Quad State / Mayfield Kentucky Tornado Discussion

[tolakram]

Well,

we enthusiasts have a habit of thinking many storms are cat5 / EF5, They should be rare, and require a lot of support. Just my opinion.

[cheezyWXguy]

Well,

we enthusiasts have a habit of thinking many storms are cat5 / EF5, They should be rare, and require a lot of support. Just my opinion.

You certainly have a point here. Every time I look at the various forms of social media during and after a major weather event, I am made aware of how thankful I am that armchair scientists are not able to have any impact on the scientific rigor that goes into forecasting, evaluation of forecasts, and damage ratings.

The only thought I have to the contrary is my curiosity on how we can go so long without an ef5. It’s hard to imagine that every F5 of the pre-satellite era is as credible as the ones of the last 15 years, given the increases in technology, population, and revisions in building codes. In a way it kind of feels like we are comparing apples to oranges. I’m sure some of this has to do with criteria changes from moving to the Ef scale, but it is a little tough to deal with as a weather weenie knowing how difficult it is to evaluate events that far in the past, let alone accurately compare them to similar events in the present.

[InfernoFlameCat]

Is there still a chance this tornado gets upped to EF5?

[ElectricStorm]

Is there still a chance this tornado gets upped to EF5?

The EF4/190 rating is still preliminary so there's always a chance. With a track that long it will probably take a while to finalize the rating. Wouldn't be surprised if they kept it how it is tho.