Significant Tornado Events

[MNTornadoGuy]

So, Cordova, Raleigh/Uniontown had paths lengths both 120+ miles and Shoal Creek/Ohatchee had a path length of 98 miles; were their supercells discrete too or not? They seemed like they were on the ground and strong for quite a while too.
Also, sorry if this sounds like yet another silly question, why do so many of the tornadoes in Dixie Alley have such low-hanging cloud bases and why are they often rain-wrapped?

Because Dixie Alley usually has more gulf moisture.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Because Dixie Alley usually has more gulf moisture.

Oh, duh makes sense for being rain-wrapped. I should've known better. Thanks for the response.

 

[CheeselandSkies]

The 4/27/11 tornadoes were exceptionally visible by Dixie Alley standards, James Spann even remarked upon their first look at the eventual Cullman supercell how surprised he was that they could see the structure so clearly from at the time some miles away. The exception was Hackleburg, being that it rode the boundary/effective warm front in even higher RH air, it was a more "traditional" murky wedge rather like Joplin which would occur about a month later, or (presumably) how Tri-State would have appeared for most of its duration.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

The 4/27/11 tornadoes were exceptionally visible by Dixie Alley standards, James Spann even remarked upon their first look at the eventual Cullman supercell how surprised he was that they could see the structure so clearly from at the time some miles away. The exception was Hackleburg, being that it rode the boundary/effective warm front in even higher RH air, it was a more "traditional" murky wedge rather like Joplin which would occur about a month later, or (presumably) how Tri-State would have appeared for most of its duration.

Lots of the 4/27/11 tornadoes starting with high cloud bases and were highly visible (Cullman and Tuscaloosa in particular) and as they progressed and intensified along their paths their cloud bases become lower and they became less visible and wider in diameter until taking on the traditional Dixie tornado appearance. I wonder why that was.

 

[buckeye05]

I finally found a picture showing some of the EF4-rated debarking in Dayton from the Memorial Day 2019 outbreak. Not the most intense debarking ever photographed, but I have to say that it was much more impressive and extensive in person. These were very large old oak and maple trees, and some were almost completely stripped clean. It's truly amazing and fortunate that this tornado reached its peak intensity only briefly, and somehow did so in one of the only patches of woods in an urban area. Sorry I can't get rid of the little blue drop down button btw.

Also, I find it highly disappointing that our local WFO now seems to refuse to post survey photos, ever. Even in the DAT. No idea why.

 

[J-Rab]

That is some serious debarking on some pretty hard wood.

 

[Marshal79344]

So, Cordova, Raleigh/Uniontown had paths lengths both 120+ miles and Shoal Creek/Ohatchee had a path length of 98 miles; were their supercells discrete too or not? They seemed like they were on the ground and strong for quite a while too.
Also, sorry if this sounds like yet another silly question, why do so many of the tornadoes in Dixie Alley have such low-hanging cloud bases and why are they often rain-wrapped?

Both the Cordova, Enterprise, and Shoal Creek Supercells remained discrete for long periods of time

 

[Marshal79344]

Lots of the 4/27/11 tornadoes starting with high cloud bases and were highly visible (Cullman and Tuscaloosa in particular) and as they progressed and intensified along their paths their cloud bases become lower and they became less visible and wider in diameter until taking on the traditional Dixie tornado appearance. I wonder why that was.

That's because there was so much wind shear available that it cleared the bases from any precipitation

 

[pohnpei]

Serious question; what is it about Dixie Alley that makes these tornadoes so intense? Maybe I'm wrong, but lots of Dixie events seem to have just incredible ferocity that very few plains tornadoes seem to have (at least, not as much, and this is probably my incorrect perception) and in lots of the major outbreaks down there the tornadoes intensify almost immediately within touching down. Also, it seems like it's common for VLT 100+ mile events to occur down there and I don't think that ever happens with Plains tornadoes (the longest they ever seem to achieve is 70-75 miles). I understand that the storm systems down south typically move much faster due to higher upper-level winds being more prevalent during early spring but quite a few tornadoes down there have managed to last 2.5 to nearly 3 hours on the ground, which, even taking their rapid forward speeds into account is impressive. What is it exactly about Dixie Alley that makes it so conducive to violent tornadoes (aside from the factors I've already mentioned, assuming they're correct)? If you want to answer fine, if not it's fine, I'll just let whoever wants to chime in. Sorry if this comes across as rambling.

Violent tornados in plain were way more than in Dixie in most years. It also should be noticed that, as you said, tornados in Dixie last longer and move faster, leading to much longer path on average compared to tornados in plain. The density of houses and buildings are overall higher in Dixie than most parts of plain. These factors together contribute to the fact that more violent tornados in plain remain in open field at their peak. For example, there were more than a dozen big wedges occurred on May 23 2008. Almost all of them remained in open field during their lifespans. Thankfully, we would never know what these tornados capable of if they hit a town.
Tornado activity in plain has been declining rapidly in last several decades and the tornado activity has been gradually escalating in last several decades in Dixie according to some researches. Some of the most extreme damages made by tornados in last decades like Smithville/Hackleburg/Vilonia/Bassfield/Philadelphia were almost unprecedented in Dixie's history except for very few case. We will never know what will happen in the future.

 

[pohnpei]

What street are these leveled homes located along?

400-500 yards north of VZ county Road 1111 and south of VZ county Road 1114, downloading KML form damage viewer and you will find them.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

I believe Plains tornadoes such as the 5/7/1927 Aetna KS F5 might be similar in intensity to the stronger Dixie tornadoes.

 

[CheeselandSkies]

I believe Plains tornadoes such as the 5/7/1927 Aetna KS F5 might be similar in intensity to the stronger Dixie tornadoes.

El Reno '11/Moore '13 (65-mile path for the former), Andover and (likely underrated) Red Rock '91 (46 and 66-mile tracks, respectively), also Woodward '47 (a legit VLT tornado even if you split the beginning and end into other tornadoes in the "family," like Tri-State).

Moore '99 and Greensburg I don't think are quite on par with that extreme violence, although still deserving of their (E)F5 ratings.

 

[andyhb]

When it was near Bridge Creek, 5/3/1999 was a very high end tornado. Make no mistake.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

When it was near Bridge Creek, 5/3/1999 was a very high end tornado. Make no mistake.

The documentation of the record wind speed from this thing was taken when the tornado was directly over the community of Bridge Creek, in fact.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

El Reno '11/Moore '13 (65-mile path for the former), Andover and (likely underrated) Red Rock '91 (46 and 66-mile tracks, respectively), also Woodward '47 (a legit VLT tornado even if you split the beginning and end into other tornadoes in the "family," like Tri-State).

Moore '99 and Greensburg I don't think are quite on par with that extreme violence, although still deserving of their (E)F5 ratings.

Udall probably also belongs up there in terms of intensity, and perhaps the 2011 Chickasha and Goldsby, OK tornadoes.

 

[Marshal79344]

El Reno '11/Moore '13 (65-mile path for the former), Andover and (likely underrated) Red Rock '91 (46 and 66-mile tracks, respectively), also Woodward '47 (a legit VLT tornado even if you split the beginning and end into other tornadoes in the "family," like Tri-State).

Moore '99 and Greensburg I don't think are quite on par with that extreme violence, although still deserving of their (E)F5 ratings.

The damage the May 3rd Tornado did in it's initial peak intensity was extraordinary. Here are some pics I have of the damage in that area.

 

[CheeselandSkies]

Bridge Creek/Moore '99 was exceptionally violent, no doubt. Certainly still in the most intense 1% of all tornadoes. Just saying that there are a few Dixie and Plains (E)F5s that did even more impressive damage.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oNxAjOR7RNGAKSAZjpOVswgWIEu8q1CF9ssLq3VP-D8/edit?usp=sharing
A list I made of notable and significant western tornadoes from the 1870-1949 era.

 

[andyhb]

Something I noticed awhile ago looking at DAT for the Coleridge NE tornado in 2014.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Something I noticed awhile ago looking at DAT for the Coleridge NE tornado in 2014.

There are multiple errors on DAT like that with the estimated wind speed.