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Tornado damage to human-made structures is a result of the high wind velocity and windblown debris. Tornadic winds have been measured in excess of 300 mph (480 km/h). Tornadoes are a serious hazard to life and limb. As such, people in tornado-prone areas often adopt plans of action in case a tornado approaches.
Violent tornadoes are extremely rare outside of the United States and Canada. F5 and EF5 tornadoes are rare. In the United States, they typically only occur once every few years, [14] and account for approximately 0.1 percent of confirmed tornadoes. [15] An F5 tornado was reported in Elie, Manitoba, in Canada, on June 22, 2007. [16]
The 1977 Birmingham–Smithfield F5 tornado's damage was surveyed by Ted Fujita and he "toyed with the idea of rating the Smithfield tornado an F6". [13] In 2001, tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis stated in his book F5–F6 Tornadoes; "In my opinion, if there ever was an F6 tornado caught on video, it was the Pampa, Texas tornado of 1995". [14]
NWS rates the force of a tornado by wind speed and the damage it leaves behind on a scale named for meteorologist Ted Fujita and refined in 2007 as the "Enhanced Fujita" — EF — in categories ...
That figure is inflated somewhat by 2011, when one of the costliest and deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded claimed the lives of at least 553 people, including more than 150 in one Missouri ...
More than 1,000 tornadoes sprout up across the US in the average year, causing billions of dollars in damage and killing scores of Americans. Track them here.
Tornadoes are focused in the right front quadrant of landfalling tropical cyclones, which tend to occur in the late summer and autumn. Tornadoes can also be spawned as a result of eyewall mesovortices, which persist until landfall. [90] Tornado occurrence is highly dependent on the time of day, because of solar heating. [91]
Intensity cannot be determined due to a lack of information. This rating applies to tornadoes that traverse areas with no damage indicators, cause damage in an area that cannot be accessed by a survey, or cause damage that cannot be differentiated from that of another tornado. [4] N/A EF0: 65–85: 105–137 52.82% Minor damage.