Significant Tornado Events

[Oakhurst_Wx]

Pretty excited that I finally found a couple of photos from the Salix, IA F4 the day before New Richmond. The quality is terrible, but I don't care. I didn't really expect to find anything at all. They're from a series of shots taken by the head of the Sioux City weather office, so I'm hoping the originals (or at least decent-quality reproductions) are still out there somewhere.

Anyway, this is the Malloy home just southeast of Salix, or what little was left of it. Parts of the house (described as a "fine new home") were carried up to a mile and five of the seven family members were killed; two of them were thrown nearly half a mile.

This is a neighbor's home a few hundred yards away - it, too, was a large house that had been built fairly recently. Witnesses described seeing the whole structure lift high up into the air before breaking apart and "scattering to the four winds." Thankfully the family had made it to their storm cellar and were unhurt.

From various descriptions of the path, it sounds like this tornado produced some pretty high-end debarking + ground scouring. It was only around 300 yards wide (probably more like 50-100 yards if you're talking about the swath of intense damage) but it moved quite slowly and was widely visible as it crossed the Missouri River and approached the south side of town. It was described as moving "only as fast as a man can walk," although it probably wasn't that slow. I'm reasonably confident this was part of a family of at least three tornadoes, but the others mostly destroyed barns and silos and whatnot.

I was wondering where you found these?

 

[locomusic01]

I was wondering where you found these?

They're from a publication of the Monthly Review of the Iowa Weather and Crop Service.

 

[Western_KS_Wx]

Decided to do some digging to see if I could find more damage photos from Greensburg to add to this photo album I’m making for the event, and I came across some truly insane damage photos that again show just how powerful this tornado was.

This is the Greensburg Mennonite Church, a large brick building located in northern sections of the city pictured in 2005.




And this is what remained of it after the tornado completely flattened and largely swept it away. The damage to the church is among the most impressive I’ve seen, and it’s pretty clear the tornado was at EF5 strength here. The tree damage in this area was extreme to say the least, every tree and shrub near this location was completely stripped and debarked entirely.

This photo was taken near the church looking west. There were several homes that lined the street to the right and left that were completely swept away.


More instances of probable EF5 damage in northern sections of the city. In the first photo to the left of the white car there was a row of homes that all but vanished. In the second photo the foundation of a swept away home is visible to the left of the blue tent.

 

[tornado examiner]

Decided to do some digging to see if I could find more damage photos from Greensburg to add to this photo album I’m making for the event, and I came across some truly insane damage photos that again show just how powerful this tornado was.
View attachment 15010
This is the Greensburg Mennonite Church, a large brick building located in northern sections of the city pictured in 2005.
View attachment 15011
View attachment 15012
View attachment 15013
View attachment 15014
And this is what remained of it after the tornado completely flattened and largely swept it away. The damage to the church is among the most impressive I’ve seen, and it’s pretty clear the tornado was at EF5 strength here. The tree damage in this area was extreme to say the least, every tree and shrub near this location was completely stripped and debarked entirely.
View attachment 15016
This photo was taken near the church looking west. There were several homes that lined the street to the right and left that were completely swept away.
View attachment 15017
View attachment 15018
More instances of probable EF5 damage in northern sections of the city. In the first photo to the left of the white car there was a row of homes that all but vanished. In the second photo the foundation of a swept away home is visible to the left of the blue tent.

okay yeah my thoughts on how intense the damage in greensburg were completely wrong. btw, any further progress on your other maps?

 

[Western_KS_Wx]

Hate to just fill up this thread with purely Greensburg stuff but I came across another remarkable damage feat from this tornado.

Along Kansas Avenue a large brick reinforced building that was especially well built (visible at right) was utterly obliterated, and a section was completely leveled to the ground. Homes nearby were completely destroyed as well, many swept cleanly away.


Here’s the front portion and an aerial showing the back section of the building. The contextual damage in this area was extremely intense, several trees were completely debarked and shrubs were stripped bare as well.



These photos again show just how remarkably intense the tree and contextual damage was in this residential area. Debris granulation is evident as well, several homes once stood along this block. The second and last photo are incredible.

This image is looking north, the only standing section of the brick building is visible to the left of the tree in center. Note the completely debarked trees nearby.

The foundations of swept away homes are visible in this image and a section of the brick building is visible in the right corner of the photo.

This is one of the more extreme instances of damage I’ve come across from this tornado which also occurred in the area mentioned above. According to the person who took this photo, this home was swept cleanly away and the front concrete porch and steps (visible at right) were snapped off and deflected upward.

This fire hydrant that was pulled out of the ground was also located just behind the brick building that was leveled.

It’s pretty clear the tornado was also at EF5 intensity in this area and once more this is some of the most impressive tornado damage to a well constructed brick building I’ve seen. These images really show this tornado is among the most powerful recorded since the 2000’s, and further solidifies its EF5 rating.

 

[Sawmaster]

Fire hydrants aren't as strong as one might think, but without a strong impact knocking it loose and breaking it's standpipe to have something that small and heavy pulled from the ground is incredible. Also, the strong brick building appears to be brick veneer over block (CMU) which while much stronger than the usual brick veneer over wood, it would still have linear weaknesses along the horizontal mortar joint lines. About as strong as you'll get without concrete and rebar. Definitely EF-5 to me.

Phil

 

[tornado examiner]

Hate to just fill up this thread with purely Greensburg stuff but I came across another remarkable damage feat from this tornado.
View attachment 15019
Along Kansas Avenue a large brick reinforced building that was especially well built (visible at right) was utterly obliterated, and a section was completely leveled to the ground. Homes nearby were completely destroyed as well, many swept cleanly away.
View attachment 15020
View attachment 15021
Here’s the front portion and an aerial showing the back section of the building. The contextual damage in this area was extremely intense, several trees were completely debarked and shrubs were stripped bare as well.
View attachment 15022
View attachment 15023
View attachment 15024
These photos again show just how remarkably intense the tree and contextual damage was in this residential area. Debris granulation is evident as well, several homes once stood along this block. The second and last photo are incredible.
View attachment 15025
This image is looking north, the only standing section of the brick building is visible to the left of the tree in center. Note the completely debarked trees nearby.
View attachment 15026
The foundations of swept away homes are visible in this image and a section of the brick building is visible in the right corner of the photo.
View attachment 15029
This is one of the more extreme instances of damage I’ve come across from this tornado which also occurred in the area mentioned above. According to the person who took this photo, this home was swept cleanly away and the front concrete porch and steps (visible at right) were snapped off and deflected upward.
View attachment 15030
This fire hydrant that was pulled out of the ground was also located just behind the brick building that was leveled.

It’s pretty clear the tornado was also at EF5 intensity in this area and once more this is some of the most impressive tornado damage to a well constructed brick building I’ve seen. These images really show this tornado is among the most powerful recorded since the 2000’s, and further solidifies its EF5 rating.

which would you say was stronger, greensburg or parkersburg?

 

[TH2002]

The 1975 Omaha tornado, while not overlooked by any means, is a storm that I think people often forget just how violent it was. Many homes were swept away, and although many of these were not well constructed (likely what led to the F4 rating), the tornado probably had F5 potential at some point and I personally think it's a more compelling case for such a rating than some of the official F5's from the same time period.

Regardless of construction, the sheer number of homes it swept away in this densely populated area is nothing short of impressive.

Trees in the direct path of the tornado were reduced to debarked stumps. Even low lying shrubbery was pulled up from the ground.

Vehicle damage collection

 

[csx1985]

Hate to just fill up this thread with purely Greensburg stuff but I came across another remarkable damage feat from this tornado.
View attachment 15019
Along Kansas Avenue a large brick reinforced building that was especially well built (visible at right) was utterly obliterated, and a section was completely leveled to the ground. Homes nearby were completely destroyed as well, many swept cleanly away.
View attachment 15020
View attachment 15021
Here’s the front portion and an aerial showing the back section of the building. The contextual damage in this area was extremely intense, several trees were completely debarked and shrubs were stripped bare as well.
View attachment 15022
View attachment 15023
View attachment 15024
These photos again show just how remarkably intense the tree and contextual damage was in this residential area. Debris granulation is evident as well, several homes once stood along this block. The second and last photo are incredible.
View attachment 15025
This image is looking north, the only standing section of the brick building is visible to the left of the tree in center. Note the completely debarked trees nearby.
View attachment 15026
The foundations of swept away homes are visible in this image and a section of the brick building is visible in the right corner of the photo.
View attachment 15029
This is one of the more extreme instances of damage I’ve come across from this tornado which also occurred in the area mentioned above. According to the person who took this photo, this home was swept cleanly away and the front concrete porch and steps (visible at right) were snapped off and deflected upward.
View attachment 15030
This fire hydrant that was pulled out of the ground was also located just behind the brick building that was leveled.

It’s pretty clear the tornado was also at EF5 intensity in this area and once more this is some of the most impressive tornado damage to a well constructed brick building I’ve seen. These images really show this tornado is among the most powerful recorded since the 2000’s, and further solidifies its EF5 rating.

Does anyone have the pictures of the fire hydrants from Smithville?

 

[Western_KS_Wx]

Here’s something interesting I found about the tornadoes that occurred in the Greensburg-Trousdale-Macksville area during a 1 year period from May 2007-May 2008.
The area received 34 tornadoes, 21 in 2007 and 13 in 2008. Of those 34 tornadoes, 4 were rated EF2, 5 EF3, and 1 EF5. Now what makes this area notable is how enormous these tornadoes were, SEVEN of them greater than 1 mile in width. These are the tornadoes ranked in order from largest to smallest:

1. 2.2(+) miles Trousdale EF3(+) May 4, 2007
2. 1.8 miles Clark State Lake EF3(+) May 23, 2008
3. 1.7(+) miles Greensburg EF5 May 4, 2007
4. 1.35 miles Hopewell #1 EF3(+) May 4, 2007
5. 1.25 miles Hopewell #2 EF3 May 23, 2008
6. 1.05 miles Macksville EF3 May 4, 2007
7. 1.05 miles S Greensburg EF2 May 23, 2008
(Path widths based off measurable distance from NWS damage paths and official data, as well as aerial imagery)

Im not sure what it is about this particular region that makes it so prone to violent, massive tornadoes 3 of which wide enough to make the top 10 largest in recorded history list, and are the 3 largest in Kansas history. Also of note, on April 14, 2012 two more notable tornadoes occurred within this region both rated EF3. One was 1 mile wide, and the other was 1.5 miles wide, bringing the total to 9 mile wide tornadoes since 2007.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Decided to do some digging to see if I could find more damage photos from Greensburg to add to this photo album I’m making for the event, and I came across some truly insane damage photos that again show just how powerful this tornado was.
View attachment 15010
This is the Greensburg Mennonite Church, a large brick building located in northern sections of the city pictured in 2005.
View attachment 15011
View attachment 15012
View attachment 15013
View attachment 15014
And this is what remained of it after the tornado completely flattened and largely swept it away. The damage to the church is among the most impressive I’ve seen, and it’s pretty clear the tornado was at EF5 strength here. The tree damage in this area was extreme to say the least, every tree and shrub near this location was completely stripped and debarked entirely.
View attachment 15016
This photo was taken near the church looking west. There were several homes that lined the street to the right and left that were completely swept away.
View attachment 15017
View attachment 15018
More instances of probable EF5 damage in northern sections of the city. In the first photo to the left of the white car there was a row of homes that all but vanished. In the second photo the foundation of a swept away home is visible to the left of the blue tent.

The damage to the church reminds me of what happened to the large brick schoolhouse in Udall; it's pretty clear that Greensburg was a tornado that reached Udall-levels of intensity but was weakening while passing through a town. Thankfully it wasn't at full intensity...

 

[CalebRoutt]

Some areas of Moore '13 were legitimately on par with Jarrell or Bridge Creek, which is quite literally as bad as it gets.

Speaking of the 2013 outbreak sequence, I've got these saved as the Bethel Acres/Shawnee EF4 from the previous day, but I haven't really done much digging on that yet so I'm not 100% sure. Wish I'd remembered to note where they came from so I could check.

This is damage somewhat on par with Moore! Wow!

 

[CalebRoutt]

I will reiterate, as it's a common lament after the old TW went down, thanks to fortuitous obsessive digital hoarding I have both the old Significant Tornado Events and Strongest Tornado threads from the old site through about May 2014, perfectly intact with all posts and images through then (along with a few others such as the Joplin and May 2013 Moore/El Reno days) so if there's anything anyone wants me to pull from those I can do so. I'd repost them all here but would of course want explicit moderator approval before spamming the board.

Could you DM all damage photos from the Shawnee/Carney ok tornadoes in 2013?

 

[locomusic01]

This is damage somewhat on par with Moore! Wow!

Yeah, that's actually one of the reasons I'd originally considered that outbreak for my next article. I was really surprised to learn just how violent the Shawnee EF4 was. IIRC the high-end damage only covered a smallish area around Bethel Acres and the Shawnee Reservoir, at least as far as I know, but it was pretty impressive.

 

[CalebRoutt]

Yeah, that's actually one of the reasons I'd originally considered that outbreak for my next article. I was really surprised to learn just how violent the Shawnee EF4 was. IIRC the high-end damage only covered a smallish area around Bethel Acres and the Shawnee Reservoir, at least as far as I know, but it was pretty impressive.

Really? I was considering doing the same thing! I’ve got RaxPol data of it and at several points Shawnee had winds of ≥110 m/s (around or greater than 250 mph). Keep in mind some of this velocity data is noisy, but there were common peaks of around that for several lowest level scans within ~50m of the surface. Seeing the extreme damage to vegetation and vehicles, in addition to complete obliteration of mobile homes, with frames wrapped around debarked trees definitely points me to believe this tornado contained EF5 winds. However due to a lack of quality DI’s the max estimated winds were 190 mph based on damage. Had that tornado hit Shawnee head on, I most certainly think we would’ve seen damage at least on par with Moore.

 

[locomusic01]

If I can ever actually make time to work on some video stuff, would you guys prefer sort of a documentary-ish approach or more of a casual discussion? By which I guess I mean like a tightly scripted narrative vs. a free-flowing exploration that follows the general course of events but maybe takes the scenic route along the way. (I'm fully aware that I should never be encouraged to take the scenic route.)

I might play around with both to see what works, but I'm curious what kind of content y'all prefer.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

If I can ever actually make time to work on some video stuff, would you guys prefer sort of a documentary-ish approach or more of a casual discussion? By which I guess I mean like a tightly scripted narrative vs. a free-flowing exploration that follows the general course of events but maybe takes the scenic route along the way. (I'm fully aware that I should never be encouraged to take the scenic route.)

I might play around with both to see what works, but I'm curious what kind of content y'all prefer.

Documentary all the way.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

Dover would've been a big problem had it struck a more populated area. Even like a quarter-mile south would've been bad news, taking it straight through the middle of town.

Minor issue: According to Satkus' chase log, those Payne/Satkus photos aren't of Dover. They're from the earlier Kingfisher F3.

Monday, May 3, 1999 Chase Page

"We followed it to west of Kingfisher as it approached Dover, but west of Kingfisher on hwy 33 we were stopped by debris. It was a narrow path, so I am asuming this damage was caused by one of the satellite tornadoes."

 

[locomusic01]

Minor issue: According to Satkus' chase log, those Payne/Satkus photos aren't of Dover. They're from the earlier Kingfisher F3.

Monday, May 3, 1999 Chase Page

"We followed it to west of Kingfisher as it approached Dover, but west of Kingfisher on hwy 33 we were stopped by debris. It was a narrow path, so I am asuming this damage was caused by one of the satellite tornadoes."

Oh, good catch. Thanks!

Documentary all the way.

Yeah, that's my first inclination. I haven't watched a lot of the tornado-related content out there, but what I have seen tends to be more casual.

And I've kinda always wanted to indulge my inner Ken Burns lol

 

[Sawmaster]

Oh, good catch. Thanks!


Yeah, that's my first inclination. I haven't watched a lot of the tornado-related content out there, but what I have seen tends to be more casual.

And I've kinda always wanted to indulge my inner Ken Burns lol

I've seen much of what's out there as well as your prior works. You can top it all if your video compiling/editing/etc are as good as the rest. I mean that.

Everyone out there now has a theme or slant, focusing on some things while glossing over others. Many do shallow research and miss important stuff or get things wrong. None have it all balanced out well and in full depth. Some of the "real time" vid compilations are superb in content, but eack maker of those has what I feel are shortcomings in their presentation.

So yeah- do a documentary ala Ken Burns. I think it will not only fly, but soar with the eagles

Phil