Significant Tornado Events

[buckeye05]

Chapman is an EF5 for sure imo, mainly based on what it did to the poured concrete foundation of that house, plus the bent railroad tracks.

Vilonia, Goldsby, and Chickasha are also well above the EF5 threshold. New Wren, MS from 4/27/2011 also sounds like a strong candidate, but I have not viewed images of the potential EF5 damage myself, so I’ll reserve judgment on that one.

Washington, Mayfield, Rochelle, and Tuscaloosa are a little more borderline, but I feel a decent argument for all four can be made, especially the latter two. Also, I’ve removed Bassfield from my personal list of “shoulda-been” EF5s list. While that cabin outside of town was bolted down and essentially vanished, photos of the cabin before hand show a small, rather frail-looking, almost barn-like structure. Just not enough for an EF5 candidate.

 

[buckeye05]

Also I strongly agree with an end of the year review of EF3+ events. Something like that is desperately needed. Just using a few examples from last year, Newnan, GA should have been dropped to EF3 upon review, while Saloma, KY could definitely use a bump up to EF4.

Also, another sort of forgotten potential EF5 candidate would be Louisville, MS. What it did to the Eiland Plaza apartment complex may be the most impressive damage to large, multi-story brick apartment buildings I have seen. Two were obliterated and slabbed, with the debris finely granulated. That’s more extreme than the damage to similar apartment buildings in Tuscaloosa or Joplin. I just don’t have enough construction info to make me confident about it though.

 

[CheeselandSkies]

Also I strongly agree with an end of the year review of EF3+ events. Something like that is desperately needed. Just using a few examples from last year, Newnan, GA should have been dropped to EF3 upon review, while Saloma, KY could definitely use a bump up to EF4.

Also, another sort of forgotten potential EF5 candidate would be Louisville, MS. What it did to the Eiland Plaza apartment complex may be the most impressive damage to large, multi-story brick apartment buildings I have seen. Two were obliterated and slabbed, with the debris finely granulated. That’s more extreme than the damage to similar apartment buildings in Tuscaloosa or Joplin. I just don’t have enough construction info to make me confident about it though.

The review process could/should also include a more in-depth look at any engineering data available on damaged/destroyed structures, rather than making a judgement call based on the remains; and any important damage points that may have been missed in the initial survey.

 

[TH2002]

Also, I’ve removed Bassfield from my personal list of “shoulda-been” EF5s list. While that cabin outside of town was bolted down and essentially vanished, photos of the cabin before hand show a small, rather frail-looking, almost barn-like structure. Just not enough for an EF5 candidate.

I admit I 100% understand why the cabin was rated EF4 after seeing the "before" picture. Definitely a frail looking structure.

But at the same time, I do have to argue that the contextual damage was still well into the EF5 category.


Anchor bolts bent and/or stripped out of the foundation of that cabin, which is something I would normally expect to see with a heavier, well-built structure. I get that alone isn't enough to warrant an EF5 rating, but again I did have to give it a second thought.

Vehicle damage

Oh yeah, this


It's perhaps a tough case like Yazoo City 2010, as neither tornado hit the right DI's at their peak intensities, but I am still 100% certain that both Yazoo City and Bassfield were certainly stronger than the EF4 ratings they were given.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Has anyone seen any photos of extremely violent tree damage from Yazoo City 2010 as from what I’ve seen so far the worst tree damage only appears to be the type you usually find in low-end violent tornadoes.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Aerial imagery and ground views of the Eiland Plaza apartment complex and surrounding area. I have been unable to find close ground views of the apartment unit that was slabbed.

 

[pohnpei]

Has anyone seen any photos of extremely violent tree damage from Yazoo City 2010 as from what I’ve seen so far the worst tree damage only appears to be the type you usually find in low-end violent tornadoes.

I've never seen anything high end from Yazoo City. I think it's Interesting many people tend to feel that those longest and largest tornados were strongest ones but It certainly wasn't in reality. Like top5 longest path tornado between Super Outbreak and December 10 2021 were all EF3 tornados. West liberty KY, Chetek WI, Bassfield second MS, Greensboro AL, Albany GA. Greensboro maybe only one of them had potential violent intensity for a short time.

 

[CheeselandSkies]

I've never seen anything high end from Yazoo City. I think it's Interesting many people tend to feel that those longest and largest tornados were strongest ones but It certainly wasn't in reality. Like top5 longest path tornado between Super Outbreak and December 10 2021 were all EF3 tornados. West liberty KY, Chetek WI, Bassfield second MS, Greensboro AL, Albany GA. Greensboro maybe only one of them had potential violent intensity for a short time.

I think that, while of course there isn't a 1:1 correlation between tornado longevity and intensity, it's a fair assumption that conditions that favor particularly long-lived tornadoes also favor particularly intense ones.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

I've never seen anything high end from Yazoo City. I think it's Interesting many people tend to feel that those longest and largest tornados were strongest ones but It certainly wasn't in reality. Like top5 longest path tornado between Super Outbreak and December 10 2021 were all EF3 tornados. West liberty KY, Chetek WI, Bassfield second MS, Greensboro AL, Albany GA. Greensboro maybe only one of them had potential violent intensity for a short time.

Yazoo City's Vrot peaked south of Yazoo City where the low-end EF4 damage occurred. Obviously, Vrot doesn't always correlate with intensity at the ground but it does give a general idea of where peak intensity might have been reached. Also, I believe that West Liberty and the EF3 tornado north of Bassfield were likely violent but didn't hit any well-built structures at peak strength.

 

[pohnpei]

Some of the most impressive damage that I've seen from Yazoo City.

 

[pohnpei]

Yazoo City's Vrot peaked south of Yazoo City where the low-end EF4 damage occurred. Obviously, Vrot doesn't always correlate with intensity at the ground but it does give a general idea of where peak intensity might have been reached. Also, I believe that West Liberty and the EF3 tornado north of Bassfield were likely violent but didn't hit any well-built structures at peak strength.

Yes. Yazoo City's vrot was impressive but not impressive enough for magnitude like this. Big tornados with large RMW tend to have higher vrot value because relatively low solution of 88D radar. With similar width, 07 Greensburg had much higher vrot, which may an idea of why it was stronger than Yazoo City.

 

[pohnpei]

Not too often discussed about, but Woodward 2012's damage was pretty impressive for an EF3 rating tornado.
Hotel(?)get leveled

 

[pohnpei]

2008 had too many fairly impressive EF3 tornados get overlooked. Moscow Il have to be one of them.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Not too often discussed about, but Woodward 2012's damage was pretty impressive for an EF3 rating tornado.
Hotel(?)get leveled
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I think those buildings were these condos which were unanchored:

 

[buckeye05]

2008 had too many fairly impressive EF3 tornados get overlooked. Moscow Il have to be one of them.
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This one was in Indiana, not Illinois, and is usually referred to as the Waldron, IN tornado, and caused major damage in the tiny village of Middletown, IN as well. I remember this outbreak from back when I was in middle school, as there were some huge supercells in my area that day. As a friend and I walked to a convenience store after school, we had no idea that a supercell was approaching Dayton. As we turned a corner, we were greeted with one of the darkest, most ominous skies I have ever seen, with a suspicious lowering that may have been a wall cloud. We both agreed to turn back, but as we started walking back to our respective homes the sirens went off. I ended up sprinting home, completely terrified. Thankfully, no tornadoes formed in our immediate area, but it was definitely one of the most memorable childhood weather memories. Anyway, the contextual damage here is impressive and definitely suggests violent.

Here is some video of the Waldron tornado itself.

 

[tornado examiner]

i hate the argument of debris remains therefore it wasnt ef5 winds.

what if the tornado was moving fast enough to cripple the house but the strongest winds exited the area before all the debris could be removed?

 

[tornado examiner]

Also I strongly agree with an end of the year review of EF3+ events. Something like that is desperately needed. Just using a few examples from last year, Newnan, GA should have been dropped to EF3 upon review, while Saloma, KY could definitely use a bump up to EF4.

Also, another sort of forgotten potential EF5 candidate would be Louisville, MS. What it did to the Eiland Plaza apartment complex may be the most impressive damage to large, multi-story brick apartment buildings I have seen. Two were obliterated and slabbed, with the debris finely granulated. That’s more extreme than the damage to similar apartment buildings in Tuscaloosa or Joplin. I just don’t have enough construction info to make me confident about it though.

newnan was the....lowest bound ef4 thats ever been low bound ef4....
it just baaaaaarely meets the mark.
large well constructed houses leveled and partially swept away.....

 

[pohnpei]

newnan was the....lowest bound ef4 thats ever been low bound ef4....
it just baaaaaarely meets the mark.
large well constructed houses leveled and partially swept away.....

There was even more marginal EF4 than Newnan like Woodbury 2013 with EF4 point like this

Newnan still confused as how this can be EF4 damage

 

[tornado examiner]

homes so strong they're rated ef4 with walls left standing....like in cookeville as well.

 

[buckeye05]

newnan was the....lowest bound ef4 thats ever been low bound ef4....
it just baaaaaarely meets the mark.
large well constructed houses leveled and partially swept away.....

homes so strong they're rated ef4 with walls left standing....like in cookeville as well.

Neither of these tornadoes should have been rated EF4 at all. The homes impacted were of average construction in each case, and the ones in Newnan were simply poorly-built. Photos show a lack of anchoring, and vehicles left undamaged and unmoved from driveways and garages. Newnan was probably a low to mid-range EF3. Woodbury/Moville, IA may have been EF4 capable based on it's visual appearance, but there was no damage that met the EF4 criteria. The rating for that one was mostly based on a heavy grain cart being tossed (rolled, not lofted) across a road. Makes no sense.