Significant Tornado Events

[TH2002]

Has anyone actually seen a close-up of the foundations from the Washington 2013 tornado?

 

[OHWX97]

Here's a few more from Washington.

 

[buckeye05]

I see CMU in some of those, but I do recall that a few poured concrete foundation homes lost their subfloors as well though. Honestly, I’m in the “high-end EF4 is acceptable” camp for Washington 2013, mainly due to a lack of truly extreme contextual damage. The wind rowing was very impressive, but in terms of debarking, scouring, and vehicle damage, it seems a step below the others if you’re comparing it to confirmed EF5s like Parkersburg.

I guess I’m looking for that distinct, classic muddy EF5 aftermath, with everything completely shredded, trees with essentially no bark left, grass scouring, and vehicles left completely unrecognizable or torn apart. Also, most EF5s have that one bizarrely intense instance of damage that really stands out, like what Parkersburg did to that basement wall, and I don’t recall anything like that in Washington. Now every single one of those things doesn’t have to be present obviously, but besides the wind rowing, I don’t see anything quite of that caliber contextual damage wise. But that’s just imo, if I see some photos that show differently, I’ll gladly change my mind.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

I see CMU in some of those, but I do recall that a few poured concrete foundation homes lost their subfloors as well though. Honestly, I’m in the “high-end EF4 is acceptable” camp for Washington 2013, mainly due to a lack of truly extreme contextual damage. The wind rowing was very impressive, but in terms of debarking, scouring, and vehicle damage, it seems a step below the others if you’re comparing it to confirmed EF5s like Parkersburg.

I guess I’m looking for that distinct, classic muddy EF5 aftermath, with everything completely shredded, trees with essentially no bark left, grass scouring, and vehicles left completely unrecognizable or torn apart. Also, most EF5s have that one bizarrely intense instance of damage that really stands out, like what Parkersburg did to that basement wall, and I don’t recall anything like that in Washington. Now every single one of those things doesn’t have to be present obviously, but besides the wind rowing, I don’t see anything quite of that caliber contextual damage wise. But that’s just imo, if I see some photos that show differently, I’ll gladly change my mind.

I also don’t see any anchor bolts in the ground-level photos posted above.

 

[buckeye05]

I also don’t see any anchor bolts in the ground-level photos posted above.

Yeah that too, but I have seen a few that do indeed show anchor bolts. I think some are visible in the DAT, if I recall correctly. But yeah, not really an egregious case like Vilonia or Chapman.

 

[TH2002]

While high end EF4 honestly isn't a horrible rating for the 2013 Washington tornado I'm inclined to say it's a borderline EF4/5 case that could go either way. Perhaps one of the most impressive sights from the tornado is this muddy pickup truck wrapped around a tree:

Some of the most impressive debarking along the path (particularly in the bottom right corner) along with homes and vehicles that had a bad time:


Extreme vehicle damage and the remains of a bike(?) in a debarked tree

Previous post by @Western_KS_Wx showing impressive contextuals: https://talkweather.com/threads/significant-tornado-events.1276/page-363#post-76484

 

[locomusic01]

I need to add more/corrected deaths + a few small path tweaks I've made, but otherwise this is mostly up to date:

Or if you wanted the kmz I can post it tomorrow after I update that stuff.

Edit: I just realized that I never got around to updating the Clear Lake-Arland tornado. Nothing huge, but I need to adjust it a bit further north in the area east of Clayton, and the section between Clear Lake and Richardson (where the deaths occurred) needs to be a little wider. It's like 400-500 yards right now but should probably be more like 600-800 there based on where some of the farms were actually located within the affected plots.

Okay, finally got the New Richmond outbreak map updated:

June 12, 1899 — The New Richmond, WI F5 - Google My Maps

June 12, 1899 — The New Richmond, WI F5

www.google.com

Not a ton of changes, but I fixed a few issues w/the Clear Lake track, corrected New Richmond to better reflect its full width (as opposed to just the swath of significant damage) and added markers for all the deaths I've been able to definitively pin down so far. Well, except for the Herman F4, which I still need to work on.

Anyway, turns out Clear Lake was actually rather wide early on in its track, and this is just based on known damage points so it's possible it may've been even wider than I have it here (about 750 yards max). I also placed a white marker SE of Clayton because I think there may have been a third fatality there, but I'm still trying to 100% confirm it.

Also of note: a few different reports state that the Clear Lake tornado struck the little community of Pineville at 6:30 pm. I'm sure that probably isn't exact, but going with that timing plus the well-attested time of 6:07 pm for the train station in New Richmond, that'd be 18 miles in 23 minutes. That puts the average forward speed of the tornado(es) between downtown New Richmond and Pineville at 47 mph. Still pretty consistent with the roughly 40-ish mph average from the earlier parts of the track.

 

[pohnpei]

Washington Il tornado did meet with some relatively well built houses in its path.
In first pic below, you can see several poorer built houses swept clean from subfloor in red circle which represent the quality of most houses it encountered.

They it encountered some big relatively well built houses in orange circle and did heavy damage

Then in hit an apartment complex in yellow circle which were probably the most well built houses it encountered in its life. Honestly, apartment damage like this was unmatched to Bridge Creek Joplin or even Dawson Springs.

It's still possible that the tornado was incidentally weakened hitting these houses and suddenly strengthed when encountered those poor houses. Anyway, Washington was undoubtedly incredible violent and impressive tornado and one of the strongest ever recorded in November.

 

[Sawmaster]

Just noting that apartments are as varied as houses when it comes to building quality. Some are just thrown together and none have that little bit of extra time allowed which is needed to go from good to top grade workmanship. The investors paying for them want them finished yesterday and nothing else matters to them. In most places any relevant building codes are the same as for houses excep0t for firebreaks which are mostly sheetrock. Stronger codes only apply past 3 stories for wood framing which is why you almost never see higher apartments than 3 stories except for downtown high-rises.

Furthermore the usual M.O. is to sell apartments within ~5 years of completion while they're still in good shape to minimize losses from problems and while they still rent for a premium due to their newness, making them attractive to buyers who don't have the resources to wait a half-year on new-builts to generate income. Apartments are probably the biggest profit margin of all new construction investment with anything you can't see being done to the cheapest possible standard. Nobody will remember who built an apartment complex but whoever built a home will be known and therefore it's in their interest to protect their future reputation by building decently or better. Homebuilders are usually local which enhances that, but apartments are often built by large out-of-town companies from the nearest metropolis.

On tornado-resistance I'm beginning to believe that much of the stress on multiple-story wood frame buildings dissipates almost instantly when the upper floors blow away leaving the ground floor more likely to survive. You often see one-story houses swept away next to 2+ story buildings with the bottom floor remaining. Part of the reason for this is that the ceiling of a downstairs is actually a floor system for what is above, and floors are sturdier by nature than ceilings. Another part is that ground-level winds are inhibited while a little higher up there's nothing there to inhibit them. Apartment pairs also usually have 'breezeway stairs' across the building between them which allows some of the wind pressure to pass through. Apartments also have less fenestration than homes, and the major damage usually begins when fenestration fails.

So I'm not impressed much by the bottom floor of multi-story wood framed buildings surviving, but I feel the reverse when those too are swept away. Just my $0.02 worth which won't even buy you a piece of bubblegum anymore...

 

[Ivanthetornadoenthusiast]

Okay, finally got the New Richmond outbreak map updated:

June 12, 1899 — The New Richmond, WI F5 - Google My Maps

June 12, 1899 — The New Richmond, WI F5

www.google.com

Not a ton of changes, but I fixed a few issues w/the Clear Lake track, corrected New Richmond to better reflect its full width (as opposed to just the swath of significant damage) and added markers for all the deaths I've been able to definitively pin down so far. Well, except for the Herman F4, which I still need to work on.

Anyway, turns out Clear Lake was actually rather wide early on in its track, and this is just based on known damage points so it's possible it may've been even wider than I have it here (about 750 yards max). I also placed a white marker SE of Clayton because I think there may have been a third fatality there, but I'm still trying to 100% confirm it.

Also of note: a few different reports state that the Clear Lake tornado struck the little community of Pineville at 6:30 pm. I'm sure that probably isn't exact, but going with that timing plus the well-attested time of 6:07 pm for the train station in New Richmond, that'd be 18 miles in 23 minutes. That puts the average forward speed of the tornado(es) between downtown New Richmond and Pineville at 47 mph. Still pretty consistent with the roughly 40-ish mph average from the earlier parts of the track.

Newspaper clipping for the Clear Lake tornado?

 

[Western_KS_Wx]

Speaking of Vilonia, found some of these. Strongest EF4 ever, lol?


Not entirely sure on the construction behind this home but the contextuals are insane, looks like granulated debris/scoured grass and broken concrete along the slab and the background is just as impressive too.

Definitely has that ‘EF5 look’ that Buckeye was talking about, and for reference he’s an image from Moore 2013, honestly in some spots Vilonia isn’t too far off which says a lot considering Moore was easily one of the most violent recorded in modern history.

 

[buckeye05]

Washington Il tornado did meet with some relatively well built houses in its path.
In first pic below, you can see several poorer built houses swept clean from subfloor in red circle which represent the quality of most houses it encountered.
View attachment 18806
They it encountered some big relatively well built houses in orange circle and did heavy damage
View attachment 18808
Then in hit an apartment complex in yellow circle which were probably the most well built houses it encountered in its life. Honestly, apartment damage like this was unmatched to Bridge Creek Joplin or even Dawson Springs.
View attachment 18807
It's still possible that the tornado was incidentally weakened hitting these houses and suddenly strengthed when encountered those poor houses. Anyway, Washington was undoubtedly incredible violent and impressive tornado and one of the strongest ever recorded in November.

How is it unmatched to Joplin or Bridge Creek? That is a huuuuge overstatement in terms of damage intensity comparisons, especially when you’re dealing with modern wood frame apartments.

 

[pohnpei]

How is it unmatched to Joplin or Bridge Creek? That is a huuuuge overstatement in terms of damage intensity comparisons, especially when you’re dealing with modern wood frame apartments.

It was indeed unmatched with Joplin or Bridge Creek. Joplin completely moved first two floors of three store apartment which have been written in the report and discussed before. Bridge Creek completely leveled two store apartment and wasn't in its peak intensity. Washington can't even completely moved first floor of three store apartment if you tell closely which was a pretty big difference even considering potential quality difference and actually we don't know the construction difference here.
Anyway, Washington was a unthinkable incredible violent tornado that no one can deny.

 

[buckeye05]

Speaking of Vilonia, found some of these. Strongest EF4 ever, lol?

View attachment 18812 View attachment 18813 View attachment 18814
Not entirely sure on the construction behind this home but the contextuals are insane, looks like granulated debris/scoured grass and broken concrete along the slab and the background is just as impressive too.
View attachment 18815 View attachment 18816 View attachment 18817 View attachment 18818 View attachment 18819
Definitely has that ‘EF5 look’ that Buckeye was talking about, and for reference he’s an image from Moore 2013, honestly in some spots Vilonia isn’t too far off which says a lot considering Moore was easily one of the most violent recorded in modern history.
View attachment 18820

This right here is exactly what I mean when I’m talking about extreme, EF5-consistent contextual damage. Vilonia was truly the perfect benchmark for what defines classic EF5 damage. Too bad it can’t be used as one.

Oh another thing, if we’re talking about underrated Illinois tornadoes, Rochelle-Fairdale 2015 is actually a better EF5 candidate than Washington imo. It wasn’t as violent as Vilonia, but there was a small area of damage in a subdivision near Rochelle that met low-end EF5 criteria both in terms of construction and contextual support. Several large, poured concrete basement foundation homes were completely swept away, a few had their anchor-bolted subfloors ripped away and obliterated, and there was extensive wind rowing. Grass was also scoured from lawns, which did not happen in Washington. Perhaps most impressively, a poured concrete walkway leading to the front door of a home was actually dislodged and shifted laterally, indicative of extremely intense ground level winds. Also, the NWS rated it at 200 MPH, rather than the 190 MPH in Washington. I don’t want to dig through my pics right now, but there are plenty of damage photos of the Rochelle damage available.

 

[buckeye05]

It was indeed unmatched with Joplin or Bridge Creek. Joplin completely moved first two floors of three store apartment which have been written in the report and discussed before. Bridge Creek completely leveled two store apartment and wasn't in its peak intensity. Washington can't even completely moved first floor of three store apartment if you tell closely which was a pretty big difference even considering potential quality difference and actually we don't know the construction difference here.
Anyway, Washington was a unthinkable incredible violent tornado that no one can deny.

View attachment 18821

Oh I completely misunderstood. I thought you were suggesting that the Washington apartment damage was worse than Joplin or Bridge Creek and was totally flabbergasted lol.

Also on a related note, Eiland Plaza in Louisville, MS 2014 is a good sleeper candidate for most violent multi-story apartment building damage. Can’t say I’ve ever seen them completely slabbed like that before or since. Don’t know the details on the type of anchoring there though .

 

[locomusic01]

Newspaper clipping for the Clear Lake tornado?

Oh, that's right. I didn't have a lot of clippings saved still but here are a few:

And the subsequent Barron tornado:

And a couple on the Carnelian Lake tornado:

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Okay, finally got the New Richmond outbreak map updated:

June 12, 1899 — The New Richmond, WI F5 - Google My Maps

June 12, 1899 — The New Richmond, WI F5

www.google.com

Not a ton of changes, but I fixed a few issues w/the Clear Lake track, corrected New Richmond to better reflect its full width (as opposed to just the swath of significant damage) and added markers for all the deaths I've been able to definitively pin down so far. Well, except for the Herman F4, which I still need to work on.

Anyway, turns out Clear Lake was actually rather wide early on in its track, and this is just based on known damage points so it's possible it may've been even wider than I have it here (about 750 yards max). I also placed a white marker SE of Clayton because I think there may have been a third fatality there, but I'm still trying to 100% confirm it.

Also of note: a few different reports state that the Clear Lake tornado struck the little community of Pineville at 6:30 pm. I'm sure that probably isn't exact, but going with that timing plus the well-attested time of 6:07 pm for the train station in New Richmond, that'd be 18 miles in 23 minutes. That puts the average forward speed of the tornado(es) between downtown New Richmond and Pineville at 47 mph. Still pretty consistent with the roughly 40-ish mph average from the earlier parts of the track.

47 mph is pretty fast for a tornado that far north; usually the fast movers are down south.
Since we're on the topic of New Richmond I just have to share this panorama view that I've no doubt has been posted on here but it really shows the scale of the disaster. Keep in mind that this picture was taken a couple days later when some cleanup had likely occurred. That said, the left half of the photo is about as complete a wipe out as you can get; all the more impressive that this occurred in the last couple miles of the tornado's path; perhaps the narrowing of the funnel when it was going through the city likely accelerated the wind speeds somewhat?

 

[Western_KS_Wx]

This right here is exactly what I mean when I’m talking about extreme, EF5-consistent contextual damage. Vilonia was truly the perfect benchmark for what defines classic EF5 damage. Too bad it can’t be used as one.

Referring back to tornadoes having that EF5 look, here’s some top-tier violent tornadoes I’d use as a benchmark for having damage indicators that points to clear-cut EF5 intensity. These tornadoes all have unique features exclusive to EF5-level damage, and I think truly stands out from the difference of EF4 to EF5.

El Reno, OK 2011



Greensburg, KS 2007




Joplin, MO 2011


Smithville MS, 2011
(Taken from direct centerline, used to be a row of 3 brick homes to left side of image)


Anddd the real benchmark of truly insane damage (which I still think it’s true intensity often goes a little under the radar)..
Moore OK, 2013

 

[locomusic01]

It was indeed unmatched with Joplin or Bridge Creek. Joplin completely moved first two floors of three store apartment which have been written in the report and discussed before. Bridge Creek completely leveled two store apartment and wasn't in its peak intensity. Washington can't even completely moved first floor of three store apartment if you tell closely which was a pretty big difference even considering potential quality difference and actually we don't know the construction difference here.
Anyway, Washington was a unthinkable incredible violent tornado that no one can deny.

View attachment 18821

I missed this earlier, but it reminds me that a few months ago someone emailed me saying they had good photos of Emerald Springs Apartments that they took not long after the tornado (most of the pictures floating around are from a few days later when cleanup had already started). I was super busy at the time and it totally slipped my mind so I don't think I ever got back to them, but I'll see if I can find them again and get the photos.

Regarding the tornado not being at peak intensity, it's interesting that you can kinda see it weakening as it crosses Eastlake Estates (Emerald Springs is at right across Western Ave):

Obviously "weakening" is a relative term since it was still doing at least high-end F4 damage throughout, but the difference from the far left side where it entered the subdivision (where it was doing extreme F5 damage) to the area around Western Ave is fairly noticeable. And then of course within a couple hundred yards it was (IMO) back to legit F5 intensity again by the time it exited Greenbriar (looking SSW so tornado was moving right to left here):

 

[Casuarina Head]

Speaking of Vilonia, found some of these. Strongest EF4 ever, lol?

Not entirely sure on the construction behind this home but the contextuals are insane, looks like granulated debris/scoured grass and broken concrete along the slab and the background is just as impressive too.

That “broken concrete” looks more like painted lumber to me.