List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes

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This is a list of tornadoes rated F5 on the Fujita scale, EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, IF5 on the International Fujita scale [en], or T10-T11 on the TORRO scale, which is equivalent to an F5 rating. These ratings (F5/EF5/IF5/T10/T11) are the highest possible ratings on the various global tornado intensity scales. These various scales attempt to estimate the strength of a tornado by classifying the damage caused to nature and man-made structures in the tornado's path.[note 1][note 2]

Tornadoes are among the most violent known meteorological phenomena. Each year, more than 2,000 tornadoes are recorded worldwide, with the majority occurring in North America and Europe.[8] In order to assess the intensity of these events, meteorologist Ted Fujita created a way to estimate highest wind speeds within tornadic storms based on the damage caused; this became known as the Fujita scale. The scale ranks tornadoes from F0 to F5, with F0 being the least intense and F5 being the most intense. F5 tornadoes were estimated to have had maximum winds between 261-318 mph (420–512 kilometers per hour).

.[9][note 3]

F5 damage in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, from the May 3, 1999, tornado.

Following two particularly devastating tornadoes in 1997 and 1999, engineers questioned the reliability of the Fujita scale. Ultimately, a new scale was created that considered 28 different damage indicators; this became known as the Enhanced Fujita scale.[10] The Enhanced Fujita scale is used almost entirely in North America. Most of Europe, however, uses the TORRO tornado intensity scale (TORRO scale or T-Scale), which ranks tornado intensity between T0 and T11; F5/EF5 tornadoes are about the same to T10 to T11 on the T-Scale.

In the United States, between 1950 and January 31, 2007, a total of 50 tornadoes were officially rated F5, and since February 1, 2007, a total of nine tornadoes have been officially rated EF5.[11][12] Since 1950, Canada has had one tornado officially rated an F5.[13] Outside the United States and Canada, seven tornadoes have been officially rated F5/EF5/T10+ or equivalent: two each in France, Germany, and one in Italy, Argentina and Australia.

Several other tornadoes have also been documented as possibly attaining this status, though they are not officially rated as such. The work of tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis [en] revealed the existence of several dozen likely F5 tornadoes between 1880 and 1995. Grazulis also called into question the ratings of several tornadoes currently rated F5 by official sources. Many tornadoes officially rated F4/EF4 have been questioned and described as actual F5/EF5/T10+ tornadoes, and vice versa; since structures are completely destroyed in both cases, distinguishing between an EF4 tornado and an EF5 tornado is often very difficult.[14] Additionally, because tornado ratings are damage-based, many tornadoes capable of causing F5/EF5/T10+ damage, such as those that move through rural areas, may receive lower ratings because their strongest winds do not strike any suitable damage indicators.[15]

List of events

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F5 and EF5 Tornadoes in the United States 1950-2019
Detailed map

The tornadoes on this list have been formally rated F5 by an official government source. Unless otherwise noted, the source of the F5 rating is the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS), as shown in the archives of the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).[16][17]

Before 1950, assessments of F5 tornadoes are based primarily on the work of Thomas P. Grazulis. The NCDC has accepted 38 of his F5 classifications of tornadoes occurring between 1880 and 1950. In addition to the accepted ones, Grazulis rated a further 25 during the same period which were not accepted. Grazulis' work has identified 16 additional F5 tornadoes between 1950 and 1995,[18] with four later being accepted by the NCDC.[17] From 1950 to 1970, tornadoes were assessed retrospectively, primarily using information recorded in government databases, as well as newspaper photographs and eyewitness accounts. Beginning in 1971, tornadoes were rated by the NWS using on-site damage surveys.[19]

As of February 1, 2007, tornadoes in the United States are rated using the Enhanced Fujita scale, which replaced the Fujita scale in order to more accurately correlate tornadic intensity with damage indicators and to augment and refine damage descriptors. No earlier tornadoes will be reclassified on the Enhanced Fujita scale, and no new tornadoes in the United States will be rated on the original Fujita scale. France and Canada also adopted the EF-Scale in the next few years. Since the creation of the International Fujita scale in 2018, no tornadoes have been rated IF5.

Official F5/EF5 tornadoes

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Worldwide, a total of 67 tornadoes have been officially rated F5/EF5: 59 in the United States, two each in France and Germany, and one each in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and Italy. Of the 59 tornadoes in the United States, 50 are officially rated F5 on the original Fujita scale (with dates of occurrence between May 11, 1953, and May 3, 1999), and nine are officially rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale (with dates of occurrence between May 4, 2007, and May 20, 2013). In total, 57 of these tornadoes have been rated F5 and ten have been rated EF5.

  1. 1764 Woldegk tornado
  2. 1800 Hainichen tornado
  3. 1845 Montville tornado
  4. 1876 Bowen tornado
  5. 1925 Tri-State Tornado
  6. 1930 Treviso–Udine tornado
  7. 1953 Waco tornado
  8. 1953 Fort Rice tornado
  9. 1953 Flint–Beecher tornado
  10. 1953 Adair tornado
  11. 1953 Vicksburg tornado
  12. 1955 Blackwell tornado
  13. 1955 Udall tornado
  14. 1956 Hudsonville–Standale tornado
  15. 1957 Kansas City tornado
  16. 1957 Fargo tornado
  17. 1957 Sunfield tornado [en]
  18. 1958 Colfax tornado
  19. 1960 Prague–Paden tornado
  20. 1964 Wichita Falls tornado
  21. 1964 Central Nebraska tornado
  22. 1965 Colome tornado
  23. 1966 Candlestick Park tornado
  24. 1966 Topeka tornado
  25. 1966 Belmond tornado
  26. 1967 Palluel tornado
  27. 1968 Wheelers­burg–Gallipolis tornado
  28. 1968 Charles City tornado
  29. 1968 Oelwein–Maynard tornado
  30. 1968 Tracy tornado
  31. 1970 Lubbock tornado
  32. 1971 Inverness tornado
  33. 1973 San Justo tornado
  34. 1973 Valley Mills tornado
  35. 1974 Depauw–Daisy Hill tornado
  36. 1974 Xenia tornado
  37. 1974 Brandenburg tornado
  38. 1974 Sayler Park tornado
  39. 1974 First Tanner tornado
  40. 1974 Second Tanner tornado
  41. 1974 Guin tornado
  42. 1976 Spiro tornado
  43. 1976 Brownwood tornado
  44. 1976 Jordan tornado
  45. 1977 Birmingham tornado
  46. 1982 Messer–Golden–Broken Bow tornado
  47. 1984 Barneveld–Black Earth tornado
  48. 1985 Niles–Wheatland tornado
  49. 1990 Hesston tornado
  50. 1990 Goessel tornado
  51. 1990 Plainfield tornado
  52. 1991 Andover tornado
  53. 1992 Chandler–Lake Wilson tornado
  54. 1996 Oakfield tornado
  55. 1997 Jarrell tornado
  56. 1998 Birmingham tornado
  57. 1998 Lawrence County tornado
  58. 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado
  59. 2007 Greensburg tornado
  60. 2007 Elie tornado
  61. 2008 Parkersburg–New Hartford tornado
  62. 2011 Philadelphia tornado
  63. 2011 Smithville tornado
  64. 2011 Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado
  65. 2011 Rainsville tornado
  66. 2011 Joplin tornado
  67. 2011 El Reno–Piedmont tornado
  68. 2013 Moore tornado

Possible F5/EF5 tornadoes officially rated lower

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The process to rate tornadic damage is often difficult. Because of the difficulty, the official ratings of tornadoes are sometimes questioned by others. These may be questioned by other meteorologists, universities and colleges, as well as independent studies published in academic journals.

Previously rated F5/EF5 tornadoes or rated F5/EF5 by others

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This is a list of tornadoes. Tornadoes on this list may have been previously rated F5 or EF5 by the official government damage surveyors. Tornadoes on this list may have also been rated F5 or EF5 by some other meteorologist or expert.

Possible EF5 damage

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This is a list of tornadoes which had possible F5 or EF5 damage. The ratings of possible F5 or EF5 damage could come from the National Weather Service, other branches of the U.S. government, or other tornado experts.

Possible EF5 intensity

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This is a list of tornadoes which may have or did reached F5 or EF5 strength. These tornadoes did not caused F5 or EF5 damage. However, experts or scientists have determined these tornadoes reached F5 or EF5 intensity or think they did.

  1. The Fujita scale was devised under the aegis of scientist T. Theodore Fujita in the early 1970s. Prior to the advent of the scale in 1971, tornadoes in the United States were officially unrated.[1] The Fujita scale has been superseded by the Enhanced Fujita scale in the U.S. since February 1, 2007;[2] Canada used the old scale until April 1, 2013;[3] nations elsewhere, like the United Kingdom, apply other classifications such as the TORRO scale.[4]
  2. Historically, the number of tornadoes globally and in the United States was and is likely underrepresented: research by Grazulis on annual tornado activity suggests that, as of 2001, only 53% of yearly U.S. tornadoes were officially recorded. Documentation of tornadoes outside the United States was historically less exhaustive, owing to the lack of monitors in many nations and, in some cases, to internal political controls on public information.[5] Most countries only recorded tornadoes that produced severe damage or loss of life.[6] Significant low biases in U.S. tornado counts likely occurred through the early 1990s, when advanced NEXRAD was first installed and the National Weather Service began comprehensively verifying tornado occurrences.[7]
  3. The winds estimated by the Fujita scale are estimated values and have not been verified scientifically.[9]

References

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  1. Multiple sources:
  2. Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage". The Online Tornado FAQ. Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  3. "Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale)". Environment and Climate Change Canada. June 6, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  4. "The International Tornado Intensity Scale". Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  5. Grazulis 2001a, pp. 251254.
  6. Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "TORNADO CLIMATOLOGY and DATA". The Online Tornado FAQ. Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  7. Cook & Schaefer 2008, p. 3135.
  8. "U.S. Tornado Climatology". National Climatic Data Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on 2013-10-28. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
  9. 9.0 9.1 "Fujita Tornado Damage Scale". Storm Prediction Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  10. Multiple sources:
  11. "F5 Tornado - Fujita Scale". factsjustforkids.com. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  12. "EF5 Tornado - Fujita Scale". factsjustforkids.com. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  13. "Top ten weather stories for 2007: Canada's First F5 Tornado". Environment and Climate Change Canada. December 30, 2009. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013.
  14. Multiple sources:
  15. Multiple sources:
  16. Edwards 2021.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Lott, McCown & Ross 2000, pp. 10–17.
  18. Grazulis 2001b, p. 9.
  19. McDonald 2001, p. 65.

Sources

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Further reading

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Other websites

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