EF5 Tornado levels Greensburg Kansas.

[snoopj]

I guess the question I have here is about how the storms are rated. Is it rated for the highest damage that is found vs the overall damage which could be less?

It is purely based on the highest level of damage found even if it only covers a small area of the damage.

Aye. During the 05.04.03 outbreak here in KC, the longest damage path from a tornado had only a small bit of F4 damage, even though for most of it's lifecycle, it was listed at F1-F3 damage. Since they found F4 damage in a small area, the entire tornado gets classified as a F4.

--snoopj

[P.K.]

That is the case with a lot of tornadoes.

I've not had a chance to look at many photos but the damage here does seem extreme. Sorry I'm not familiar with either the F or EF scales so I won't bother giving the rating on here that I would give it.

[snoopj]

According to CNN.com, two more bodies have been found in the recovery effort in Greensburg. That brings the death toll in Greensburg alone to ten.

--snoopj

[Typhoon_Willie]

I think this is a link to the video of this devastating tornado.
Tornadovideos.net

At least I think this is the correct link. Plus the fact there are several good tornado videos here.

[vbhoutex]

While at lunch today I saw ticker on one of the news channels that said they had found a survivor in the ruins in Greensburg. Can anyone confirm this?

[snoopj]

Apparently, they did find a survivor, but recent CNN.com updates seem to indicate they also found two dead as well.

--snoopj

[southerngale]

Is there a way to save that video to my photobucket?

Record it and then upload it. That's what I would do.

Most of the damage to Greensburg houses and buildings looks like low end EF4 at best. I think the school and the water tower (there have been many documented F5's before that have left water towers fairly unscathed) was the reason for the rating. Perhaps a suction vortex? Also there were some houses in rural areas that were nearly wiped clean and probably warranted a high EF4 rating at the least.

The tornado path ended 3 miles north of town, so I'm actually banking that the tornado was probably not at its peak when it hit Greensburg.

Wouldn't this be EF5 though?


Just a slab and rubble remain where a house was destroyed by Friday night's tornado in Greensburg, Kansas.

I think that all depends on how well built the building was that used to be on that slab. Not just that an empty slab is there.

--snoopj

Yeah, good point. And I don't know that answer. I guess they found enough to rate it an EF5 though.

[Bunkertor]

Is there a detailed report available, yet ?

[Category 5]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU3iqkDEpKw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3QKzPhqtHo

[Category 5]

[Category 5]

[Category 5]

A few questions

1. How high about were the winds from the Greenburg tornado? I read estimated 205mph, but to me that seems quite low.
2. How many tornadoes did that cell produce? And how long was the Greenburg Twister on the ground?
3. Any estimate of the damage total?

[Category 5]

According to Greg Forbes, the radar was picking up debris after it hit Greensburg.

[snoopj]

After looking at the archives, I think this is the GR2AE interpreted image of the debris field via radar after hitting Greensburg. You can distinctly see a circle forming in there with intense returns. Debris in the sky would result in heavy returns. This was the Base Reflectivity image from KDDC, 05/05/07, 02:58:21 UTC on the 0.5 degree tilt.



--snoopj

[Category 5]

Thats exactly what it is snoop.

[Category 5]

Compare

Greensburg Tornado (EF5)


Moore/Bridge Creek Tornado (Strong F5)


Andover Tornado (F5)


Wichita Falls Tornado (Strong F4)


Xenia Tornado (F5)

[Category 5]

Are there any pictures of the 2 mile wide tornado in Nebraska a few years back?

As far as I know, that tornado and this one (The one that hit Greensburg) are two of the widest on record (if not THE two widest)

[CrazyC83]

The Moore and Greensburg tornadoes look sooooo similar in those pictures...

[Category 5]

The Moore and Greensburg tornadoes look sooooo similar in those pictures...

They do.

The Greensburg tornado, though powerful, still didn't come close to that one (We don't think)

[Cookiely]

My mama asked me this question and I don't have an answer. What happens to banks in a tornado? Can the vault withstand an F5? Does the money just get shredded everywhere? Come to think of it, what happened during Andrew or Katrina? Were any banks destroyed or did the vaults survive the impact?