the tornado as it was thrown hundreds of yards, was literally torn in half.



Several of the victims were essentially skinned, a la Jarrell. One had been mangled so badly that two of the people I talked to walked by them within a couple of feet multiple times before they even recognized it was a body.

Those are the kinds of things you typically only see in the most violent of tornadoes. And these weren't people who were just caught standing outside - three of them were inside a home, three were in cars and one was inside the plaza. I actually got conflicting information on one of them, specifically where they were found. Some people/sources placed them a few hundred yards from their home and others placed them nearly a mile away. Neither would surprise me, really.

 

[TH2002]

This is really graphic, so I'd recommend not reading it if you're at all squeamish. I won't be including it in my article because a lot of survivors will be reading it, but I tracked down a few people who were at the Niles Park Plaza (the area where seven of the fatalities occurred) either when the tornado struck or immediately after. What they described was as horrific as anything I've encountered while researching tornadoes:

Spoiler

One person, who was pulled out of their car by the tornado as it was thrown hundreds of yards, was literally torn in half.

View attachment 9636

Several of the victims were essentially skinned, a la Jarrell. One had been mangled so badly that two of the people I talked to walked by them within a couple of feet multiple times before they even recognized it was a body.

Those are the kinds of things you typically only see in the most violent of tornadoes. And these weren't people who were just caught standing outside - three of them were inside a home, three were in cars and one was inside the plaza. I actually got conflicting information on one of them, specifically where they were found. Some people/sources placed them a few hundred yards from their home and others placed them nearly a mile away. Neither would surprise me, really.

What Joplin also did to some of the victims is gruesome. I found a photo that I'm not going to post here for obvious reasons, but shows a victim that was literally torn to pieces leaving officials nothing to work with but a pair of mutilated arms, legs and a head.

 

[Marshal79344]

What Joplin also did to some of the victims is gruesome. I found a photo that I'm not going to post here for obvious reasons, but shows a victim that was literally torn to pieces leaving officials nothing to work with but a pair of mutilated arms, legs and a head.

Would be best not to get into that. I saw a photo of a deceased young male, no older than 15, who was killed in the 2016 Funing Tornado. His head was smashed in completely by a brick. It was awful. Tornado fatalities are always horrifically gruesome. Some of the details of fatalities from New Richmond 1899 completely killed by appetite.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

This is really graphic, so I'd recommend not reading it if you're at all squeamish. I won't be including it in my article because a lot of survivors will be reading it, but I tracked down a few people who were at the Niles Park Plaza (the area where seven of the fatalities occurred) either when the tornado struck or immediately after. What they described was as horrific as anything I've encountered while researching tornadoes:

Spoiler

One person, who was pulled out of their car by the tornado as it was thrown hundreds of yards, was literally torn in half.

View attachment 9636

Several of the victims were essentially skinned, a la Jarrell. One had been mangled so badly that two of the people I talked to walked by them within a couple of feet multiple times before they even recognized it was a body.

Those are the kinds of things you typically only see in the most violent of tornadoes. And these weren't people who were just caught standing outside - three of them were inside a home, three were in cars and one was inside the plaza. I actually got conflicting information on one of them, specifically where they were found. Some people/sources placed them a few hundred yards from their home and others placed them nearly a mile away. Neither would surprise me, really.

Disclaimer for graphic description of a human fatality:

There's a book on this outbreak that I wish I could find for affordable prices off Amazon called "Tornado Watch #211" and apparently (according to Tornado Talk, at least) it mentions a woman whose scalp was torn so deeply she wasn't even bleeding; I think this may have been the same woman who was found completely skinless in a ditch and still alive for approximately 60 seconds after being found or the like, chills my bones just thinking about it.
Grazulis refers to Wheatland as a 'maxi-tornado' in his book and it certainly deserves the label, I don't think many other tornadoes have earned that label from him (I think Andover and Bridge Creek-Moore have but I don't have his books in front of me to be sure).

 

[locomusic01]

Apparently I've got that book somewhere because Amazon says I ordered it years ago. I remember I wanted to buy it but I didn't think I did. Lot of people have recommended it tho.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Apparently I've got that book somewhere because Amazon says I ordered it years ago. I remember I wanted to buy it but I didn't think I did. Lot of people have recommended it tho.

It looks like I should've bought it 5-6 years ago when it was still affordable; I'm sure my local library or some out of the way secondhand bookstore has a copy of it deep within their corridors.
This site on the 1985 outbreak is only available via Wayback Machine now but it has some photographs from this event I haven't seen elsewhere; of note is a track of a tornado that occurred on June 7, 1947 that apparently followed a virtually identical path through Trumbull County, OH and dissipated shortly after crossing the border into PA. Perhaps that area of the country is (or was) more prone to tornadoes than we think? It does seem like there were a lot more outbreaks in the Midwestern states like Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Southern Michigan during the 1930s-60s, but after Palm Sunday 1965 they kind of go into a lull and plains events become more common.

 

[WaryWarren]

I remember reading that the fatality in the parking lot of the hospital hit head on by the Joplin tornado was due to being impaled by a stop sign. Tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary. Time flies.

 

[Casuarina Head]

Grazulis refers to Wheatland as a 'maxi-tornado' in his book and it certainly deserves the label, I don't think many other tornadoes have earned that label from him (I think Andover and Bridge Creek-Moore have but I don't have his books in front of me to be sure).

I have both of his Significant Tornadoes volumes as well as his The Tornado. Only the Wheatland F5 is referred to as a “maxi-tornado.”

According Significant Tornadoes, the 7 Jun 1947 tornado was an F4 that killed six, injured 340, and virtually paralleled 31 May 1985.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Some examples of the absolute devastation caused by the Joplin tornado.

 

[locomusic01]

Speaking of Joplin, I recently came across a ton of photos from around St. John's. I meant to add them to my article but never got around to it. Here are a few of them.

From the top of the hospital, you can see some of the many parking stops that were ripped up and blown around. In the first photo, you can also see every one of the handicap parking signs bent flat to the ground.

And obviously the damage to/around the hospital itself was pretty extreme.

 

[TH2002]

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

This is one of the saddest tornado videos I've seen and shows the horror of the Joplin tornado.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I have both of his Significant Tornadoes volumes as well as his The Tornado. Only the Wheatland F5 is referred to as a “maxi-tornado.”

According Significant Tornadoes, the 7 Jun 1947 tornado was an F4 that killed six, injured 340, and virtually paralleled 31 May 1985.

I'd love to get more information on that 1947 tornado, but there doesn't seem to be much to go on outside of Grazulis.
Interesting that he only uses 'maxi-tornado' a single time in the entire books (I don't have either in my possession), do the books you have go up to 1989 or 1991? I wonder what his definition of that term is; I can think of quite a few tornadoes that could be described as 'maxi' but I don't think that term is all that popular.
So, the source of my claim about Andover and Bridge Creek-Moore being called 'maxi-tornadoes' was from this post on another thread on this site, it's from someone who writes for Tornado Talk, maybe he knows the source of those claims.

Strongest tornadoes on record

Hi, everybody. My name is Ilya (Илья), I'm from Krasnoyarsk, Siberia (which is in Russia) and I'm obsessed with twisters. The first time I saw a tornado on TV I knew it was a love at first sight. I was 10 yo or so. Than was 1996 Twister movie... Unfortunately, Russia and Siberia especially is...

talkweather.com

Scroll down to the last post from user WIL9287

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Some examples of the absolute devastation caused by the Joplin tornado.

A couple of others:



This one says it all, really:



A collection of various before and afters:

Wiped off the map: Shocking Before and After Images Reveal How Giant Tornado Ripped Apart Joplin’s City Landmarks

By John Stevens Last updated at 4:07 PM on 28th May 2011 Devastating 198mph tornado tore a path a mile wide and six miles long straight through Joplin, Missouri Deadliest single tornado in more tha…

ehssafetynewsamerica.com

 

[TH2002]

Here you can download aerial imagery of the entire path taken on May 24 and 26 2011

Joplin, MO Tornado Response Imagery

geodesy.noaa.gov

 

[TH2002]

One interesting thing about Joplin is this home (at center) swept away in the Iron Gates subdivision. While most if not all of the worst damage here was rated EF3, aside from the obvious that this showcases a multiple-vortex structure, this home doesn't seem to be mentioned in any damage survey report or research paper I can find.

Anyone have any information about the construction of this home? Or what rating was applied by the survey teams?

 

[CheeselandSkies]

A couple of others:

View attachment 9643

This one says it all, really:

View attachment 9644

A collection of various before and afters:

Wiped off the map: Shocking Before and After Images Reveal How Giant Tornado Ripped Apart Joplin’s City Landmarks

By John Stevens Last updated at 4:07 PM on 28th May 2011 Devastating 198mph tornado tore a path a mile wide and six miles long straight through Joplin, Missouri Deadliest single tornado in more tha…

ehssafetynewsamerica.com

EF3.

(sarcasm)

 

[TH2002]

EF3.

(sarcasm)

No remember it caused 3% EF4 Damage according to the ASCE.

what a bunch of morons

 

[buckeye05]

I’ve said it before and I say it again. If your educational background is 100% engineering and 0% meteorology, then please just stay the f away from tornado damage surveying and the EF scale.

The Joplin debacle speaks for itself. Now thanks to that secondary survey, Joplin is sometimes unjustifiably considered to be a “questionable EF5” for no other reason besides the fact that a team with no weather expertise, and no background in EF scale application was allowed to publish a study. The fact that they failed to identify some of the most intense, if not the most intense damage to a high-rise building (St. John’s) in the history of tornado damage, says it all. Still angry about that.