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buckeye05

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One tornado that no one has mentioned yet is the Ethridge, TN, F4 of 18 May 1995. According to Thomas P. Grazulis’ Significant Tornadoes Update: 1992–1995, that tornado reportedly obliterated three high-tension Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) towers. In other words, the towers themselves physically vanished, that is, were described as being “never found.” If I recall correctly, former user CAL (is he still around?) once stated on the old TW forum that J. B. Elliott reported a similar phenomenon as a result of the first Tanner F5 on 3 April 1974. In that case the first Tanner tornado was said to have literally annihilated high-tension towers, just as the Ethridge tornado supposedly did. Mr. Elliott was also one of the source(s) for claims that the first Tanner F5 and the Guin tornado obliterated entire foundations. CAL also claimed to have known second- or third-hand sources that confirmed the story about a pickup truck being carried 20 miles as a result of the Lawrence County, TN, F5 of 16 April 1998 (the so-called “Forgotten F5”). As an aside, the anecdote about the pickup truck is also mentioned in the April 1998 edition of Storm Data, if I recall correctly. Of course, I could be wrong about most of this, but I do have a copy of Significant Tornadoes Update, from which the Ethridge anecdote is derived.
I can believe the missing metal truss towers, but I find the rest to be highly doubtful for multiple reasons, no matter the source.
 
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I can believe the missing metal truss towers, but I find the rest to be highly doubtful for multiple reasons, no matter the source.
CAL posted lots of unreliable stuff on the old forms. A truck being carried 20 miles, yeah not possible. Perhaps pieces of it were found 20 miles away, that is certainly a possibility.
The Ethridge tornado I'm not sure about as the only photograph I've been able to find concerning it looks instead to be of its wall cloud. I'm not sure if it's possible to physically annihilate truss towers out of existence, though. Perhaps they were toppled and/or tossed into ravines or valleys that are so steep and deep it made them impossible to find afterwards? Not sure. Wish I could find more info on Ethridge.

Photo I mentioned:

wall cloud.JPG

Source:

 

buckeye05

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CAL posted lots of unreliable stuff on the old forms. A truck being carried 20 miles, yeah not possible. Perhaps pieces of it were found 20 miles away, that is certainly a possibility.
The Ethridge tornado I'm not sure about as the only photograph I've been able to find concerning it looks instead to be of its wall cloud. I'm not sure if it's possible to physically annihilate truss towers out of existence, though. Perhaps they were toppled and/or tossed into ravines or valleys that are so steep and deep it made them impossible to find afterwards? Not sure. Wish I could find more info on Ethridge.

Photo I mentioned:

View attachment 6005

Source:

Yeah agreed. I never thought they were torn into pieces and then obliterated out of existence, but were more likely crumpled up and thrown into ravines and wooded areas, and were not recovered.

The “foundations being swept away” rumors stem from early surveys in which the surveyors clearly did not have a solid grasp on house construction. Subflooring being swept away is very different from a foundation being swept away, but they were reported as one in the same.

Now the vehicle being carried that distance simply isn’t possible, as you said. I’m not sure why it was even given any credence to begin with. In fact, a truck was reportedly carried a similar distance in 2014, from Mayflower to Vilonia, AR. It later turned out to be from a misunderstanding regarding where the vehicle originated. I’m positive the Tennessee rumor is also due to some kind of misunderstanding.

Bottom line: I’m not sure why people start what are basically tornado damage urban legends. They stick, and rumor begins to circulate as fact.
 
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pohnpei

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Find the rating reson of 2007 Eile F5 tornado
I have to say the reason of the updrade given here was a little "unusual".
All homes were modern, being
built circa 1970, were wood framed and single story. They each had a poured concrete
foundation and an attached garage. Three of the four homes had basements. Figure 1.13
shows one of the four homes that was destroyed by the tornado. There were no sill plates
remaining on the poured concrete foundation and there was no evidence that anchor bolts
were used. The main cross beam that supported the floor joists appeared to have been
attached to the basement walls. The attached garage sill plates were bolted to the garage
concrete pad and only some of the plates remained after the tornado hit. The remaining
plates showed evidence of the washers becoming recently recessed. The damage to this
home was initially rated F4 and later upgraded to F5. The upgrade to F5 occurred due to
further video evidence that revealed that the structural failure occurred quickly and that
one of the homes that was destroyed when the tornado impacted it directly met all of the
requirements for the highest damage rating
-4c2fedf869881c2d1f4326744e953a5f.png
 
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I quite agree with your comments on most of the tornadoes on this list, but I have doubts about some of them, such as the Edmonton tornado that hit some big factories in 1987. However, considering that the factory is a large building, the MBS structure is only evaluated as ef4. In addition, the tornado threw out a big tank, but beyond that, in my opinion, there was no impressive non Di performance in other areas. Some ancient tornadoes need to consider the level of architecture and data detail, and now they may not have such a high level. In addition, the Chapman tornado in 2016, I think it can be added to this list because it caused some very impressive car and rail damage
For the list, I relied on a blend of factors, including contextual DIs, taking into account time and place, while relying on publications, videos, and still photography from various sources. For example, a highly visible tornado that occurred during broad daylight on the Great Plains yet still produced a relatively high death toll and/or disproportionately severe injuries is automatically a candidate for “most violent,” provided other context is available and confirmed via multiple, reputable sources. The 1936 Tupelo (F5) tornado can also be considered quite violent, despite occurring after dark and striking poor African-American communities in the segregationist Deep South, because, among other things, it mainly impacted single-family homes outside the business district yet killed more people than the slower-moving Gainesville, GA, (F4) tornado, which struck densely inhabited, multi-story, downtown structures a day later, at the start of the morning workday, in fact.

The Chapman, KS, tornado of 25 May 2016 could conceivably belong to this list, along with the Rocksprings, TX, tornado of 12 April 1927, the massive F5 tornado family in KS on 7 May 1927, and the Tianjin tornado of 29 August 1969. The Chapman tornado, as mentioned, produced very intense ground scouring and damage to sizeable vehicles, while the Rocksprings and KS tornadoes in 1927 apparently reduced numerous, large, mature trees to debarked stubs, while leaving behind very little debris on empty homesites. The Tianjin tornado also debarked and denuded entire trees and snapped off steel-and-concrete rebars in a densely populated industrial zone. As far as I know, only the Brandenburg, Parkersburg, and Joplin tornadoes come remotely close to this level of damage, given that these tornadoes either toppled or snapped poured concrete basement walls. The Bakersfield Valley, Hackleburg, and Smithfield tornadoes did manage to break apart concrete surfaces and/or foundations in general, as far as I know.

I also put the Atkins–Clinton–Zion tornado on the list because the damage to the boat factory is exceptional, matched only by similar industrial damage in the Jackson–Forkville, San Justo, Guin, Niles–Wheatland, Edmonton, and Roanoke tornadoes. (Tianjin itself is on another level.) Additionally, the Atkins–Clinton–Zion tornado also snapped and partly debarked numerous, mature hardwoods only a few feet above ground level, while reducing large structures north of Clinton to bare slabs and trailers to chassis, with practically no debris left on foundations in some areas. I recall an old thread on American Weather that mentioned the slabbed foundations being visible in an aerial that unfortunately has long since vanished from the Web. If any tornado in February deserves to be rated EF5, it’s probably the Clinton tornado from Super Tuesday (2008), given that both Significant Tornadoes and NWS JAN only found F4 damage in LA and MS from the “official” F5 of 21 February 1971. That F5 should be downgraded and replaced by Clinton, in my view.

The Udall, Hudsonville, Lake Pleasant/Coldwater Lake #1, and Lebanon–Sheridan tornadoes each produced extensive ground scouring and finely granulated debris, whereas the other “potential” F5s from Palm Sunday (1965) did not leave behind those indicators. The first Coldwater Lake tornado on Palm Sunday apparently produced some very intense damage to vehicles as well. This is the same long-tracked tornado that became a massive wedge over southern MI and produced a wind gust of 131 knots (151 mph) at Tecumseh. The second long-tracker that followed it was apparently not as intense as the first and caused somewhat fewer casualties, according to Significant Tornadoes. The Prague–Iron Post–Sapulpa tornado, according to my recollection, apparently removed half a foot of topsoil from hillsides, “stripped” them of “all vegetation,” and tossed oil tanks an unspecified distance over rural areas of the Cross Timbers in northeastern OK, per an old post that I recall by the SPC’s Richard Thompson on American Weather, long since taken down.
 

pohnpei

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I check the KML again and find that the Tammy Robinson's house mentioned in NWS's EF5 upgrading post and extremeplanet's website was given 185mph at first. It was surveyed on April 29 so I don't know whether debris was cleaned or not at the time the photo was taken. The contexual damage like the shrub present at the photo was not that extrememly violent to me. And it was a little hard for me to understand how "well-built" this house was but I am no engineer expert so I will leave this question to experts. I actually think there were more intense damages sthan this for Rainsville tornado as I see.
QQ截图20210217230154.jpg
IMG_0905.JPG
rainsville-ef5-damage-lingerfeldt-tammy.png
 

pohnpei

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For the list, I relied on a blend of factors, including contextual DIs, taking into account time and place, while relying on publications, videos, and still photography from various sources. For example, a highly visible tornado that occurred during broad daylight on the Great Plains yet still produced a relatively high death toll and/or disproportionately severe injuries is automatically a candidate for “most violent,” provided other context is available and confirmed via multiple, reputable sources. The 1936 Tupelo (F5) tornado can also be considered quite violent, despite occurring after dark and striking poor African-American communities in the segregationist Deep South, because, among other things, it mainly impacted single-family homes outside the business district yet killed more people than the slower-moving Gainesville, GA, (F4) tornado, which struck densely inhabited, multi-story, downtown structures a day later, at the start of the morning workday, in fact.

The Chapman, KS, tornado of 25 May 2016 could conceivably belong to this list, along with the Rocksprings, TX, tornado of 12 April 1927, the massive F5 tornado family in KS on 7 May 1927, and the Tianjin tornado of 29 August 1969. The Chapman tornado, as mentioned, produced very intense ground scouring and damage to sizeable vehicles, while the Rocksprings and KS tornadoes in 1927 apparently reduced numerous, large, mature trees to debarked stubs, while leaving behind very little debris on empty homesites. The Tianjin tornado also debarked and denuded entire trees and snapped off steel-and-concrete rebars in a densely populated industrial zone. As far as I know, only the Brandenburg, Parkersburg, and Joplin tornadoes come remotely close to this level of damage, given that these tornadoes either toppled or snapped poured concrete basement walls. The Bakersfield Valley, Hackleburg, and Smithfield tornadoes did manage to break apart concrete surfaces and/or foundations in general, as far as I know.

I also put the Atkins–Clinton–Zion tornado on the list because the damage to the boat factory is exceptional, matched only by similar industrial damage in the Jackson–Forkville, San Justo, Guin, Niles–Wheatland, Edmonton, and Roanoke tornadoes. (Tianjin itself is on another level.) Additionally, the Atkins–Clinton–Zion tornado also snapped and partly debarked numerous, mature hardwoods only a few feet above ground level, while reducing large structures north of Clinton to bare slabs and trailers to chassis, with practically no debris left on foundations in some areas. I recall an old thread on American Weather that mentioned the slabbed foundations being visible in an aerial that unfortunately has long since vanished from the Web. If any tornado in February deserves to be rated EF5, it’s probably the Clinton tornado from Super Tuesday (2008), given that both Significant Tornadoes and NWS JAN only found F4 damage in LA and MS from the “official” F5 of 21 February 1971. That F5 should be downgraded and replaced by Clinton, in my view.

The Udall, Hudsonville, Lake Pleasant/Coldwater Lake #1, and Lebanon–Sheridan tornadoes each produced extensive ground scouring and finely granulated debris, whereas the other “potential” F5s from Palm Sunday (1965) did not leave behind those indicators. The first Coldwater Lake tornado on Palm Sunday apparently produced some very intense damage to vehicles as well. This is the same long-tracked tornado that became a massive wedge over southern MI and produced a wind gust of 131 knots (151 mph) at Tecumseh. The second long-tracker that followed it was apparently not as intense as the first and caused somewhat fewer casualties, according to Significant Tornadoes. The Prague–Iron Post–Sapulpa tornado, according to my recollection, apparently removed half a foot of topsoil from hillsides, “stripped” them of “all vegetation,” and tossed oil tanks an unspecified distance over rural areas of the Cross Timbers in northeastern OK, per an old post that I recall by the SPC’s Richard Thompson on American Weather, long since taken down.
The boat factory damage made by Clinton was very vioelnt, but I do find factroy damages were something more complicated than normal residences. Like these famous tornado factory damage below: all of them was rated F/EF4 or higher but which factory damage was stronger? I think it was a question hard to answer when more detailed construction informantion was absent. One observation was that Roanoke had most violent vehicle damage along the factory among these tornados but it also likely due to the relative slow movement compare to others.
hackleburg4.jpg
BoatPlant_NWS.jpgparsons15.jpgQQ截图20181103230556.jpg57e6f83d0a55d7dd27870545229a5eca.jpg
 

pohnpei

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For the list, I relied on a blend of factors, including contextual DIs, taking into account time and place, while relying on publications, videos, and still photography from various sources. For example, a highly visible tornado that occurred during broad daylight on the Great Plains yet still produced a relatively high death toll and/or disproportionately severe injuries is automatically a candidate for “most violent,” provided other context is available and confirmed via multiple, reputable sources. The 1936 Tupelo (F5) tornado can also be considered quite violent, despite occurring after dark and striking poor African-American communities in the segregationist Deep South, because, among other things, it mainly impacted single-family homes outside the business district yet killed more people than the slower-moving Gainesville, GA, (F4) tornado, which struck densely inhabited, multi-story, downtown structures a day later, at the start of the morning workday, in fact.

The Chapman, KS, tornado of 25 May 2016 could conceivably belong to this list, along with the Rocksprings, TX, tornado of 12 April 1927, the massive F5 tornado family in KS on 7 May 1927, and the Tianjin tornado of 29 August 1969. The Chapman tornado, as mentioned, produced very intense ground scouring and damage to sizeable vehicles, while the Rocksprings and KS tornadoes in 1927 apparently reduced numerous, large, mature trees to debarked stubs, while leaving behind very little debris on empty homesites. The Tianjin tornado also debarked and denuded entire trees and snapped off steel-and-concrete rebars in a densely populated industrial zone. As far as I know, only the Brandenburg, Parkersburg, and Joplin tornadoes come remotely close to this level of damage, given that these tornadoes either toppled or snapped poured concrete basement walls. The Bakersfield Valley, Hackleburg, and Smithfield tornadoes did manage to break apart concrete surfaces and/or foundations in general, as far as I know.

I also put the Atkins–Clinton–Zion tornado on the list because the damage to the boat factory is exceptional, matched only by similar industrial damage in the Jackson–Forkville, San Justo, Guin, Niles–Wheatland, Edmonton, and Roanoke tornadoes. (Tianjin itself is on another level.) Additionally, the Atkins–Clinton–Zion tornado also snapped and partly debarked numerous, mature hardwoods only a few feet above ground level, while reducing large structures north of Clinton to bare slabs and trailers to chassis, with practically no debris left on foundations in some areas. I recall an old thread on American Weather that mentioned the slabbed foundations being visible in an aerial that unfortunately has long since vanished from the Web. If any tornado in February deserves to be rated EF5, it’s probably the Clinton tornado from Super Tuesday (2008), given that both Significant Tornadoes and NWS JAN only found F4 damage in LA and MS from the “official” F5 of 21 February 1971. That F5 should be downgraded and replaced by Clinton, in my view.

The Udall, Hudsonville, Lake Pleasant/Coldwater Lake #1, and Lebanon–Sheridan tornadoes each produced extensive ground scouring and finely granulated debris, whereas the other “potential” F5s from Palm Sunday (1965) did not leave behind those indicators. The first Coldwater Lake tornado on Palm Sunday apparently produced some very intense damage to vehicles as well. This is the same long-tracked tornado that became a massive wedge over southern MI and produced a wind gust of 131 knots (151 mph) at Tecumseh. The second long-tracker that followed it was apparently not as intense as the first and caused somewhat fewer casualties, according to Significant Tornadoes. The Prague–Iron Post–Sapulpa tornado, according to my recollection, apparently removed half a foot of topsoil from hillsides, “stripped” them of “all vegetation,” and tossed oil tanks an unspecified distance over rural areas of the Cross Timbers in northeastern OK, per an old post that I recall by the SPC’s Richard Thompson on American Weather, long since taken down.
Fujita once calculated the wind speed of The first Coldwater Lake tornado using the 151mph measurement near the edge of the storm. He managed to get the wind speed was about 240mph near the center at that time. Considering this was only one point along the path, the strength of the first tornado was definitely more guaranteed than the second one.
 

MNTornadoGuy

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Yeah agreed. I never thought they were torn into pieces and then obliterated out of existence, but were more likely crumpled up and thrown into ravines and wooded areas, and were not recovered.

The “foundations being swept away” rumors stem from early surveys in which the surveyors clearly did not have a solid grasp on house construction. Subflooring being swept away is very different from a foundation being swept away, but they were reported as one in the same.

Now the vehicle being carried that distance simply isn’t possible, as you said. I’m not sure why it was even given any credence to begin with. In fact, a truck was reportedly carried a similar distance in 2014, from Mayflower to Vilonia, AR. It later turned out to be from a misunderstanding regarding where the vehicle originated. I’m positive the Tennessee rumor is also due to some kind of misunderstanding.

Bottom line: I’m not sure why people start what are basically tornado damage urban legends. They stick, and rumor begins to circulate as fact.
The Carr Fire EF3 obliterated one transmission tower and literally tore it into sections.
 

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One underrated severe weather event is the June 2-3, 1894 Pacific Northwest severe weather outbreaks. Over a two-day period, severe thunderstorms would tear across Oregon, Washington, and Western Idaho. It is unmatched by any other outbreak in the 20th and 21st centuries for the Pacific NW. Intense lightning activity during the outbreak caused damage to structures, obliterated trees, and killed one man. Hail up to 2 inches in diameter produced crop damage and shattered windows while downburst winds uprooted trees, knocked down boats, and destroyed farm outbuildings. The most impressive part of this outbreak however was the tornadoes. At least 7-9 tornadoes touched down in OR and WA and since the region was sparsely populated at the time many other tornadoes likely went unrecorded. The deadliest tornado of this outbreak was the Long Creek OR F3. This tornado cut a half-mile wide swath through forests that didn't fully heal until the late-1940s before descending on the eastern half of Long Creek. Ten homes and numerous farm buildings were completely destroyed with portions reportedly being carried for miles and a piano was thrown 100 yards. 3 people were killed and 10 were injured. Other potential tornadoes struck Yakima WA, Kettle Falls WA, Woodland WA, and Muddy Creek OR. Here is a picture of damage to a school from the Muddy Creek tornado.
schooltor4.jpg

I'll list a Google Earth file that contains reports of damaging lightning, strong winds, hail, and tornadoes from the outbreak.
 
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One underrated severe weather event is the June 2-3, 1894 Pacific Northwest severe weather outbreaks. Over a two-day period, severe thunderstorms would tear across Oregon, Washington, and Western Idaho. It is unmatched by any other outbreak in the 20th and 21st centuries for the Pacific NW. Intense lightning activity during the outbreak caused damage to structures, obliterated trees, and killed one man. Hail up to 2 inches in diameter produced crop damage and shattered windows while downburst winds uprooted trees, knocked down boats, and destroyed farm outbuildings. The most impressive part of this outbreak however was the tornadoes. At least 7-9 tornadoes touched down in OR and WA and since the region was sparsely populated at the time many other tornadoes likely went unrecorded. The deadliest tornado of this outbreak was the Long Creek OR F3. This tornado cut a half-mile wide swath through forests that didn't fully heal until the late-1940s before descending on the eastern half of Long Creek. Ten homes and numerous farm buildings were completely destroyed with portions reportedly being carried for miles and a piano was thrown 100 yards. 3 people were killed and 10 were injured. Other potential tornadoes struck Yakima WA, Kettle Falls WA, Woodland WA, and Muddy Creek OR. Here is a picture of damage to a school from the Muddy Creek tornado.
View attachment 6034

I'll list a Google Earth file that contains reports of damaging lightning, strong winds, hail, and tornadoes from the outbreak.


Wow. It makes you wonder what conditions could have been like to make such an outbreak even possible in that region, with how cut-off they are from Gulf moisture. The only moisture source is the Pacific which is in the wrong place relative to the orientation of a typical low-pressure system to put the moisture at the surface in the warm sector.
 

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Wow. It makes you wonder what conditions could have been like to make such an outbreak even possible in that region, with how cut-off they are from Gulf moisture. The only moisture source is the Pacific which is in the wrong place relative to the orientation of a typical low-pressure system to put the moisture at the surface in the warm sector.
There was a low-pressure system in place over southeast Oregon and temperatures were ranging from the mid-80s to the low-90s. 20th Century Reanalysis showed a negatively-tilted trough over northwestern California. The same reanalysis model shows surface relative humidity values ranging from 60% to 85%. It's likely that there was low-level westerly flow from the Pacific that provided enough moisture for thunderstorms while the trough aloft provided enough shear for supercells.
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J-Rab

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Amite-Purvis F4, April 24 1908

On Friday, April 24, 1908 the eighth deadliest tornado in American history tore a path from tiny Weiss, Louisiana in Livingston Parish (just Northeast of the Denham Springs suburb of Baton Rouge) to just Southeast of Richton, Mississippi in Perry County. In between it killed at least 143 people and injured another 770 while ripping a sometimes 2 mile wide gash approximately 155 miles through the lush South Louisiana/Mississippi countryside. This tornado (or tornado family) has been posthumously rated F4, and is one of particular interest to me because I am fascinated by Dixie Alley tornadoes, and because Purvis is just a few minutes drive from my house.

This tornado was part of a much larger outbreak that dropped tornadoes from South Dakota through Georgia over a 3 day period. South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Texas and Arkansas all had tornadoes on April 23rd, with Pender, Nebraska having the outbreak’s only F5.

On the next day, the 24th, tornadoes touched down in Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. There were 3 other notable F4’s that day:

  • One touched down in Louisiana, intensified greatly in Concordia Parish, and crossed the Mississippi River just North of Natchez in a path not that different from the Great Natchez tornado of 1840. This tornado struck at about 5:00 in the morning and killed at least 91 and injured at least 400 more. As usual in the early 1900’s, the death/injuries were probably substantially higher than listed.
  • One struck just North of Birmingham Alabama, starting just Southwest of the Dora/Bergens area and finally lifted around 105 miles later, just Northeast of Rainsville/Sylvania, killing at least 35 and injuring at least 188. This F4 was 103 years and 3 days prior to the 2011 Rainsville F5 which ravaged much of that same area.
  • And one that touched down in Bluffton Alabama (in the Piedmont corridor that sees so many tornadoes) and crossed over into Georgia, killing 11 (1 in Alabama) and injuring 50.

The 25th saw at least seven more tornadoes in Georgia, with the most intense being an F3 that struck Pine Mountain, killing 10. Notably, an F2 struck downtown Atlanta (one of only two to ever do so) that day, hitting Central Avenue but there were no fatalities.

The Supercell that formed the Amite/Purvis tornado was formed in connection with a “well developed and very energetic cyclone” centered near Concordia Kansas, according to W.S. Belden, in The Monthly Weather Review. Something that I found interesting that he said about the weather of April 24th, is: “The morning weather map of April 24 bore a striking resemblance to the morning map of March 2, 1906, the date of the Meridian, Miss., tornado in which 23 people were killed.” That March 1906 Meridian tornado did much destruction to the downtown area, knocking whole brick buildings to the ground.

Here is the link to that Journal entry on the April 24 Mississippi tornadoes where he talks about all of the storms in the state that day.

https://journals.ametsoc.org/downloadpdf/journals/mwre/36/5/1520-0493_1908_36_132_tima_2_0_co_2.pdf

The tornado did its worst damage to people and property in Amite, LA and in Purvis, MS, both of which were struck directly. Twenty-nine people were killed in Amite, where the damage path was said to have been two miles wide (which is about the width of the whole town).

D016F76F-6F90-4CF1-B615-B1E921AB0130.jpeg


After destroying Amite, the destructive tornado killed a few people going through the very rural areas between Amite and Purvis. Then, at 2:13 PM, the funnel plowed into Purvis destroying over 90% of all the buildings in the town and killing 47 people.

718DD65A-3A88-4BE7-A61D-F8225EE1A793.jpeg

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Just after leaving Purvis, the whirling mass bore down on a group of railroad workers who saw the tornado and took shelter in some boxcars. The train was hit and the boxcars were thrown 150 feet and disintegrated upon impact, killing all the workers.

Then, deadly until the very end of its life, the tornado killed several people just outside of Richton before picking back up into the supercell and ending its rampage.

In Purvis, all communications had been cut, with no way to get help from neighboring communities. A city worker took the Sheriff’s horse and rode the 10 miles to Hattiesburg to get help. He stopped in Richburg and wired to Hattiesburg about the disaster. The Hattiesburg Mayor, J.D. Donald sent a train with physicians and supplies to Purvis right away.

Today, in Purvis, you can find a sign and a plaque about the death and destruction wrought by that great storm, and if you go to watch a Purvis High School football game, you’ll notice that they are called “The Purvis Tornadoes”... a moniker that school has carried since April 24th, 1908.
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The boat factory damage made by Clinton was very vioelnt, but I do find factroy damages were something more complicated than normal residences. Like these famous tornado factory damage below: all of them was rated F/EF4 or higher but which factory damage was stronger? I think it was a question hard to answer when more detailed construction informantion was absent. One observation was that Roanoke had most violent vehicle damage along the factory among these tornados but it also likely due to the relative slow movement compare to others.
View attachment 6028
View attachment 6027View attachment 6029View attachment 6030View attachment 6031
The last photo isn't a factory, it's of the Niles Park Plaza shopping that was levelled in 1985 by an F5 tornado that went on to impact Wheatland, PA.
Also, where's this photo from? I've never seen it anywhere before.
QQ20181103230556.jpg
 
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atrainguy

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The last photo isn't a factory, it's of the Niles Park Plaza shopping that was levelled in 1985 by an F5 tornado that went on to impact Wheatland, PA.
Also, where's this photo from? I've never seen it anywhere before.
View attachment 6083
Oakfield, WI. This article from the Fon Du Lac Reporter has another aerial photo of the same warehouse and more of the town visible in the background. https://www.fdlreporter.com/story/n...seen-video-captured-1996-f5-tornado/30414771/
 

pohnpei

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Some before after comparion of damage of Canton TX tornado 2017 which was rated EF3 with winds of 145mph.(100% sure there were damages from the EF3 not the EF4 tornado.)
I believe DFW just completely missed these damage and didn't give a rating. The whole thing was pretty ridiculous to say at least.
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There was a low-pressure system in place over southeast Oregon and temperatures were ranging from the mid-80s to the low-90s. 20th Century Reanalysis showed a negatively-tilted trough over northwestern California. The same reanalysis model shows surface relative humidity values ranging from 60% to 85%. It's likely that there was low-level westerly flow from the Pacific that provided enough moisture for thunderstorms while the trough aloft provided enough shear for supercells.
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I've always been interested in tornado outbreaks that occur in the Pacific Northwest, this was really cool to read about. The only tornado event I really know about from that region is the 1972 Portland-Vancouver tornado outbreak. The main tornado of the event, an F3 was apparently the first tornado to strike Oregon since this 1894 event. Pretty crazy.
 

MNTornadoGuy

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I've always been interested in tornado outbreaks that occur in the Pacific Northwest, this was really cool to read about. The only tornado event I really know about from that region is the 1972 Portland-Vancouver tornado outbreak. The main tornado of the event, an F3 was apparently the first tornado to strike Oregon since this 1894 event. Pretty crazy.
The 1972 event was apart of a 4+ tornado outbreak though I have doubts about the Vancouver tornado reaching F3 intensity as the strongest damage I’ve seen from that tornado is F2 intensity in nature.
 
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