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Significant Tornado Events

Oh nice! That's horrifying. What a scary sight. Mind if I throw that in the article?
 
Bump for @locomusic01 since he’s been posting stuff about the Tupelo-Gainesville outbreak on Twitter (and it is the anniversary).
 
Really looking forward to the up-to 2019 edition of Significant Tornadoes. Anyone else really curious to hear what Grazulis has to say about controversial underrated tornadoes like Goldsby, Chickasha, and Vilonia? Also some potentially overrated tornadoes like Pierson, South Roxana, and Dayton? It'll be pretty cool from a fairly officially-recognized dissenting voice.
 
South Roxana, Illinois from May 2013 was one of the most ridiculously overrated tornadoes I know of btw. The collapse of this large, and likely frail wood-framed shed structure was assigned a high-end EF3 rating somehow. Also note the untouched power poles next to it. Some WFOs wouldn't even rate this higher than EF1. Pretty ridiculous..
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buckeye05 said:
South Roxana, Illinois from May 2013 was one of the most ridiculously overrated tornadoes I know of btw. The collapse of this large, and likely frail wood-framed shed structure was assigned a high-end EF3 rating somehow. Also note the untouched power poles next to it. Some WFOs wouldn't even rate this higher than EF1. Pretty ridiculous..
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Those aren't well built either.
 
I am absolutely chomping at the bit for sigtor19. I don't know how I'm gonna make it two years. So many events I am eager to see in the Grazulis perspective.
 
Brice said:
Those aren't well built either.
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Exactly. I was incredibly confused when that survey was released. Pretty sure the lead surveyor was Fred Glass, who definitely has the tendency to overrate tornadoes. I remember another survey where he applied an EF3 rating to an unreinforced cinder-block wall that partially collapsed at a commercial building. That type of damage happens at 90 MPH (EF1). Would love to see him and John Robinson from LZK in a room together talking ratings :p

Equus said:
I am absolutely chomping at the bit for sigtor19. I don't know how I'm gonna make it two years. So many events I am eager to see in the Grazulis perspective.
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This so much! I can’t wait.
 
buckeye05 said:
Exactly. I was incredibly confused when that survey was released. Pretty sure the lead surveyor was Fred Glass, who definitely has the tendency to overrate tornadoes. I remember another survey where he applied an EF3 rating to an unreinforced cinder-block wall that partially collapsed at a commercial building. That type of damage happens at 90 MPH (EF1). Would love to see him and John Robinson from LZK in a room together talking ratings :p
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Wow, I can't wrap my mind about that, I wonder what kind of rating he would give to the Dayton structure damage. My whole point is that, a very poor job of surveying when the tornado according to you, should've been an EF1.
 
buckeye05 said:
Exactly. I was incredibly confused when that survey was released. Pretty sure the lead surveyor was Fred Glass, who definitely has the tendency to overrate tornadoes. I remember another survey where he applied an EF3 rating to an unreinforced cinder-block wall that partially collapsed at a commercial building. That type of damage happens at 90 MPH (EF1). Would love to see him and John Robinson from LZK in a room together talking ratings :p


This so much! I can’t wait.
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That would be a nightmare. Wasn't John Robinson the guy who said about the Vilonia, Arkansas tornado no EF5 this time.
 
buckeye05 said:
South Roxana, Illinois from May 2013 was one of the most ridiculously overrated tornadoes I know of btw. The collapse of this large, and likely frail wood-framed shed structure was assigned a high-end EF3 rating somehow. Also note the untouched power poles next to it. Some WFOs wouldn't even rate this higher than EF1. Pretty ridiculous..
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This is low to mid EF2 (115-125 mph) damage at most.
 
This video is one of my all time favorites (in a bad way). It's extremely heartbreaking to hear the daughter crying and incredible to see the landscape before and after the EF-4 tornado hits on November 17th 2013 in Illinois.


Language warning!






Here's another video from another home, absolutely incredible footage 2+ minutes in. The cameraman manages to film intense winds tearing up the patio and furniture (Also language warning)

 
Shameless self-promotion, but I typed up a short Twitter thread the other day detailing the McLean/Kellerville/Allison TX supercell on 6/8/1995 in the Panhandle (same day as Pampa). This storm was a monster.



Have also found some information on a prolific day in N KS and S NE on 5/10/1985, which, by multiple accounts, was a banner chase day featuring a couple of cyclic supercells producing multiple large, long-lived, and strong/violent tornadoes.

Two-pronged chase account from David Hoadley and Dr. Erik Rasmussen: https://stormtrack.org/weather-libr...ellis-stockton-phillipsburg-kansas-tornadoes/

Some pictures of the Agra and Ellis KS tornadoes and from this event via Storm Data.
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Significant damage NE of Agra from the aforementioned tornado.
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The setup via PSU NARR.
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Rare (and reasonable quality) colour photograph of the F4 tornado that devastated Primrose, NE on 5/8/1965.
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Aftermath of the Knox City, TX F4 tornado on 3/13/1953
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^Good stuff. I really wish the old “Significant Tornado Events” thread was archived. We dug up a lot of this interesting and rare material, some of which idk if we can ever find again.
 
In my opinion May 2013 had some of the weirdest and most inconsistent ratings they've ever served up. Aside from the South Roxana issue, there's also the fact that the Rozel tornado tossed a 1,000 gallon propane tank a quarter mile. That damage was rated as low-end EF4. The El Reno tornado did almost the exact
same thing to a number of similarly sized oil tanks, and that damage was rated mid-range EF3. There's a few other examples as well. There was a tornado in Michigan on 5/28 that was rated high-end EF2 for removing part of the roof from a house that wasn't even very well-built.

andyhb said:
Rare (and reasonable quality) colour photograph of the F4 tornado that devastated Primrose, NE on 5/8/1965.
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Speaking of rating issues, I still don't understand why the Gregory, SD tornado on the same day was rated F5 when this one wasn't. To be fair I haven't seen many damage photos, but the descriptions I've read really suggest to me that the Primrose tornado was probably more violent than the Gregory one.
 
The Kelwood, MB tornado from June 24, 1992 did some of the most impressive ground scouring I have even seen. I am not sure if it was ever rated. It did up to more than a foot and a half of deep ground scouring in some areas. Based on that I would want to think the tornado was an F5 but of course there is more to both the F and EF scale than just that.
 
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