Significant Tornado Events

[slenker]

Unrelated, but am I the only one that's been getting a crapton of Cloudflare errors in the past hour or so?

And I'll add that the Tornado Archive has been similarly working like crap for me for the past couple of weeks. Not only do I keep getting bombarded with Cloudflare, but a lot of tornadoes just flat out won't show up in the Data Explorer.

I've been getting those very badly as well - comes and goes in waves ever since the whole ADS fiasco. And I can't see much in the data explorer either. Not sure what's going on but it has to be related to the ADS stuff I would imagine, but I have no earthly idea otherwise.

 

[joshoctober16]

Speaking of opposing viewpoints and debates, I present this absolute monstrosity:
View attachment 48324
I know, it looks stupid, but there are a few signs that a weak ground circulation may have been pushed west by the derecho before the EF2 was confirmed. Check this out:
View attachment 48325
This is 0.96 miles from the Enderlin tornado's path. I've already verified that no other properties in the vicinity (including one 0.23 miles away) sustained this degree of damage, and thus I don't believe this was caused by the derecho that followed. This damage does not appear on any other historical imagery. This is the single most solid piece of evidence to suggest they may have been one tornado, imo.
View attachment 48326View attachment 48329
There's also this damage, 0.18 to 0.26 miles from the EF2's path and technically within the Enderlin tornado's damage contour, although trees to the north are completely untouched.
View attachment 48331
Also this, although I'm not certain whether this is tornadic.
View attachment 48332
Note that I'm still trying to locate potential damage in this corridor. I'll analyze radar shortly to see if anything matches up.

Thoughts are welcome, but please don't murder me. I’m still working to get more solid evidence that this may have looped back around in the way I showed above.

well that is somthing interesting to look into more , honestly there is a other 2 sig tornado that i feel could be one tornado

A6 and A8 from may 3 1999 (before the bridge creek F5) i feel were likely the same tornado, and the so call gap was it just as a invisible weak EF0.

the dvd of this event by jeff piotrowski had him at this gap at the time , and it seems he was in a tornado with no condensation funnel.

 

[Central Ohio Wx]

Speaking of opposing viewpoints and debates, I present this absolute monstrosity:
View attachment 48324
I know, it looks stupid, but there are a few signs that a weak ground circulation may have been pushed west by the derecho before the EF2 was confirmed. Check this out:
View attachment 48325
This is 0.96 miles from the Enderlin tornado's path. I've already verified that no other properties in the vicinity (including one 0.23 miles away) sustained this degree of damage, and thus I don't believe this was caused by the derecho that followed. This damage does not appear on any other historical imagery. This is the single most solid piece of evidence to suggest they may have been one tornado, imo.
View attachment 48326View attachment 48329
There's also this damage, 0.18 to 0.26 miles from the EF2's path and technically within the Enderlin tornado's damage contour, although trees to the north are completely untouched.
View attachment 48331
Also this, although I'm not certain whether this is tornadic.
View attachment 48332
Note that I'm still trying to locate potential damage in this corridor. I'll analyze radar shortly to see if anything matches up.

Thoughts are welcome, but please don't murder me. I’m still working to get more solid evidence that this may have looped back around in the way I showed above.

When I say west on here I mean east, I was pooped out yesterday.

 

[Central Ohio Wx]

but I'd like to see some accounts of chasers who were on the storm (did some specifically observe a failed occlusion of Enderlin rather than a new tornado forming, for example?)

I was thinking about that; I'll contact a few people later. The biggest issue was that the tornado(es) happened at night and based on the fact that nobody has reported one singular tornado I don't think the condensation funnel was visible, if it was down. If anything it's going to be more of a Parkersburg-esque weak circulation.

 

[ColdFront]

And sorry if I’ve been a bit of a hothead here since yesterday. I don’t hate this forum (hell, I have almost 700 messages here), I just think there’s things we could collectively work on, such as being more welcome to people with viewpoints that aren’t generally accepted here.

All good, no apologies necessary. I didn’t think you were being a hothead at all. You’re a good contributor here.

 

[ColdFront]

I can confirm that I heard it as well. My dad and I were outside on our back deck because he thought he saw rotation passing over the house. I didn't see any legit sign of that. We had a large oak tree in our backyard which kept us from seeing the tornado approaching. I didn't need to see it to know what it was. It was the low rumble sound that told me all I needed. We quickly ran inside. Now, I know this may sound crazy and, after all these years, I have yet to figure out the answer to this. But it cooled off big time before the tornado hit. By cooled big time, I mean I got chills. Yeah it was overcast and the clouds were moving quickly. I also haven't came across anything that suggest the air temperature dropping off before a tornado hits.

Thanks for answering that. Have you ever considered writing something like a detailed memoir from that day? I know your story was told in what Stands in a Storm, but I’d love to read the lead up and the day of from your point of view.

I know you have a ton of projects going on, but just a question. Just due to the sheer historic nature of that event, I’d love to see as many stories/photos/accounts on the record as possible. Similar to how our generation reads first hand accounts from 4/3/74, there will be new generations of weather hobbyists down the line that would love to have that for 4/27/11.

 

[AJS]

Quite possibly the most extreme ground scouring you’ll ever see documented. Not a single blade of grass to be seen.

 

[Central Ohio Wx]

View attachment 48363
Quite possibly the most extreme ground scouring you’ll ever see documented. Not a single blade of grass to be seen.

which tor?

 

[TH2002]

which tor?

I'm 99% sure that image is from Jarrell.

 

[Central Ohio Wx]

It looks like your map shows that the Enderlin EF5 completed a loop, and the (officially) separate EF2 was actually just a continuation of the same tornado? It's an interesting theory, but I'd like to see some accounts of chasers who were on the storm (did some specifically observe a failed occlusion of Enderlin rather than a new tornado forming, for example?)

Back on this - Nick and Celton Henderson (another storm chaser who you probably know) were coincidentally talking about the possible loop yesterday. Apparently the cycle lasted ~1 minute, and the tornado was photographed/videoed as a rope at that time by Henderson.

What I still think happened is that something related to the derecho's interaction with the circulation caused it to rocket southeastward, while causing the tornado to strengthen after completing this "loop" north of Enderlin. Here's the velocity from KVMX, cycling through the images gives you a rough idea of the movement:

Interestingly, on the fourth scan (at far-right), the couplet roughly maintains itself but moves southeast as the derecho overtakes it. Sorry for the bad image quality.

Alternatively, it may have merged with the southeastward supercell that was centered over Alice at the time, which is what caused the southeastward direction of motion. Reflectivity from KVMX generally appears to support this, although it it's hard to see/could be the Alice cell dropping another tornado:

Either of these three could be true, and it's worth looking at the two other possibilities I explained above (derecho interaction/merge). Note that KABR also shows a consistent couplet as it completes this loop.

 

[Central Ohio Wx]

Interestingly, on the fourth scan (at far-right), the couplet roughly maintains itself but moves southeast as the derecho overtakes it. Sorry for the bad image quality.

Since you can only attach ten images, a continuation of this showing the couplet barrelling in a southeast direction of motion after where the Sheldon EF2 officially starts. Velocity from KVMX:

Sorry for posting so many images, I just like using TW's image cycle tool to be able to see the movement more clearly.

 

[AJS]

I'm 99% sure that image is from Jarrell.

Correct! I have been collecting some images from the infamous Jarrell tornado for my final senior year project so I can truly showcase what the most violent of tornadoes are capable of.



This image never ceases to stun me. All the shrubs/trees are so thoroughly debarked and the ground is so severely scoured it’s almost as if nothing was even there to begin with. Just unreal devastation.

 

[AJS]

This aerial of damage from Double Creek Estates is without a doubt the highest end damage you’re probably gonna see from any tornado. There is quite literally nothing left. No grass ( besides the green specks at the edge of the neighborhood ) no asphalt on the driveways and barely any debris left behind. About as thorough of destruction as it can get. Unreal.

 

[AJS]

Hot take everybody: I think this damage was produced by winds higher than in the F3 range.

Making a list of the most violent tornadoes is honestly pretty subjective because at a certain point, they reach an intensity where the damage photos look damn near identical. However, I personally have yet to see a community as utterly obliterated and swept cleanly away as I have with Double Creek Estates.

Apologies for all the Jarrell posts lol, just been a big topic for me lately. Also, took a much needed break from researching tornadoes and debating about the EF Scale for the sake of my sanity. Glad to be back though!

 

[Central Ohio Wx]

Hot take everybody: I think this damage was produced by winds higher than in the F3 range.

The NIST study that claimed that was basing their estimation off a select few homes they surveyed, not contextuals or anything else. The houses they surveyed weren't well-built. Obviously it was one of the most violent in history and well into the F5 range.

 

[tornadowatch211]

View attachment 48382View attachment 48383View attachment 48384
Hot take everybody: I think this damage was produced by winds higher than in the F3 range.

Making a list of the most violent tornadoes is honestly pretty subjective because at a certain point, they reach an intensity where the damage photos look damn near identical. However, I personally have yet to see a community as utterly obliterated and swept cleanly away as I have with Double Creek Estates.

Apologies for all the Jarrell posts lol, just been a big topic for me lately. Also, took a much needed break from researching tornadoes and debating about the EF Scale for the sake of my sanity. Glad to be back though!

Stormstalker (locomusic01 here) has a bunch of images here. Here’s the absolute worst besides those. My bad if you don’t want something reposted:

 

[AJS]

The NIST study that claimed that was basing their estimation off a select few homes they surveyed, not contextuals or anything else. The houses they surveyed weren't well-built. Obviously it was one of the most violent in history and well into the F5 range.

Yep. Couldn’t agree more. Honestly while I hate making lists, I’d say these F5/EF5s of recent times strike me as the ones that are “ as bad as it gets. “

Jarrell, TX.
Smithville, MS.
El Reno, OK 2011.
Moore, OK 2013.
Bridge Creek/Moore, OK 1999.
Hackleburg/Phil Campbell, AL 2011.
Vilonia, AR 2014 ( Idc if this was rated EF4, the damage it produced was without a doubt some of the most violent we’ve ever seen. )
Parkersburg, IA 2008.
Joplin, MO 2011.

These ones really stand out to me.

 

[joshoctober16]

some sig tornadoes are being updated by NWS , Philadelphia EF5 and new wren EF3 are some being updated , they really fixed up Philadelphia's path , however new wren EF3 date states it formed in 2011 and died in 2017, so yeah a big woops for them on that part.

 

[HAwkmoon]

Yep. Couldn’t agree more. Honestly while I hate making lists, I’d say these F5/EF5s of recent times strike me as the ones that are “ as bad as it gets. “

Jarrell, TX.
Smithville, MS.
El Reno, OK 2011.
Moore, OK 2013.
Bridge Creek/Moore, OK 1999.
Hackleburg/Phil Campbell, AL 2011.
Vilonia, AR 2014 ( Idc if this was rated EF4, the damage it produced was without a doubt some of the most violent we’ve ever seen. )
Parkersburg, IA 2008.
Joplin, MO 2011.

These ones really stand out to me.

Definitely put tri-state up there if we count that. But yeah Jarrell is as bad as damage gets I think, and if its true that it actually wasnt as slow moving as is claimed, its even more insane.

 

[AJS]

Definitely put tri-state up there if we count that. But yeah Jarrell is as bad as damage gets I think, and if its true that it actually wasnt as slow moving as is claimed, its even more insane.

Oh absolutely. Tri State is definitely up there. I was just referring to tornadoes that have happened in more recent times. But if we go back even further, you could argue that Tri State and New Richmond 100% belong in that class.