Significant Tornado Events

[TH2002]

Ground view of damage from the 2015 Delmont tornado.

Circled what appears to be the structure in the foreground of the first photo and an arrow pointing in the rough direction the photo is facing. Appears to be a garage.


The other damage shots are pretty impressive too.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

The 2011 New Harmony EF4 tornado was an extremely violent tornado. Probably the strongest tornado in TN from 4/27/2011.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

What I believe to be the top 3 candidates for the strongest October tornado:

10/9/1913 Chambers NE F4:
This was a very long-tracked family of intense/violent tornadoes that traveled through central Nebraska. It was likely at peak intensity in Custer County. Four or more farms/ranches were swept away in this county alone, three of which I will describe here. The first farm, which had large buildings, was swept bare with farming machinery being "smashed to pieces." A nearby cornfield was stripped bare and "the land had an appearance of no improvements whatsoever." At another farm, everything was swept away with nothing left with the farm machinery being "twisted beyond repair." One interesting thing that the local newspaper reported here was "the earth here presented an appearance of having been gone over with a disk [harrow.]" At the last described farm, a large ten-room ranch house was completely swept away along with the surrounding outbuildings. Water tanks were carried up to 5 miles and debris at some farms was ground to "kindling wood" with "it being impossible to recognize any individual piece." Despite the extent of the damage in this area, no one was killed though one child was crushed when a sod house collapsed and may have died from his injuries. Sadly, the same could not be said for the Chambers area where 3 people were killed. 2 died in a farmhouse that was swept away and the other person died in the eastern edge of Chambers.

10/3/1903 Portage County WI F4:
This large and intense tornado moved from 1.5 miles south of Bancroft to west of Sheridan. At least seven farms were devastated by this tornado according to Grazulis. One of these farms which contained a two-story house, barns, and outbuildings was "literally swept out of existence. Blown clear to the ground." Even the floors were blown away at this farm. At another farm consisting of a "well-appointed" home and "fine" outbuildings was completely swept away. Near Lanark, a parsonage and church were swept away with not even a piece of timber left on the stone foundations. Many miles of forest were destroyed, potatoes were blown out of the ground, and cornfields were severely damaged. 5 people were killed by this tornado on farms.

10/25/1925 Good Hope AL F4:
This devastating and long-tracked tornado ripped through SE Alabama during the early morning hours. Many tenant and regular homes were leveled and swept away in rural areas. Automobiles were tossed for long distances and mangled from a few of these homes. One local newspaper reported that the tornado "swept the weeds and grass from the earth and left the ground as clean as a bedroom floor." The death total from this tornado was high, 18 people were killed and 60 injured.

 

[andyhb]

The 2011 New Harmony EF4 tornado was an extremely violent tornado. Probably the strongest tornado in TN from 4/27/2011.

View attachment 12165

I can never find much information on this one, which is a shame since it may have been an EF5 candidate.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

I can never find much information on this one, which is a shame since it may have been an EF5 candidate.

TornadoTalk has an article about it but I haven't read it.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Something interesting I noticed on DAT. NWS Nashville appears to be adding some tornadoes from 4/3/1974 onto DAT and rating them using the EF-scale.

 

[pohnpei]

TornadoTalk has an article about it but I haven't read it.

Nothing new in that article. The highest rating residence of this tornado seems like a mystery.

 

[andyhb]

Something interesting I noticed on DAT. NWS Memphis appears to be adding some tornadoes from 4/3/1974 onto DAT and rating them using the EF-scale.

Oh so they can do that, but can't be bothered to properly survey the tornadoes from the most recent Super Outbreak.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Oh so they can do that, but can't be bothered to properly survey the tornadoes from the most recent Super Outbreak.

Oh oops I meant NWS Nashville not Memphis.

 

[tornado examiner]

the nws confuses me.........they'll try and survey old tornadoes but not properly survey recent ones?

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

One of the most impressive and horrifying videos of Pilger.

 

[tornado examiner]

are there any other 200mph EF4's?
i know of the two ef4's on may 24 2011
and the april 9 2015 fairdale tornado.
but are there any others?

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Photos of damage from the 1919 Fergus Falls tornado from a book called the “Fergus Falls Cyclone of 1919

 

[tornado examiner]

yeah i can safely say the frequency of violent tornadoes has drastically decreased....

 

[buckeye05]

are there any other 200mph EF4's?
i know of the two ef4's on may 24 2011
and the april 9 2015 fairdale tornado.
but are there any others?

Chapman 2016

 

[tornado examiner]

chapman was given a wind rating of 180mph :/

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Chapman 2016

I thought Chapman was 180 mph?

 

[tornado examiner]

I thought Chapman was 180 mph?

it was....

 

[buckeye05]

Nope. It’s only listed as 180 MPH on the NWS survey page, but the NCDC entry lists at as having winds around 200 MPH, and a TornadoTalk interview with the survey teams contains a mention that it was a likely EF5, and probably would have been rated as such had it hit town directly.

 

[tornado examiner]

oh...