Significant Tornado Events

[MNTornadoGuy]

Does anyone have any examples of pre-1995 F5 tornadoes sweeping away anchor-bolted homes?

 

[warneagle]

Does anyone have any examples of pre-1995 F5 tornadoes sweeping away anchor-bolted homes?

According to Grazulis, the Brandenburg, KY F5 (1974 Super Outbreak) swept away multiple well-constructed, anchor-bolted houses. I know there are some photos out there of damage from this one, but I don't know if they include these houses.

 

[Robinson lee]

有没有人有任何 1995 年之前的 F5 龙卷风席卷锚栓房屋的例子？

Ruskin heights 1957.5.20

El Dorado 1958.6.10

 

[buckeye05]

There’s an old weather data publication I dug up regarding the 1927 Poplar Bluff, MO tornado, and it specifically mentions a house that was swept away that was anchor bolted to its foundation. Anchor bolts have been around before the 1950s apparently.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

There’s an old weather data publication I dug up regarding the 1927 Poplar Bluff, MO tornado, and it specifically mentions a house that was swept away that was anchor bolted to its foundation. Anchor bolts have been around before the 1950s apparently.

Back then anchor bolts were only for the most well-off people, at least that's the most likely scenario. Anchor-bolted homes didn't become common until after WWII (at least in America).

 

[TH2002]

According to Grazulis, the Brandenburg, KY F5 (1974 Super Outbreak) swept away multiple well-constructed, anchor-bolted houses. I know there are some photos out there of damage from this one, but I don't know if they include these houses.

The house that sustained collapse of its basement walls had anchor bolts. You can see them if you look very closely on the right side of the image.

 

[buckeye05]

Back then anchor bolts were only for the most well-off people, at least that's the most likely scenario. Anchor-bolted homes didn't become common until after WWII (at least in America).

That makes sense, given the fact that the house mentioned was described as being very large and expensive. Made me question Grazulis' unofficial designation of F4 for the Poplar Bluff tornado.

The house that sustained collapse of its basement walls had anchor bolts. You can see them if you look very closely on the right side of the image.
View attachment 11478

This is one of those photos that blows my mind every time I see it. Only Joplin and Parkersburg produced similar damage to poured concrete basement walls as far as I know. Also judging by photos I have seen, the construction quality of the homes that were swept away in and near Brandenburg was remarkably high-quality for the 1970s, utilizing anchor bolts and poured concrete. Much more impressive than the overhyped damage in the Arrowhead/Windsor Park neighborhoods in Xenia.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

That makes sense, given the fact that the house mentioned was described as being very large and expensive. Made me question Grazulis' unofficial designation of F4 for the Poplar Bluff tornado.


This is one of those photos that blows my mind every time I see it. Only Joplin and Parkersburg produced similar damage to poured concrete basement walls as far as I know. Also judging by photos I have seen, the construction quality of the homes that were swept away in and near Brandenburg was remarkably high-quality for the 1970s, utilizing anchor bolts and poured concrete. Much more impressive than the overhyped damage in the Arrowhead/Windsor Park neighborhoods in Xenia.

Brandenburg was probably the most violent tornado in Kentucky up until last December; it produced massive ground scouring, debarked trees and low-lying vegetation and did incredible damage to several well put together houses, including massive wind-rowing of debris.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

This is intersting, the wiki entry for 4/3/74 now has several color photographs of damage from tornadoes and several black and white photographs of tornadoes from that outbreak I've never seen before, including a purported photograph of the Brandenburg tornado. No clue how accurate the new and improved pictures, but here's a link below. Note how the photograph of Guin damage has been colorized, along with the Tanner photographs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Super_Outbreak

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

This is neat, a compilation of violent tornadoes that have struck the state of Alabama. Of note is the tornado that struck Hackleburg in 1943 and a handful of damage photographs from Guin I've never seen before. There was also a tornado that killed an entire family of 6 in Lawrence County (presumably one of the Tanner tornadoes but not entirely sure):

https://www.al.com/living/2017/02/vintage_photos_of_tornado_dama.html

 

[buckeye05]

This is neat, a compilation of violent tornadoes that have struck the state of Alabama. Of note is the tornado that struck Hackleburg in 1943 and a handful of damage photographs from Guin I've never seen before. There was also a tornado that killed an entire family of 6 in Lawrence County (presumably one of the Tanner tornadoes but not entirely sure):

https://www.al.com/living/2017/02/vintage_photos_of_tornado_dama.html

Yeah most of those are completely misattributed. Now I have to go fix it. Tired of cleaning up after people who don't know what they are talking about on that d**n site.

Edit: This was meant for your first post above regarding the 1974 Super Outbreak Page.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Yeah most of those are completely misattributed. Now I have to go fix it. Tired of cleaning up after people who don't know what they are talking about on that d**n site.

Edit: This was meant for your first post above regarding the 1974 Super Outbreak Page.

Oh boy, not again. Lol.

 

[warneagle]

This is one of those photos that blows my mind every time I see it. Only Joplin and Parkersburg produced similar damage to poured concrete basement walls as far as I know. Also judging by photos I have seen, the construction quality of the homes that were swept away in and near Brandenburg was remarkably high-quality for the 1970s, utilizing anchor bolts and poured concrete. Much more impressive than the overhyped damage in the Arrowhead/Windsor Park neighborhoods in Xenia.

Brandenburg kind of gets overshadowed by Xenia and the fantastic stories about the damage from the Alabama F5s, but based on the actual, verified damage, I think it was the strongest tornado of the Super Outbreak.

 

[TH2002]

F5 damage in Elie

 

[Casuarina Head]

This is neat, a compilation of violent tornadoes that have struck the state of Alabama. Of note is the tornado that struck Hackleburg in 1943 and a handful of damage photographs from Guin I've never seen before. There was also a tornado that killed an entire family of 6 in Lawrence County (presumably one of the Tanner tornadoes but not entirely sure):

https://www.al.com/living/2017/02/vintage_photos_of_tornado_dama.html

Based on photographs number thirty-two through thirty-four, the 12 Apr 1943 Hackleburg AL F4 tornado was clearly a high-end event. All three images show extreme granulation, or rather pulverisation, of debris in the foreground. The tornado occurred around 2:30 a.m. EDT, so the official death toll of four was remarkably low, in light of the tornado’s evident intensity. I think the 1943 tornado was clearly capable of high-end F4 or even F5 damage as it passed through Hackleburg.

Brandenburg kind of gets overshadowed by Xenia and the fantastic stories about the damage from the Alabama F5s, but based on the actual, verified damage, I think it was the strongest tornado of the Super Outbreak.

Actually, I think Guin was likely the strongest of the outbreak, given its extreme DIs relative to its faster forward speed (I would put Brandenburg in second place).

This image from Guin shows extreme granulation of debris as well as scouring of a lawn down to bare soil (compare the dirt in foreground to grass in background).

The massive amount of pulverised debris in Guin is typical of very high-end tornadoes.

More from Guin: note the extreme ground scouring (greyish-brownish streak) through the very centre of the image, compared to green grass on either side.

Another view of Guin: note the Smithville MS-like “swirl” of convergent trees right of centre toward the upper edge of the photograph, indicating total levelling.

Last image from Guin: a mature tree not only totally debarked, but also stubbed, with possible (likely?) ground scouring in the foreground vs. background left.

By comparison, nevertheless, this image from Brandenburg shows extreme granulation and debarking of low-lying shrubbery, so Brandenburg was high-end as well:

As an aside, this image from the 6 May 1965 Centerville MN F4 shows extreme wind-rowing and scouring suggestive of possible F5 intensity, like Andover KS:

Extreme scouring from Lawrenceburg TN on 16 Apr 1998, comparable to that of the (likely or official) EF5s on 27 Apr 2011:

 

[Casuarina Head]

This is one of those photos that blows my mind every time I see it. Only Joplin and Parkersburg produced similar damage to poured concrete basement walls as far as I know. Also judging by photos I have seen, the construction quality of the homes that were swept away in and near Brandenburg was remarkably high-quality for the 1970s, utilizing anchor bolts and poured concrete. Much more impressive than the overhyped damage in the Arrowhead/Windsor Park neighborhoods in Xenia.

The New Bloomfield MO F4 of 8 May 1927 also cracked a concrete basement wall that was attached to a well-anchored home, one day before the Poplar Bluff F4.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Based on photographs number thirty-two through thirty-four, the 12 Apr 1943 Hackleburg AL F4 tornado was clearly a high-end event. All three images show extreme granulation, or rather pulverisation, of debris in the foreground. The tornado occurred around 2:30 a.m. EDT, so the official death toll of four was remarkably low, in light of the tornado’s evident intensity. I think the 1943 tornado was clearly capable of high-end F4 or even F5 damage as it passed through Hackleburg.

Actually, I think Guin was likely the strongest of the outbreak, given its extreme DIs relative to its faster forward speed (I would put Brandenburg in second place).

This image from Guin shows extreme granulation of debris as well as scouring of a lawn down to bare soil (compare the dirt in foreground to grass in background).

The massive amount of pulverised debris in Guin is typical of very high-end tornadoes.

More from Guin: note the extreme ground scouring (greyish-brownish streak) through the very centre of the image, compared to green grass on either side.

Another view of Guin: note the Smithville MS-like “swirl” of convergent trees right of centre toward the upper edge of the photograph, indicating total levelling.

Last image from Guin: a mature tree not only totally debarked, but also stubbed, with possible (likely?) ground scouring in the foreground vs. background left.

By comparison, nevertheless, this image from Brandenburg shows extreme granulation and debarking of low-lying shrubbery, so Brandenburg was high-end as well:

As an aside, this image from the 6 May 1965 Centerville MN F4 shows extreme wind-rowing and scouring suggestive of possible F5 intensity, like Andover KS:

Extreme scouring from Lawrenceburg TN on 16 Apr 1998, comparable to that of the (likely or official) EF5s on 27 Apr 2011:

I really wouldn’t consider the 5/6/1965 Mounds View tornado to be an F5 candidate. While the contextual damage in the area were indicative of a violent tornado I don’t think they were indicative of F5 intensity. Also all of the homes in that subdivision were poorly-anchored and sitting on a CMU foundation.

 

[locomusic01]

A couple of mildly interesting mini-updates on the Canadian side of 5/31/85. First, I think I may have found a new tornado. Several properties near Jackson in Grey County, ON suffered fairly substantial damage - one had its roof ripped off, another lost its roof + maybe a couple exterior walls and another farm had a barn "blown away" and the top half of a silo blown off. I also talked to someone whose home wasn't directly impacted but who lost a bunch of trees on their property, and they said they remembered hearing a "waterfall sound" as the storm went by. I'm not confident enough to say it was 100% a tornado, but it sounds pretty likely.

Also, I talked to someone who worked on one of the power crews ("hydro crews" to our northern friends) that repaired the high-voltage transmission towers hit by the Grand Valley tornado. I was under the impression that the towers were just blown over, which isn't particularly notable for a violent tornado, but he said that two of them were badly mangled and one was actually ripped out of the ground. According to him, he was there when the Environment Canada folks came to survey it and they said it was by far the worst damage they'd ever seen to transmission towers. Now I just need to find some photos of them.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

A couple of mildly interesting mini-updates on the Canadian side of 5/31/85. First, I think I may have found a new tornado. Several properties near Jackson in Grey County, ON suffered fairly substantial damage - one had its roof ripped off, another lost its roof + maybe a couple exterior walls and another farm had a barn "blown away" and the top half of a silo blown off. I also talked to someone whose home wasn't directly impacted but who lost a bunch of trees on their property, and they said they remembered hearing a "waterfall sound" as the storm went by. I'm not confident enough to say it was 100% a tornado, but it sounds pretty likely.

Also, I talked to someone who worked on one of the power crews ("hydro crews" to our northern friends) that repaired the high-voltage transmission towers hit by the Grand Valley tornado. I was under the impression that the towers were just blown over, which isn't particularly notable for a violent tornado, but he said that two of them were badly mangled and one was actually ripped out of the ground. According to him, he was there when the Environment Canada folks came to survey it and they said it was by far the worst damage they'd ever seen to transmission towers. Now I just need to find some photos of them.

Not sure if I already showed you this but it was an article about another tornado being rediscovered during this outbreak in Canada; thought you'd find it interesting.

Black Friday May 31, 1985: How a 'lost' 14th tornado was found - The Weather Network

In the deadly swarm of tornadoes that swept through Ontario 35 years ago, one was lost. Here's how it was found.

www.theweathernetwork.com

 

[locomusic01]

Not sure if I already showed you this but it was an article about another tornado being rediscovered during this outbreak in Canada; thought you'd find it interesting.

Black Friday May 31, 1985: How a 'lost' 14th tornado was found - The Weather Network

In the deadly swarm of tornadoes that swept through Ontario 35 years ago, one was lost. Here's how it was found.

www.theweathernetwork.com

Yeah, tbh I have no idea why the Grippen Lake tornado wasn't officially counted the whole time. It didn't do a ton of damage, but it went through a campground with a bunch of people and they all reported seeing a funnel and hearing a roar. They couldn't see if the funnel was touching the ground, but of course that doesn't necessarily mean anything anyway. It snapped/uprooted about 50 trees in all and blew out the windows/damaged the roofs of a few cottages.