Portal:Tornadoes
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The Tornadoes Portal
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A prolonged and widespread tornado outbreak sequence affected a large portion of the United States in late-May 2013 and early-June 2013. The outbreak was the result of a slow-moving but powerful storm system that produced several strong tornadoes across the Great Plains states, especially in Kansas and Oklahoma. Other strong tornadoes caused severe damage in Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan. The outbreak extended as far east as Upstate New York. 27 fatalities were reported in total, with nine resulting from tornadoes (eight in Oklahoma and one in Arkansas).
By far the most significant tornado of the outbreak was an extremely large EF3 tornado that struck areas near the town of El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31. With a maximum width of 2.6 miles (4.2 km), it was the largest tornado on record. The second highest wind speeds recorded on Earth, around 301 miles per hour (484 km/h), were also observed in this tornado. The twister was responsible for eight deaths, including famous storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son Paul, and Carl Young as a result of being caught off-guard by the tornado's unprecedented width. In addition, the tornado caused 151 injures. (Full article...)Selected tornado list -
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2024 tornado activity
A large, deadly and major tornado outbreak occurred across the Central and Southern United States from May 6–10, 2024, as a result of a slow-moving trough that was moving across the country. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued a tornado-driven high risk convective outlook for portions of central Oklahoma and extreme southern Kansas early on May 6. Millions of people were put under a particularly dangerous situation (PDS) tornado watch later that evening, as many tornadoes were reported across the region, particularly in Oklahoma, where a violent EF4 tornado struck the towns of Barnsdall and Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Severe and tornadic weather spread eastward over the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Valleys over the next two days, with a nocturnal outbreak occurring in the latter on May 8, as tornadic supercell thunderstorms produced many tornadoes across the states of Tennessee, northern Alabama and western Georgia. The system responsible for the outbreak finally moved offshore by May 10 after producing several more tornadoes across the Southeast. This large outbreak came less then two weeks after a similarly large and deadly outbreak occurred across most of the same regions.
Three fatalities directly linked to the tornadoes have been confirmed so far, with the majority in Oklahoma; one tornadic death also occurred in Tennessee on May 8. Three non-tornadic deaths related to straight-line winds also occurred. In addition, during the course of the outbreak, tornado emergencies were issued for three consecutive days between May 6–8 for damaging tornadoes; the last time that this phenomenon had occurred was exactly 21 years prior, where tornado emergencies were issued for four consecutive days between May 6–9, 2003, during a similarly large outbreak.
As of May 14, at least 142 tornadoes have been confirmed from the outbreak overall, most of which were clustered around Oklahoma, Michigan and Tennessee, earning 47 points on the outbreak intensity score. The outbreak also served as the end of a 16-day period of constant severe weather and tornado activity across the United States that began with the late-April outbreak – with over 250 total confirmed tornadoes across both outbreaks. (Full article...)Tornado anniversaries
May 13
- 1908 – An F4 tornado killed 49 people as it devastated of Gilliam, Bolinger, and Belcher. Only two homes remained standing in Gilliam, where 34 people died. Nine were killed on the south side of Bolinger and six died in one family near Belcher.
- 1980 – An F3 tornado moved through downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, killing 5 people, injuring 79, and leaving 1,200 homeless.
- 1996 – A tornado struck the Jamalpur and Tangail Districts of Bangladesh, killing an estimated 700 people.
May 14
- 1886 – A tornado outbreak impacted the Midwestern United States. An F4 tornado, destroyed farm homes near Portland, Indiana before crossing into Ohio, where it killed six people, most of them on farms near Celina. An F3 tornado, described as "an immense balloon moving at 80 mph," killed 11 people as it struck Dunkirk and Cary, Ohio.
- 1923 – An F5 tornado obliterated farms, including a large ranch house, across Howard and Mitchell Counties, Texas, killing 23 people and injuring 250.
May 15
- 1896 – A tornado, nearing the end of its track, narrowed and intensified to F5 strength, carving a 60-yard-wide path of complete destruction through Sherman, Texas. Even though only a small part of town was affected, 60 people were killed with up to 7 deaths in a single family. Another 13 people were killed on farms outside of Sherman.
- 1968 – A large tornado outbreak affected the central and southern United States, killing 72 people. An F4 tornado destroyed 164 homes in Jonesboro, Arkansas, resulting in 35 deaths and 361 injuries. Two F5 tornadoes touched down in Iowa. One devastated Charles City, killing 13 people, injuring 450, and damaging or destroying nearly 2,000 homes. The other struck Oelwein, where it killed 5 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 1,000 homes.
Did you know…
- ...that the 2013 Moore tornado that struck Moore and Newcastle, Oklahoma, is the most recent EF5 tornado?
- ...that the 2021 South Moravia tornado, an IF4 tornado with winds between 207–260 mph (333–418 km/h), was the strongest tornado to hit the Czech Republic in modern history?
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Major structural damage to a house near Hartford (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Low-end EF4 damage to a business in downtown Cayce (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
A multi-ton freight car that was thrown from the tracks in Barnsley (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Aerial view of EF4 damage in Mayfield the day after the tornado (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Trees that were completely debarked and denuded near Buckeye, Arkansas. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
Debris and destroyed homes along Alexander Street in Dawson Springs (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
High-end EF4 damage to a house in Bremen (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Derecho moving across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa (from December 2021 Midwest derecho and tornado outbreak) -
Widespread devastation in a residential area of Dawson Springs (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
A satellite view of the extratropical cyclone that was responsible for the tornado outbreak on December 11. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
Radar collage of a supercell that spawned a tornado family during the outbreak (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
Radar 3D volume scan of the supercell showing debris lofted over 30,000 feet (9.1 km) in the air as the tornado struck Mayfield (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
High-end EF3 damage to homes in the Creekwood subdivision in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Numerous fatalities occurred in this area. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
A liquor store that was destroyed in the western part of Bowling Green, Kentucky. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
EF3 damage to businesses in downtown Dresden, Tennessee. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
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From May 2 to 8, 1999, a large tornado outbreak took place across much of the Central and parts of the Eastern United States, as well as southern Canada. During this week-long event, 152 tornadoes touched down in these areas. The most dramatic events unfolded during the afternoon of May 3 through the early morning hours of May 4 when more than half of these storms occurred. Oklahoma experienced its largest tornado outbreak on record, with 70 confirmed. The most notable of these was the F5 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado which devastated Oklahoma City and suburban communities. The tornado killed 36 people and injured 583 others; losses amounted to $1 billion, making it the first billion-dollar tornado in history. Overall, 50 people lost their lives during the outbreak and damage amounted to $1.4 billion.
On May 2, a strong area of low pressure moved out of the Rocky Mountains and into the High Plains, producing scattered severe weather and ten tornadoes in Nebraska. The following day, atmospheric conditions across Oklahoma became significantly more favorable for an outbreak of severe weather. Wind profiles across the region strongly favored tornadic activity, with the Storm Prediction Center stating, "it became more obvious something major was looming" by the afternoon hours. Numerous supercell thunderstorms developed across the state as well as bordering areas in Kansas and Texas. Over the following 48 hours, May 3–4, 116 tornadoes touched down across the Central United States. Following the extensive outbreak, activity became increasingly scattered from May 5 to 8, with 26 tornadoes touching down across the Eastern United States and Quebec.
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The scope of WikiProject Severe weather is to write articles about severe weather, namely thunderstorms and tornadoes. Their talk page is located here.
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