• Welcome to TalkWeather!
    We see you lurking around TalkWeather! Take the extra step and join us today to view attachments, see less ads and maybe even join the discussion.
    CLICK TO JOIN TALKWEATHER

Significant Tornado Events

Marshal79344 said:
I found some rare photos of damage while sifting through lots of newspapers from the March 21, 1932 Super Tornado Outbreak that I'd like to share in this thread.

A church swept away by the Ringgold - Conasauga Tornado

View attachment 9520

The remains of a home where a mother and her two children were killed

View attachment 9521

Another destroyed building from the same tornado

View attachment 9522

Three aerials of stricken Northport, AL

View attachment 9523

An image of a home swept away in rural Plantersville, AL

View attachment 9524

Sylacauga, AL after it was hit directly by an F4 Tornado

View attachment 9525

Here are some photos from the Thorsby, AL area. Three consecutive tornadoes (not two like Grazulis had) were reported by local newspapers to have passed through areas near Thorsby in quick succession. Each tornado was stronger than the last and slightly further to the north. These images are from the final of the three, a mile-wide F5 (in my opinion) wedge tornado that swept away subdivisions north of Thorsby, in the Lomax and "Union Grove" areas. The same tornado destroyed some transmission towers before moving into the deep forests beyond the Coosa River.

View attachment 9526
View attachment 9527
View attachment 9528
Click to expand...
Where did you find these, I'd like to be able to browse for more old tornado photographs from poorly-documented events.
 
"Can tornadoes happen in Maine?" - I'm so glad you asked!
Here are a few examples:

Caribou, ME - August 11, 1954
The only fatal tornado in Maine's history was an F2 storm that struck 9 miles north of Caribou. Two barns were destroyed and "one house was thrown into another", resulting in a fatality. Unfortunately I couldn't find any visual documentation at all - not a single damage photo. Would really appreciate if someone can help me out with this one.

Bethel, ME - July 18, 2009
An EF0 tornado was on the ground for 1.3 miles, damaging trees and a corn field.



July 21, 2010 - Buxton-Gorham, ME
Three EF1 tornadoes occurred in Maine on this day, the most notable of which was one that destroyed multiple structures including a barn, and caused substantial tree damage along a 5-mile path.



July 1, 2017 - Bridgton, ME
An extrodinarily unusual outbreak of five tornadoes occurred in Maine on this day, two EF0's and three EF1's. All but one of the tornadoes occurred in Cumberland County.
This tornado was the strongest of the outbreak, a high-end EF1 (debatably EF2) tornado that uprooted several large trees (many of which landed on vehicles) and destroyed buildings and vehicles at a campground. One person was injured by flying glass. FIlmed from Harrison, ME.

 
TH2002 said:
"Can tornadoes happen in Maine?" - I'm so glad you asked!
Here are a few examples:

Caribou, ME - August 11, 1954
The only fatal tornado in Maine's history was an F2 storm that struck 9 miles north of Caribou. Two barns were destroyed and "one house was thrown into another", resulting in a fatality. Unfortunately I couldn't find any visual documentation at all - not a single damage photo. Would really appreciate if someone can help me out with this one.

Bethel, ME - July 18, 2009
An EF0 tornado was on the ground for 1.3 miles, damaging trees and a corn field.



July 21, 2010 - Buxton-Gorham, ME
Three EF1 tornadoes occurred in Maine on this day, the most notable of which was one that destroyed multiple structures including a barn, and caused substantial tree damage along a 5-mile path.



July 1, 2017 - Bridgton, ME
An extrodinarily unusual outbreak of five tornadoes occurred in Maine on this day, two EF0's and three EF1's. All but one of the tornadoes occurred in Cumberland County.
This tornado was the strongest of the outbreak, a high-end EF1 (debatably EF2) tornado that uprooted several large trees (many of which landed on vehicles) and destroyed buildings and vehicles at a campground. One person was injured by flying glass. FIlmed from Harrison, ME.

Click to expand...

While we're on the Northeast, you know of any significant tornadoes in Vermont or New Hampshire? Or upper state New York?
 
Juliett Bravo Kilo said:
While we're on the Northeast, you know of any significant tornadoes in Vermont or New Hampshire? Or upper state New York?
Click to expand...
Here are a few more examples:

March 26, 2021 - Middlebury, VT
A very rare March tornado hit Middlebury, Vermont this year, flipping a vehicle and destroying an attatched garage which was ripped from the foundation and displaced ten feet. Two injuries.
iu

iu


Hamburg, NY - July 20, 2017
An EF2 tornado damaged hundreds of vehicles, downed trees and damaged or destroyed buildings at Hamburg Fairgrounds. Also please don't park under overpasses like this guy.



Smithfield, NY - July 8, 2014
An EF2 tornado destroyed three homes and significantly damaged five others along a 2.5 mile path, killing four people.
iu

iu
 
Last edited:
TH2002 said:
Here are a few more examples:

March 26, 2021 - Middlebury, VT
A very rare March tornado hit Middlebury, Vermont this year, flipping a vehicle and destroying an attatched garage which was ripped from the foundation and displaced ten feet. Two injuries.
iu

iu


Hamburg, NY - July 20, 2017
An EF2 tornado damaged hundreds of vehicles, downed trees and damaged or destroyed buildings at Hamburg Fairgrounds. Also please don't park under overpasses like this guy.


Smithfield, NY - July 8, 2014
An EF2 tornado destroyed three homes and significantly damaged five others along a 2.5 mile path, killing four people.
iu

iu
Click to expand...

That Smithfield one looks to have been a bit underrated, perhaps it may have hit EF3 in places.
 
Marshal79344 said:
There are two, but this should explain why there are very few, and why those two videos didn't show the entire tornado funnel, but just rain curtains swirling around in a fearful manner

View attachment 9600
Click to expand...

China is notorious for having very thick, tall, and saturated thermodynamic profiles, which prevent massive hail. However, the kinematic support is rarely dynamic, with the turning of the winds resulting in increased streamwise vorticity at the surface being the main kicker for tornadogenesis. The lack of kinematic support to vent away some precipitation and the extremely saturated nature of the profile serves to create a massive high-precipitation nightmare. Almost all of their worst tornadoes have come from this type of supercell (Tianjin 1969, Funing 2016). However, there are some rare exceptions further north, where moisture return isn't as plentiful (Kaiyuan 2019).

Here is an example with a long-tracked EF3 Tornado near Suzhou in Anhui Province on July 22, 2020

20200722CHINA.png

The Kaiyuan Tornado environment (top of the two soundings below) was quite unusual in how there was an inversion at the surface, yet the supercell was still able to become surface-based. This is eerily similar to the environment that the 2004 Marion Tornado was working with (bottom of the two soundings below), as both exhibited classic northwest-flow kinematics and that surface inversion. I'm not sure how these supercells were able to become surface-based, but the inversion was the reason for the very tall nature of both the Kaiyuan and Marion Tornadoes. Liaoning Province is in northern China, not far from the Koreas, functioning just like the high-plains we see here in the USA. That tornado was just proof of China's "High Plains" Tornado season.

Kaiyuan Tornado Sounding

20190703KAIYUAN.png

Marion Tornado Sounding (observations confirmed the existence of an inversion, which ERA5 missed, but SHARPpy is not allowing me to get that sounding up at the moment, will post later)

20040718.png

The Kaiyuan Supercell and Marion Supercell on radar, both showing classic northwest flow characteristics.

20190703KAIYUANRADAR.PNG

20040718MARION.png
 
Marshal79344 said:
China is notorious for having very thick, tall, and saturated thermodynamic profiles, which prevent massive hail. However, the kinematic support is rarely dynamic, with the turning of the winds resulting in increased streamwise vorticity at the surface being the main kicker for tornadogenesis. The lack of kinematic support to vent away some precipitation and the extremely saturated nature of the profile serves to create a massive high-precipitation nightmare. Almost all of their worst tornadoes have come from this type of supercell (Tianjin 1969, Funing 2016). However, there are some rare exceptions further north, where moisture return isn't as plentiful (Kaiyuan 2019).

Here is an example with a long-tracked EF3 Tornado near Suzhou in Anhui Province on July 22, 2020

View attachment 9603

The Kaiyuan Tornado environment (top of the two soundings below) was quite unusual in how there was an inversion at the surface, yet the supercell was still able to become surface-based. This is eerily similar to the environment that the 2004 Marion Tornado was working with (bottom of the two soundings below), as both exhibited classic northwest-flow kinematics and that surface inversion. I'm not sure how these supercells were able to become surface-based, but the inversion was the reason for the very tall nature of both the Kaiyuan and Marion Tornadoes. Liaoning Province is in northern China, not far from the Koreas, functioning just like the high-plains we see here in the USA. That tornado was just proof of China's "High Plains" Tornado season.

Kaiyuan Tornado Sounding

View attachment 9601

Marion Tornado Sounding (observations confirmed the existence of an inversion, which ERA5 missed, but SHARPpy is not allowing me to get that sounding up at the moment, will post later)

View attachment 9602

The Kaiyuan Supercell and Marion Supercell on radar, both showing classic northwest flow characteristics.

View attachment 9605

View attachment 9604
Click to expand...
Had I been given access to the Kaiyuan Tornado's velocity signature, it would likely not have been very impressive. The nearest radar was not that close (100 miles away or so), and the beam height would have been scanning above the point of the significant wind change. Marion, North Dakota is also quite far away from a radar, which explains the reason for the sub-par velocity signature, when compared to the extraordinary F5-level intensity of damage the Marion Tornado produced. NW Flow setups are good at sneaking in intense tornadoes under what on radar appears to be a mesocyclone not intense enough of supporting such an intense tornado.
 
Marshal79344 said:
China is notorious for having very thick, tall, and saturated thermodynamic profiles, which prevent massive hail. However, the kinematic support is rarely dynamic, with the turning of the winds resulting in increased streamwise vorticity at the surface being the main kicker for tornadogenesis. The lack of kinematic support to vent away some precipitation and the extremely saturated nature of the profile serves to create a massive high-precipitation nightmare. Almost all of their worst tornadoes have come from this type of supercell (Tianjin 1969, Funing 2016). However, there are some rare exceptions further north, where moisture return isn't as plentiful (Kaiyuan 2019).

Here is an example with a long-tracked EF3 Tornado near Suzhou in Anhui Province on July 22, 2020

View attachment 9603

The Kaiyuan Tornado environment (top of the two soundings below) was quite unusual in how there was an inversion at the surface, yet the supercell was still able to become surface-based. This is eerily similar to the environment that the 2004 Marion Tornado was working with (bottom of the two soundings below), as both exhibited classic northwest-flow kinematics and that surface inversion. I'm not sure how these supercells were able to become surface-based, but the inversion was the reason for the very tall nature of both the Kaiyuan and Marion Tornadoes. Liaoning Province is in northern China, not far from the Koreas, functioning just like the high-plains we see here in the USA. That tornado was just proof of China's "High Plains" Tornado season.

Kaiyuan Tornado Sounding

View attachment 9601

Marion Tornado Sounding (observations confirmed the existence of an inversion, which ERA5 missed, but SHARPpy is not allowing me to get that sounding up at the moment, will post later)

View attachment 9602

The Kaiyuan Supercell and Marion Supercell on radar, both showing classic northwest flow characteristics.

View attachment 9605

View attachment 9604
Click to expand...
I wonder if high-end tornado environments (environments with >3000 J/kg of CAPE and >300 m2/s2 of 0-1 km SRH) have occurred in China before?
 
One of the most notable severe weather events of 2017 is the 6/12/2017 NE-WY-CO tornado outbreak. A 90/80 PDS tornado watch was issued (the westernmost PDS tornado watch on record) along with a 15% hatched tornado risk.
june2017.png

Significant Tornado #1 - Carpenter WY EF2
This strong cone tornado tracked 14 miles through CO and WY. The concrete slab foundation of a chicken coop was broken with a nearby gas line being pulled out of the ground, and a garage was completely swept away with a truck being carried 100 yards.
834473

835671


ZDR_0.42253.png

Significant Tornado #2 - Torrington WY EF2
This tornado touched down near Torrington WY and moved northeast into Nebraska. A large tool shop was destroyed with debris being blown several hundred yards, several horse trailers were rolled/carried up to 100 yards, and a ranch was unroofed.

tornado2012.png

Significant Tornado #3 - Kaycee WY EF2
This strong tornado moved N from west of Kaycee. An abandoned trailer home was completely destroyed with the undercarriage being thrown 200 yards, trees were snapped and denuded, and some ground scouring occurred.


19030447_1600272929997167_2260776200323354584_n.jpg

kaycee.png

Significant Tornadoes #4 - Bayard NE EF2
This long-tracked rainwrapped tornado tracked through the panhandle of Nebraska. This tornado swept clean a garage, unroofed a home, threw a horse trailer 100 yards, and trees were denuded.

835271

bayard.png
 
Here's a lesser-seen video of Moore 2013 that captures the entire formation and rapid intensification of the tornado.
One thing that some people don't realize about this tornado is how quickly the storm intensified. Joplin caused EF5 damage within five minutes of touchdown and the same goes for Moore 2013, if not even quicker.
 
Marshal79344 said:
I thought this scene of complete destruction from the Washington, Illinois Tornado of November 17, 2013 was absolutely incredible. Everything in the path is just completely dead.

View attachment 9619
Click to expand...
Any idea where this was taken? I know immediately after the tornado, the first pics showed what appeared to be the ground scoured to bare soil, but it actually ended up being new residential lots where sod and grass seed hadn’t been put down yet.

The debris pattern and vegetation damage in that photo is about the worst I’ve seen from Washington, IL though. Impressive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top