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Significant Tornado Events

Concerning extremely violent 19th century tornadoes, Sherman, TX definitely belongs on the list based on the photographic evidence available. I wish there were more pictures available but based on descriptions it was definitely a high-end F5, and reminds me a lot of Pampa and Elie in terms of being an extremely violent drillbit. Yes, it started off as a massive wedge but it contracted to a narrow drillbit before making an abrupt northern curve and tearing through a neighborhood on the western side of town. In these colorized pics ground scouring, tree debarking, shredded low-lying vegetation and the like are visible.

KJAa-cCt.jpgMgNOqIvg.jpgTggf5iS2.jpgYBWHcQwy.jpg

Concerning the 2nd to last pic, the shredded grove you can see some low lying plants of some sort completely debarked and bent towards a center, here's the pic again with spot highlighted with red arrow:

Tggf5iS2(1).jpg
 
Concerning extremely violent 19th century tornadoes, Sherman, TX definitely belongs on the list based on the photographic evidence available. I wish there were more pictures available but based on descriptions it was definitely a high-end F5, and reminds me a lot of Pampa and Elie in terms of being an extremely violent drillbit. Yes, it started off as a massive wedge but it contracted to a narrow drillbit before making an abrupt northern curve and tearing through a neighborhood on the western side of town. In these colorized pics ground scouring, tree debarking, shredded low-lying vegetation and the like are visible.

View attachment 28681View attachment 28682View attachment 28683View attachment 28684

Concerning the 2nd to last pic, the shredded grove you can see some low lying plants of some sort completely debarked and bent towards a center, here's the pic again with spot highlighted with red arrow:

View attachment 28685
Agreed.
 
Guys, there's a whole thread for the constant and neverending arguments over tornado ratings.
W E D G E S I N B I O

On a serious note, that didn't even cross my mind. The rest of my brain was lobotomized while focusing solely on the Vilonia/Chapman debate, sorry about that. Pinging the mods again to have certain posts moved over to the "Enhanced Fujita Ratings Debate Thread" @MichelleH @WesL @StormStalker @Mike S
 
Concerning the 2nd to last pic, the shredded grove you can see some low lying plants of some sort completely debarked and bent towards a center, here's the pic again with spot highlighted with red arrow:

View attachment 28685

Here's a higher-res version of the photo:

dl0PbTz.jpeg


Little hard to tell, but it looks like some kinda crops planted in rows? The tree to the right is also pretty much ground down to a stump.

Here are the other photos from the Sherman's Black Friday booklet:

ggkr9Jd.jpeg


XCqydTo.jpeg


iaOARqs.jpeg


Egc8UwO.jpeg


I'd really like to look for more photos from Sherman at some point because the existing ones don't really give a good sense of the event IMO. Certainly a high-end tornado but, given some of the damage descriptions, I'd imagine there's got to be even more impressive photos out there somewhere.
 
W E D G E S I N B I O

On a serious note, that didn't even cross my mind. The rest of my brain was lobotomized while focusing solely on the Vilonia/Chapman debate, sorry about that. Pinging the mods again to have certain posts moved over to the "Enhanced Fujita Ratings Debate Thread" @MichelleH @WesL @StormStalker @Mike S
All good, it's a topic I'm pretty salty about too lol
 
W
Here's a higher-res version of the photo:

dl0PbTz.jpeg


Little hard to tell, but it looks like some kinda crops planted in rows? The tree to the right is also pretty much ground down to a stump.

Here are the other photos from the Sherman's Black Friday booklet:

ggkr9Jd.jpeg


XCqydTo.jpeg


iaOARqs.jpeg


Egc8UwO.jpeg


I'd really like to look for more photos from Sherman at some point because the existing ones don't really give a good sense of the event IMO. Certainly a high-end tornado but, given some of the damage descriptions, I'd imagine there's got to be even more impressive photos out there somewhere.
Wasn't the library there going to a scan a bunch of photos of it to you at one point? Did that fall through?
It's amazing really, so much of the May 1896 outbreak sequence is so poorly documented.
 
Here's a higher-res version of the photo:

dl0PbTz.jpeg


Little hard to tell, but it looks like some kinda crops planted in rows? The tree to the right is also pretty much ground down to a stump.

Here are the other photos from the Sherman's Black Friday booklet:

ggkr9Jd.jpeg


XCqydTo.jpeg


iaOARqs.jpeg


Egc8UwO.jpeg


I'd really like to look for more photos from Sherman at some point because the existing ones don't really give a good sense of the event IMO. Certainly a high-end tornado but, given some of the damage descriptions, I'd imagine there's got to be even more impressive photos out there somewhere.
The first pic of the crops planted in rows, the more I think about it that looks like crop soil so maybe not actually ground scouring, or not as intense scouring as in the residential areas. Hard to tell, really.
I'd love to get a higher-quality pic of the twisted bridge, but no dice so far.
 
Here's a higher-res version of the photo:

dl0PbTz.jpeg


Little hard to tell, but it looks like some kinda crops planted in rows? The tree to the right is also pretty much ground down to a stump.

Here are the other photos from the Sherman's Black Friday booklet:

ggkr9Jd.jpeg


XCqydTo.jpeg


iaOARqs.jpeg


Egc8UwO.jpeg


I'd really like to look for more photos from Sherman at some point because the existing ones don't really give a good sense of the event IMO. Certainly a high-end tornado but, given some of the damage descriptions, I'd imagine there's got to be even more impressive photos out there somewhere.
Sherman is the only other tornado from the 19th century that is as likely a candidate for F5 as New Richmond is, based on descriptions and photographs of the damage. What's crazy is that it did the majority of its damage and fatalities near the end of its path, in its roping out phase.
 
Some random finds of old (uploaded in 2006) tornado footage on YT
April 15, 2006 in Beatrice, NE


April 24, 2006 in El Reno, OK


August 7, 2006 in Colby, KS



May 29, 2001 in Lamar, CO (uploaded in Nov. 2006)
 
Is this image in Griffin or De Soto?


1718577546429.jpeg
Also is anyone able to identify whether or not this is the De soto school interior?

1718577867202.jpeg
 
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DAY OF THE TWINS - Ten Years Later



June 16th-18th 2014 cemented June 2014 as one of the most insane Junes in recent history. For context, FIVE EF4s. FOUR of these occurred on the same day. TWO of them were on the ground at the same TIME. And ONE LEGENDARY PERSON documented it ALL on video....and more afterward.







Ah yes, ten years since Pilger, or in my case, ten years since botching a golden opportunity to catch Pilger and feeling like every chase until Keota last year was trying to redeem myself for that.

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Does anyone have imagery of Bremen’s damage from the 2021 storm? A lot of it sounds like textbook EF5 damage from what I’ve heard. I haven’t been able to find much on it though.
 
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Damage from the 6/11/2008 Manhattan, Kansas tornado. In the worst affected area (Miller Ranch), homes were leveled, vehicles were hurled and trees were partially debarked. The tornado was ultimately assigned an EF4 rating.
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While I'm at it, here's some impressive tree damage from the 5/24/2011 tornado that occurred south of Great Bend. Based on this debarking (confirmed by the commentary in the footage I got these screenshots from), it was likely stronger than EF2. Two people were killed by this tornado, both in a vehicle that was crushed by a falling tree.
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