Significant Tornado Events

[Western_KS_Wx]

I've always heard that Macksville in particular was violent and I honestly don't know; there really isn't much to go off with.

Assuming you’re referring to the 4th and final wedge from the Greensburg supercell, I think that one was actually probably the weakest of the bunch.

Hopewell and Macksville get mixed up occasionally, but both Hopewell and Trousdale were almost certainly EF5-strength tornadoes. I haven’t seen anything yet from Macksville that would indicate clear EF4+ intensity, though tree damage in some spots early in its life did appear pretty high-end.

 

[Eoline]

both Hopewell and Trousdale were almost certainly EF5-strength tornadoes.

Interesting. I've looked a lot into Greensburg specifically and have delved a bit into the other EF3s but please do correct me if I'm wrong - didn't Tim Marshall say something about Trousdale producing very significant ground scouring/damage that wasn't photographed?

 

[Western_KS_Wx]

Interesting. I've looked a lot into Greensburg specifically and have delved a bit into the other EF3s but please do correct me if I'm wrong - didn't Tim Marshall say something about Trousdale producing very significant ground scouring/damage that wasn't photographed?

Yep, I made a post about it going into detail here:

Post in thread 'Enhanced Fujita Ratings Debate Thread'

Oct 17, 2025

Which of those "other" (besides Greensburg) tornadoes that night do you feel could or should warrant EF5?

I think Trousdale and Hopewell reached EF5 intensity. As for damage alone, structurally I haven’t found anything that warrants that rating. I have only a handful of photos showing the worst of Trousdale’s damage, and from what I’ve seen and heard it’s almost certain it was probably EF5 strength. It completely obliterated a farmstead and entirely swept away the home, and a large tree on the property was ripped out of the ground, root-balls and all, and carried a considerable...

• Western_KS_Wx

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I really wish he would’ve photographed that segment of the path he flew over, even if it wasn’t relevant to the Greensburg survey. Based on aerial imagery I’ve analyzed the damage it inflicted to trees and shrubbery was very intense, with some large trees being lofted 15-20 yards. I wonder had it occurred with the current state of the scale if the vegetation damage alone would’ve warranted an EF4 rating.

But yeah, it did produce some pretty significant ground scouring, and in a large swath as well. Here’s a ground photo in a rural area between Greensburg and Trousdale that shows it well. In the background you can see the flattened grass and scouring in the brown streaks on the hillside. It looks like it was similar to Greensburg’s scouring in that extremely intense subvortices more-so gouged out deep swaths in the ground, rather than a consistent streak of scouring.