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MNTornadoGuy

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Damage photos from the Little Axe tornado:


little-axe-schools-sustain-extensive-tornado-damage.1273598266000-0.jpeg







Photo that shows what might be the EF4 damage from Moore:
 
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Those were both pretty minimal EF4s. The rating for Moore was based on just one single home that was mostly, but not completely leveled, though it was of above average construction from what I understand, so they went with EF4. I remember seeing aerial video of what I believe was the EF4 house during The Weather Channel's coverage of the outbreak. It wasn't very impressive.

For Norman/Little Axe, I have no idea what the basis is for the rating, and have been trying to figure it out for a while myself. No specific structure or damage point was mentioned as the reason they upgraded from EF3 to EF4, and I haven't found any damage photos that show clear-cut EF4 damage. Would really like to know what made them go with EF4.
What about the Tyler, ND tornado on August 7, 2010? It sure packed some very extreme context and was very tiny when it produced extreme contextual damage.
 

locomusic01

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It's been damn near impossible to find good photos from the Mesopotamia, OH F3 (I basically have one good one + a couple tornado photos) so I gave in and bought the only other quality photo I've come across so far. Not really sure it was worth it, but at least it's something (probably a tad blurry because I didn't bother scanning it yet, just snapped a picture with my phone).

FYUr28S.jpg


The roof in the background here is from a (not especially well-built) house that was blown away with four people inside. Somehow they all survived, though two of them were pretty badly injured. The trailer in the foreground (or the frame of the trailer, at least) was ripped from its anchors and blown about 250-300 yards; thankfully nobody was home at the time.

A man who lived in another trailer just down the road from this spot claims his truck was thrown 500 yards and "rolled up into a ball," but I haven't been able to substantiate that. It apparently did do some fairly serious vehicle damage though.
 

buckeye05

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It looks like the walls were ripped off at the base. It was rated EF4 though wasn't it?
It was, but not high-end EF4. I'm not sure what you mean by "walls ripped off at the base", but subflooring removal isn't an automatic EF4 indicator when we're looking at an old unreinforced masonry foundation with an apparent lack of anchor bolts. I'm ok with EF4 given some of the contextual damage, but some offices would call that EF3 structural damage. Looks more of like a "slider" situation to me given the apparent lack of proper anchoring.
 

buckeye05

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What about the Tyler, ND tornado on August 7, 2010? It sure packed some very extreme context and was very tiny when it produced extreme contextual damage.
That one was definitely a non-traditional EF4 so to speak, as it was all based on contextual damage from what I understand, namely scouring and extreme damage to vehicles and farm machinery. The most impressive damage was to a barn though, which was obliterated and had its concrete foundation scoured. There used to be a photo of a scoured beet field, with big chunks of concrete from the barn foundation scattered everywhere. I normally wouldn't call barn/outbuilding damage eligible for EF4, but in that case, it makes sense.

Now if I could only find photos of the concrete-strewn beet field. Haven't seen it since it was lost during the WFO overhaul.
 
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That one was definitely a non-traditional EF4 so to speak, as it was all based on contextual damage from what I understand, namely scouring and extreme damage to vehicles and farm machinery. The most impressive damage was to a barn though, which was obliterated and had its concrete foundation scoured. There used to be a photo of a scoured beet field, with big chunks of concrete from the barn foundation scattered everywhere. I normally wouldn't call barn/outbuilding damage eligible for EF4, but in that case, it makes sense.

Now if I could only find photos of the concrete-strewn beet field. Haven't seen it since it was lost during the WFO overhaul.
 

buckeye05

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Damage photos from the Little Axe tornado:


little-axe-schools-sustain-extensive-tornado-damage.1273598266000-0.jpeg







Photo that shows what might be the EF4 damage from Moore:

Haven't seen a single one of those photos from Little Axe, and the rating makes a little more sense now. That second one looks like a fairly solid candidate for maybe low-end EF4. As for Moore, that does look like the general area I remember from the Weather Channel coverage. It was a semi-rural subdivision like that, but the house was largely collapsed and not quite as intact as those in that photo, but it was a while ago so my memory is fuzzy. I remember aerial video showing the family walking around next to the remains of their home and the helicopter pilot commenting on it.

Also while on the topic, another forgotten EF4. Collinsville, AL from April 24, 2010. Same day as Yazoo City. Rating was based on a church with thick stone walls that was leveled. This one was initially rated EF3, and upped to EF4 later, which may be one of the reasons most have forgotten about it, along with being overshadowed by Yazoo City.
IMG_1485.JPG
 
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Haven't seen a single one of those photos from Little Axe, and the rating makes a little more sense now. That second one looks like a fairly solid candidate for maybe low-end EF4. As for Moore, that does look like the general area I remember from the Weather Channel coverage. It was a semi-rural subdivision like that, but the house was largely collapsed and not quite as intact as those in that photo, but it was a while ago so my memory is fuzzy. I remember aerial video showing the family walking around next to the remains of their home and the helicopter pilot commenting on it.

Also while on the topic, another forgotten EF4. Collinsville, AL from April 24, 2010. Same day as Yazoo City. Rating was based on a church with thick stone walls that was leveled. This one was initially rated EF3, and upped to EF4 later, which may be one of the reasons most have forgotten about it, along with being overshadowed by Yazoo City.
IMG_1485.JPG
I remember that one. It was rated like low-end EF4.
 

buckeye05

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I see it! Second row. Left-most image shows the torn up barn foundation, and second from right shows the concrete pieces in the field. Glad you found it. Left-most and right-most photos in the top row also show the torn up concrete on the foundation.

MNTornadoGuy seems to have found the enlarged one.
 
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I see it! Second row. Left-most image shows the torn up barn foundation, and second from right shows the concrete pieces in the field. Glad you found it. Left-most and right-most photos in the top row also show the torn up concrete on the foundation.

MNTornadoGuy seems to have found the enlarged one.
Too bad the pictures are kind of grainy looking.
 

Western_KS_Wx

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A little off topic but I always tend to wonder what April 27, 2011 would’ve looked like had the two rounds of morning squalls not moved through and how that affected the days storms.
 

DetectiveWX

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A little off topic but I always tend to wonder what April 27, 2011 would’ve looked like had the two rounds of morning squalls not moved through and how that affected the days storms.
Probably more widespread and similar to Super 1974, Palm Sunday 1965 and US/Canadian 1985, given the explosive paramaters models were showing a week in advance. We would've likely had more EF4s and 5s had the warm sector from Great Lakes to Mid-TN hadn't been rained on all day...
 

TH2002

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Would you compare Loyal Valley to events such as Parkersburg ‘08 or Moore ‘13 in terms of possible intensity, based on non-structural DIs?
I know my name isn't buckeye05, but since I haven't posted for a few days figured I might as well chime in.

The truth is, it's more or less futile to make a comparison to just a few tornadoes because there are so many to list that have just reached unbelievable intensity. However, for the sake of answering your question I'll put the Loyal Valley, Parkersburg and Moore photos together:
Loyal-valley-damage-debarking.JPG
Loyalvalley-F5-damage-debarking.JPG
Parkersburg-damage-debarking-vehicle.JPG
Parkersburg-EF5-damage-debarking2.JPG
Mooredamage-vegetation.JPG
Moore-EF5-damage-debarking.JPG

And while I'm at it, might as well throw in a couple from Joplin, Andover and DeLand (while I understand DeLand wasn't quite on the level of all these other tornadoes, its debarking is still noteworthy and it arguably caused the most intense contextual damage of any FL tornado)
Joplin-EF5-damage-debarking.JPG
Joplin-EF5-damage-scouring-debarking.JPG
Andover-F5-damage-debarking.JPG
Deland-EF4-damage-debarking.JPG
 
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