Significant Tornado Events

[CheeselandSkies]

I feel like a disproportionate number of the April 27th tornadoes displayed visible horizontal vortices, is there a reason for that?

As @MNTornadoGuy said, it's a phenomenon that seems to be associated with high-end outbreaks because it's caused by extreme shear/vorticity. It was common with tornadoes from June 2, 1990 (OH Valley outbreak, 7 F4s) and April 26, 1991 (Andover/Red Rock). Not sure if I've seen photos of them specifically from 1974 or Palm Sunday 1965, but I wouldn't be surprised. Tri-state 1925 probably would have had some, too if anybody could have seen them.

 

[andyhb]

Does anyone have any ground photographs of these swept away homes from the 2014 Vilonia tornado without damage indicators?
View attachment 5481

Good luck, lol. There’s a whole host of these from the Vilonia area.

 

[andyhb]

Here's a summary of some buildings in the Vilonia area that did not receive a DAT point/DI assigned to them if they were surveyed.


This home on Beryl Rd immediately north of several that were given EF4 ratings on Cody Lane, does not appear to have a DI, with extensive scouring present both upstream and downstream of the damage.


Neither of these homes (the ones from the pictures above) were given DIs on S Coker Rd. I believe at least one of them, on the upper right, was constructed to code with anchor bolts/etc per account of the owner (Lee Lentz). Extensive scouring and wind rowing present both upstream and downstream of this location.


Not a single home that was swept away in this neighbourhood on Cemetery Street south of downtown was given a DI, regardless of construction standards. Like just lol.


This building in downtown on the north side of the highway that was probably not greatly constructed was completely wiped away (I believe it was some kind of restaurant), but nonetheless had no DI.


Finally, here is the home on E Wicker St. that should've been given an EF5 rating, but gymnastics were performed to avoid doing so. Not only that, the house directly across the street on the south side that was swept away has no DI.

Done using the 4/30/2014 overhead shots from Google Earth with the DAT KML file overlaid to give an indication of where DIs were located and where they were not. It is of note that Tim Marshall's subsequent assessment did not include any of these areas in its information: https://www.researchgate.net/public...vey_of_the_Mayflower-Vilonia_Arkansas_Tornado

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Here's a summary of some buildings in the Vilonia area that did not receive a DAT point/DI assigned to them if they were surveyed.

View attachment 5485
This home on Beryl Rd immediately north of several that were given EF4 ratings on Cody Lane, does not appear to have a DI, with extensive scouring present both upstream and downstream of the damage.

View attachment 5486
Neither of these homes (the ones from the pictures above) were given DIs on S Coker Rd. I believe at least one of them, on the upper right, was constructed to code with anchor bolts/etc per account of the owner (Lee Lentz). Extensive scouring and wind rowing present both upstream and downstream of this location.

View attachment 5487
Not a single home that was swept away in this neighbourhood on Cemetery Street south of downtown was given a DI, regardless of construction standards. Like just lol.

View attachment 5488
This building in downtown on the north side of the highway that was probably not greatly constructed was completely wiped away (I believe it was some kind of restaurant), but nonetheless had no DI.

View attachment 5489
Finally, here is the home on E Wicker St. that should've been given an EF5 rating, but gymnastics were performed to avoid doing so. Not only that, the house directly across the street on the south side that was swept away has no DI.

Done using the 4/30/2014 overhead shots from Google Earth with the DAT KML file overlaid to give an indication of where DIs were located and where they were not. It is of note that Tim Marshall's subsequent assessment did not include any of these areas in its information: https://www.researchgate.net/public...vey_of_the_Mayflower-Vilonia_Arkansas_Tornado

View attachment 5490

I've heard that on the original Significant Tornadoes thread there were up-close photographs of one of these homes that showed properly-installed anchor bolts. The contextual damage inside the intense core of the tornado was extreme, cars were stripped and mangled, a 14-ton metal tank was thrown 3/4 of a mile, trees completely debarked and low-lying shrubbery was stripped.

Drone view of that swept away home on Beryl Rd.

 

[buckeye05]

I somehow get more and more frustrated each time I see all the evidence for what could honestly be called a cover-up in Vilonia laid out. The fact that several completely slabbed homes were entirely omitted from the survey is beyond unacceptable. JR simply had no business being involved in tornado damage surveys, as he allowed his personal bias and arrogance get in the way of his ability to do his job in an objective manor. I truly believe he was so invested in pushing his own agenda, that he purposefully misled Tim Marshall away from areas of potential EF5 damage. Then to top it off, he "addressed" the controversy by stating the already-known fact that homes in that ONE subdivision were nailed to their foundations, which is an insult to the public's intelligence, and their understanding of the scale.

There is so much blatant evidence of deception, that I think this survey needs to be "re-opened" and examined by an objective panel of tornado damage experts.

Oh, and here are the trees in the ditch that were still standing, rendering the E Wicker St home EF4 somehow. Never mind the fact they were shredded and severely debarked...

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

JR

Yeah, it is frustrating that in all the survey reports they do not mention that E Wicker St home or the other slabbed homes near the destroyed school. Also, those small trees in the ditch thing just show the violence of the tornado as they are shredded, bent, and debarked. It just provides more contextual damage for an EF5 rating. Unfortunately, tornado ratings in Storm Data seem to be set in stone so a resurvey of the tornado is very unlikely. However, Grazulis will likely give the tornado an F5 rating in his new book.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

As @MNTornadoGuy said, it's a phenomenon that seems to be associated with high-end outbreaks because it's caused by extreme shear/vorticity. It was common with tornadoes from June 2, 1990 (OH Valley outbreak, 7 F4s) and April 26, 1991 (Andover/Red Rock). Not sure if I've seen photos of them specifically from 1974 or Palm Sunday 1965, but I wouldn't be surprised. Tri-state 1925 probably would have had some, too if anybody could have seen them.

Jarrell and Bridge Creek-Moore 1999 had them as well. I'm sure many other past Dixie outbreaks have displayed them but there aren't any photographs of it. Is there an official name for those horizontal vortices yet, or not?

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

As @MNTornadoGuy said, it's a phenomenon that seems to be associated with high-end outbreaks because it's caused by extreme shear/vorticity. It was common with tornadoes from June 2, 1990 (OH Valley outbreak, 7 F4s) and April 26, 1991 (Andover/Red Rock). Not sure if I've seen photos of them specifically from 1974 or Palm Sunday 1965, but I wouldn't be surprised. Tri-state 1925 probably would have had some, too if anybody could have seen them.

Horizontal vortices from the Palm Sunday 1965 outbreak.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Horizontal vortices from the Palm Sunday 1965 outbreak.View attachment 5503

Ah ha! I knew these would have occurred with Palm Sunday 1965 but couldn't find a photograph. I'm sure there's more out there. It'd be interesting to track down the earliest known photograph of horizontal vortices.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Here is an interesting Nebraska tornado event, on 6/18/1937 a massive slow-moving tornado struck near Magnet NE. The damage it produced was extreme; a large chunk of concrete was torn up from a sidewalk, multiple automobiles were reduced to scrap-metal, one 10-ton elevator grader was moved 150 ft, six farms were completely swept away, farm machinery was wrapped around trees, six feet of dirt was piled against a storm cave, a half-mile wide swath of an alfalfa field was "cleaned out" and a heavy road grader was thrown into a tree. Due to the high-visibility and slow movement of the tornado, everyone in its path had time to take shelter. Grazulis gives this tornado an F4 rating but it likely reached F5 intensity.

 

[Marshal79344]

Jarrell and Bridge Creek-Moore 1999 had them as well. I'm sure many other past Dixie outbreaks have displayed them but there aren't any photographs of it. Is there an official name for those horizontal vortices yet, or not?

This one from the 2013 Fallis, OK - Carney, OK EF3 is my favorite example of a Horizontal Vortex

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Here is an interesting Nebraska tornado event, on 6/18/1937 a massive slow-moving tornado struck near Magnet NE. The damage it produced was extreme; a large chunk of concrete was torn up from a sidewalk, multiple automobiles were reduced to scrap-metal, one 10-ton elevator grader was moved 150 ft, six farms were completely swept away, farm machinery was wrapped around trees, six feet of dirt was piled against a storm cave, a half-mile wide swath of an alfalfa field was "cleaned out" and a heavy road grader was thrown into a tree. Due to the high-visibility and slow movement of the tornado, everyone in its path had time to take shelter. Grazulis gives this tornado an F4 rating but it likely reached F5 intensity.
View attachment 5504
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Another obscure Nebraska event that was posted on page 3 of this thread (source: https://talkweather.com/threads/significant-tornado-events.1276/page-3#post-31843) but definitely deserves to be mentioned again:

To quote the poster "On June 18, 1975, a family of eight tornadoes struck roughly between the towns of Bartley and Arnold in Central Nebraska (called the Gothenburg tornado family in reference to the biggest town in the area). Many of the paths were separated by relatively short distances such that it was first reported as a single tornado with a 90-mile length. Five of the tornadoes were rated F3 and one, near Arnold, was rated F4. There were reports of multiple tornadoes on the ground at once, satellite tornadoes, horizontal vortices, etc. At least one of the tornadoes looked rather visually imposing (this was near Peterson, NE):"





This is when things get interesting. One of the tornadoes from this family dug deep trenches into the ground similar to Philadelphia, MS of 2011. Pics below:

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Another obscure Nebraska event that was posted on page 3 of this thread (source: https://talkweather.com/threads/significant-tornado-events.1276/page-3#post-31843) but definitely deserves to be mentioned again:

To quote the poster "On June 18, 1975, a family of eight tornadoes struck roughly between the towns of Bartley and Arnold in Central Nebraska (called the Gothenburg tornado family in reference to the biggest town in the area). Many of the paths were separated by relatively short distances such that it was first reported as a single tornado with a 90-mile length. Five of the tornadoes were rated F3 and one, near Arnold, was rated F4. There were reports of multiple tornadoes on the ground at once, satellite tornadoes, horizontal vortices, etc. At least one of the tornadoes looked rather visually imposing (this was near Peterson, NE):"

View attachment 5509



This is when things get interesting. One of the tornadoes from this family dug deep trenches into the ground similar to Philadelphia, MS of 2011. Pics below:

View attachment 5510
View attachment 5511
View attachment 5512



Paper on the event:

Fujita says it was because of lightning though I do wonder if the trenches were entirely dug by subvortices.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Fujita says it was because of lightning though I do wonder if the trenches were entirely dug by subvortices.

The science now shows us that subvortices alone are capable of doing damage like that, so I'm sure it was solely the tornado that was responsible for that.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

The science now shows us that subvortices alone are capable of doing damage like that, so I'm sure it was solely the tornado that was responsible for that.

There was another tornado that dug trenches that occurred during Jan 1957 in OK I believe.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

There was another tornado that dug trenches that occurred during Jan 1957 in OK I believe.

Gans, OK. Here's my previous post on it: https://talkweather.com/threads/significant-tornado-events.1276/page-13#post-45525

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

The science now shows us that subvortices alone are capable of doing damage like that, so I'm sure it was solely the tornado that was responsible for that.

Fujita says it was because of lightning though I do wonder if the trenches were entirely dug by subvortices.

Here's a link to a PDF of the paper on it because this thread won't let me load the PDF file of it:

"The Gothenburg Tornado Family of June 18, 1975," by Forbes, Gregory S. and Umenfor, Thomas A., SMRP Research Paper No. 132, 1976.

swco-ir.tdl.org

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Here's a link to a PDF of the paper on it because this thread won't let me load the PDF file of it:

"The Gothenburg Tornado Family of June 18, 1975," by Forbes, Gregory S. and Umenfor, Thomas A., SMRP Research Paper No. 132, 1976.

swco-ir.tdl.org

While I'm at it, I recommend this link as it has a huge collection of Fujita's paper available for free:
https://swco-ir.tdl.org/handle/10605/298

 

[Marshal79344]

There was another tornado that dug trenches that occurred during Jan 1957 in OK I believe.

The Gans, Oklahoma Tornado on January 22, 1957 produced a very intense scouring swath. It would randomly dig holes in the ground at random spots, similar to what Cordova did, and Philadelphia on a smaller scale.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

When I saw #2 for the first time I sent it to Mom because it looked and sounded like her description of the Smithville F5 as it passed about half a mile away from her home. She heard the warning on tv and looked out to see debris falling in the yard. She ran out the back door and described what it was like. She looked at the video and it took her breath away. She said the only difference was large trees falling out of the sky and landing in the trees around her home.

"A bolt of lightning hit a tree in the next yard and jarred me awake and I realized I was outside looking at the tornado and had no idea what the hell I was doing out there," she said.

I asked her why she went outside and she said she had no answer but she still suffers from PTSD from the storm and says a lot of residents do as well. They really should offer more counseling to victims of such horrific events.

Trees falling out of the sky? Crazy. I always hear stories of debris falling out of the sky with violent tornadoes but have yet to see it on video. I don't doubt it happens, but I'd love to see it documented clearly on tape someday. I heard a story from a poster on a thread on another weather-related site years ago that has since gone defunct about the 1998 Lawrence County F5 and how he was living out in the country near Waynesboro and all of a sudden pieces of roof shingles, window panes, glass and the like began falling out of the sky into his backyard. Just surreal.