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None of the tornadoes in the United States recorded before February 1, 2007, were re-categorized during and after the transition to the EF Scale. Essentially, there is no functional difference in how tornadoes are rated. The old ratings and new ratings are smoothly connected with a linear formula.
In late 2023, American meteorologist and tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis created the Outbreak Intensity Score (OIS) as a way to rank tornado outbreaks. [1] [2] For the score, only significant tornadoes are counted: F2/EF2 tornadoes receive 2 points each, F3/EF3 tornadoes receive 5 points each, F4/EF4 tornadoes receive 10 points each, and F5/EF5 tornadoes receive 15 points each. [1]
"The EF-5 rating was mainly arrived at by the total destruction of vehicles of various sizes and weight. Some vehicles were tossed several blocks, and owners were never able to locate their vehicles. Also, parking stops weighing over 300 pounds and re-barred into asphalt were tossed from 20 to 60 yards.
Here's how tornadoes are rated on the Enhanced Fujita scale and what those ratings mean.
Under this version, each tornado would be assigned one Fujita scale rating and two Pearson scale ratings. For example, a tornado rated F4 based on damage with a path length of 63 miles (101 km) and a path width of 800 yards (730 m) would be rated F,P,P 4,4,4.
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The Moore, Oklahoma tornado of May 20, 2013, is the most recent tornado to be rated EF5 as of 2025. The Xenia, Ohio, F5 tornado of April 3, 1974.This was one of two tornadoes to receive a preliminary rating of F6, which was downgraded later to a rating of F5.
The EF-scale is more specific in detailing the degrees of damage on different types of structures for a given wind speed. While the F-scale goes from F0 to F12 in theory, the EF-scale is capped at EF5, which is defined as "winds ≥200 miles per hour (320 km/h)". [9]