3/4/13 Tornado Scale In Pictures

Often times when a tornado has been confirmed for a certain city/area, you will hear the rating that is given for it as well. This rating is used to let people know how bad of a tornado it was. The scale is called the Enhanced Fujita Scale, and it goes from zero to five, with an EF5 being the worst tornado damage and highest wind speeds. However, sometimes it is hard to visualize what that damage can look like. So above and below are images that show you what each scale category looks like.

 

EF0

This category has wind speeds of 65-85mph. The lowest tornado rating, EF-0, is reserved for minor damage. Above, an EF-0 tornado peeled back parts of the red roof (picture above) on a chicken barn  in Ringgold, Georgia. These weak tornadoes usually cause only light damage to well-built homes. They may peel back gutters or siding, snap branches or uproot shallow-rooted trees.

EF1

This category has wind speeds of 86-110mph. Twisters of the second-lowest rating can still wreck smaller structures, like the roof of this church in Lyons, Georgia (seen below). Typically, EF-1 twisters strip away roofs, flip mobile homes, blow off doors and shatter windows. And even though these tornadoes are on the lower end of the scale, they can still be deadly. Mobile homes will slide off their foundation and can roll or flip over, although they will remain intact. However, they can still be death traps since trees can crash through them or the homes can roll and pin people underneath. In fact,  in the Southeast, often called Dixie Alley, there are many manufactured homes, which is one reason that our region has a high number of tornado-related deaths.

 

EF2

This will have wind speeds of 111-135mph. EF-2 tornadoes are when things get serious. These strong storms can tear the roof off a house (picture below from Normantown, GA), shift a house's foundation, snap large trees of 1ft. in diameter or larger, lift cars off the ground and shoot boards like missiles. Mobile homes will be destroyed like in the picture below from Normantown, GA from back in 2008. Apartment buildings will experience uplift of their roof deck and suffer significant loss of roofing structural materials.

 

EF3

Wind speeds of 136-165mph. An EF-3 tornado is strong enough to destroy entire stories of well-constructed houses, knock over trains, rip the bark from trees and toss heavy cars. Apartment buildings will suffer the collapse of their roof structure, and will cause the collapse of most walls on the top floor, like this one from Montgomery County, GA (seen below).

EF4

Wind speeds of 166-200mph. These tornadoes are strong enough to level sturdy houses, and rocket cars and other large objects.  Apartment buildings will suffer the destruction of their top two stories. Hattiesburg, MS just recently experienced an EF4 back in February, and the tornado flattened several streets in the community (image seen below).

EF5

This category will have wind speeds of over 200mph. These tornadoes, while relatively uncommon, are the most powerful. These twisters are strong enough to blow away big houses and collapse tall buildings. The slabs of traditional homes will be swept clean and apartment buildings will be completely destroyed. Two years ago the town of Joplin, Missouri was forever changed by an EF5 tornado. An estimated $3 billion in damages, and over 150 fatalities were blamed on one single tornado. 

 

 

Another EF5 tornado demolished the town of Greensburg, Kansas back in 2007. The massive twister leveled at least 95 percent of the city and killed 12 people.

Sources: Our Amazing Planet, NOAA, NWS, Hattiesburg American, Chattanooga Times Free Press, eHow, AP