geografia: Tornado records

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

This article lists various tornado records. The most "extreme" tornado in recorded history was the Tri-State tornado, which spread through parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925. It was likely an F5 on the Fujita Scale (tornadoes were not rated at the time) and holds records for longest path length at 219 miles (352 km) and longest duration at about 3+1⁄2 hours. The 2014 Pilger, Nebraska tornado had the highest forward speed ever recorded in a violent tornado, at 94 mph (151 km/h). The deadliest tornado in world history was the Daulatpur–Saturia tornado in Bangladesh on April 26, 1989, which killed approximately 1,300 people. In the history of Bangladesh, at least 24 tor…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 88

Changes in Tornado Climatology Accompanying the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Abstract United States tornado records form the basis for a variety of meteorological, climatological and disaster-risk analyses, but how reliable are they in light of changing standards for rating, as with the 2007 transition of Fujita (F) to Enhanced Fujita (EF) damage scales? To what extent are recorded tornado metrics subject to such influences that may be nonmeteorological in nature? While addressing these questions with utmost thoroughness is too large of a task for any one study, and may not be possible given the many variables and uncertainties involved, some variables that are recorded in large samples are ripe…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

The 1974 Guin tornado was a powerful and fast-moving tornado that moved across northern portions of Alabama, hitting several towns along a 135 mi (217 km) path and devastating the town of Guin during the evening hours of April 3, 1974. The tornado would receive a rating of F5 on the Fujita scale, and was one of seven tornadoes to obtain the rating as part of the 1974 Super Outbreak. The tornado first touched down in eastern Mississippi near the town of Caledonia, before crossing state lines into Alabama. It would move to the northeast, rapidly intensifying as it neared the town of Guin. The tornado obliterated numerous brick buildings in Guin, claiming the lives of twenty-three residents be…

Evidence: 29 • authority: 72

This is a list of tornadoes which have been officially or unofficially labeled as F5, EF5, IF5, T10-T11, the highest possible ratings on the various tornado intensity scales. These scales – the Fujita scale, the Enhanced Fujita scale, the International Fujita scale, and the TORRO tornado intensity scale – attempt to estimate the intensity of a tornado by classifying the damage caused to natural features and man-made structures in the tornado's path. The most recent EF5 tornado was the 2025 Enderlin tornado, ending the record 12-year EF5 drought that began after the 2013 Moore tornado.

Evidence: 23 • authority: 88

Revisiting a 24-year database of tornado damage paths using the new International Fujita (IF) scale. Tornadoes are the meteorological phenomenon capable of producing the most intense surface winds in the Earth, sometimes exceeding 100 m s-1. Tornado wind speed can rarely be measured in-situ using anemometers and radar. Nevertheless, it can be estimated through an analysis of the observed damage, especially when performing in-situ damage surveys (Rodríguez et al., 2020). The Fujita (F) scale (Fujita, 1971), which relates damage on buildings and forest with wind speed, was proposed with the aim of assessing tornado intensity. In the early 2000s was revised by the Texas Tech University pr…

Evidence: 20 • authority: 72

The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), was a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determined by meteorologists and engineers after a ground or aerial damage survey, or both; and depending on the circumstances, ground-swirl patterns (cycloidal marks), weather radar data, witness testimonies, media reports and damage imagery, as well as photogrammetry or videogrammetry if motion picture recording is available. The Fujita scale, named for the meteorologist Ted Fujita, was replaced with the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF-Scale) in the United State…