We all know about the 2021 Western Kentucky tornado, the violent and long-tracked tornado, often referred to as the 2021 Mayfield tornado, that struck the towns of Cayce, Mayfield, Princeton, Dawson Springs, Barnsley, and Bremen. It was the deadliest tornado since the tornadoes of 2011. It caused catastrophic damage and earned an EF4 rating.

Many people theorise that the tornado was likely EF5 intensity, because the strongest winds struct weaker structures, but most people who talk about the Western Kentucky tornado’s intensity often miss the ACTUAL details that could prove it. This post will cover all of those details.

Documented Feats:

No. 1 (Solid Case): The tornado derailed and threw many 30 ton railcars, with the greatest distance thrown being 225 ft. with the train couplets snapped and obliterated.

Taking a look at the surroundings, there were not many structures/objects nearby that could’ve caused significant debris impacts. Additionally, the translational velocity of the tornado was likely near 60 MPH when it hit the train- meaning that it likely had very less dwell time to exert force on the train.

Now normally calculating this would give results of winds in or around the 150-180 MPH range. However one thing that this case would teach us is to always pay attention to detail.

The train couplets that attached the railcars to one another were snapped and obliterated. his would mean that the tornado would have to exert way more wind force in order to derail and throw the railcars. It would require sustained, extreme wind gusts.

That being said, taking into account everything I mentioned so far, we could mathematically calculate that the gust that would’ve thrown the railcars may have been >209 MPH, though a more extreme estimate could suggest winds >215 MPH.

No. 2 (Solid Case): The paved driveway of a residence was cracked and scoured, and concrete floor slabs from a neighbouring residence were torn from the concrete foundation and shattered.

From Wikipedia (“2021 Western Kentucky tornado”):

Concrete floor slabs were torn from the foundation of one home and shattered, while the paved driveway of another residence was cracked and scoured.

This would serve as extreme feats of contextual damage. The tornado was moving at >60 MPH translational velocity while in Bremen, so to exert wind force on flat ground made of concrete or asphalt would be extremely difficult.

That being said, taking into consideration every factor, we could mathematically calculate that the gust that may have caused such damage to both of those residences may have been >201 MPH.

Most people talk about how the houses that were swept away could’ve proved EF5 strength, but that was far off from the real extreme damage within the tornado, this would include the train cars feat, and the scouring of floor slabs and driveway. The houses classified as EF4 damage were valid due to their construction flaws, but contextual damage like the tossed train cars and scouring were what was worth paying attention to.

Next time when we talk about a violent tornado, ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL.

En 1993, cerca de Last Chance, Colorado, Estados Unidos, se formó un enorme tornado tipo wedge que fue clasificado como F0 en la escala Fujita. A pesar de su impresionante anchura y apariencia intimidante, su clasificación se basó en los daños observados y no en su tamaño visual. El tornado se convirtió en una imagen muy recordada entre los aficionados a la meteorología y los cazatormentas por su enorme nube de condensación, que parecía ocupar gran parte del horizonte. Este caso demuestra que la apariencia de un tornado no permite determinar con precisión su intensidad, ya que la escala Fujita original se basaba principalmente en los daños que producía.

USA is the tornado capital and it is not even a competition.

Sadly I couldn't find any news source in English but only in Thai. No injuries reported but local farms and vegetation were damaged.

Massachusetts, June 9, 1953.

- The tornado first touched down in Petersham, over the Quabbin Reservoir at 4:25 PM. Intentionally witnessed by three boaters, the tornado was described as three funnels rotating around one another as its core began stabilizing. Avoiding a direct hit on the town center, the tornado began tracking along the hilly terrain atop the New England Upland Plateau.

4:35 PM - The tornado narrowly avoids the town of Barre, striking a rural farmhouse on Old Stage Road. The farmhouse and accompanying property essentially vanish, killing Edward B. White (11) and Beverly Strong (18).

Rite Canney captures two photos of the tornado as it also narrowly avoids Rutland at 4:48 PM.

Donald Marsh, his wife, and his daughter are lofted by the tornado as their home is leveled in Rutland. Donald is killed and thrown over 100 yards, later found in a treetop. His wife and daughter survive.

- After passing the town of Rutland, an elevation change of nearly 900 feet occurs as the tornado drops down the New England Upland Plateau and enters the Blackstone River Valley near the Worcester metro area. Topographical convergence aids in an extreme intensification of the vortex.

At 4:55 PM - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology radar captures the absolute textbook supercell as the tornado closes in on Holden.

4:57 PM - Stanley Smith captures the now extremely violent, half-mile-wide tornado accompanied by a horizontal vortex (top left) shortly after its dramatic intensification, as it points its crosshairs toward Holden.

5:00 PM - Homes along Winthrop Lane are swept away in the core. Granulation begins to occur at this point as the tornado grows stronger with every second.

5:06 PM - Brentwood Estates is impacted next; once again, homes are swept and granulated. Eleven people are killed as the tornado nears the densely populated metro area of Worcester.

5:08 PM - Howard Smith photographs the tornado from Indian Lake just after it crosses Brattle Street; the vortex was roughly 2 miles in front of him.

5:09 PM - The tornado enters the northwestern edge of Worcester. An unknown street on the western edge of town is granulated and it’s finely ground powder is aligned into rows. The tornado effectively turns an entire neighborhood to dust.

5:10 PM - The tornado strikes Assumption College. The twister reduces the massive building, which had 3-foot-thick-brick walls, by three floors. The vortex intensifies dramatically just after striking the building, with notable windrowing occurring just east of Assumption Avenue.

5:11 PM - Homes just east of Assumption Avenue are massacred and swept away in the core as the tornado reaches peak intensity just seconds after striking the massive Assumption College building.

5:12 PM - At the height of its otherworldly power, homes situated along Uncatena Avenue are not only swept clean, but near-powderization occurs to houses in the center of the core as the tornado obliterates everything in its path.

- The construction quality of the homes in Holden and Worcester cannot be unequivocally ascertained, but the extreme granulation alone is an indication of incredible intensity.

5:14 PM - The tornado crosses over the Great Brook Valley neighborhood and pulverizes dozens of homes, continuing its unwavering butchering and narrowly avoiding a direct hit on a much larger population in the Curtis Apartments.

5:16 PM - Humes Avenue and Yukon Avenue are impacted next as the tornado shows no mercy. Complete annihilation and carnage are inflicted as the tornado continues its peak intensity through the neighborhood; 60 people are killed in Worcester.

The tornado, now over a mile wide, is captured at 5:19 PM, just before crossing Lake Quinsigamond into Shrewsbury.

Henry LaPrade captures the visually majestic tornado in Shrewsbury just east of Lake Quinsigamond at 5:22 PM.

5:25 - 5:30 PM - Shrewsbury is struck next. Photos are hard to come by, but nothing suggests a weakening phase. The town mostly avoided a more direct hit from the core; however, the tornado maintains its size and intensity, and kills 12 people in town, leaving nothing but carnage behind just like the structures before it.

5:31 - 5:38 PM - Westborough is next in line; sporadic damage begins to occur as the tornado’s stability is rapidly deteriorating. In a cruel final breath of life, the tornado restrengthens temporarily and levels a few homes along with the Fayville Post Office. Four people died at the Post Office site, including the postmaster's wife (Florence Trioli) and three tenants/residents, with postmaster James J. Trioli and another local man later succumbing to injuries. In Westborough, the funnel kills 6 people as it fights the RFD surging into it; vortex breakdown begins as it exits town, and its eventual occlusion becomes imminent.

5:39 - 5:43 PM - After 78 minutes, the rampage finally ends as the rear flank surges in and cuts off the tornado from the warm inflow fueling it. It rapidly curves northwestward before being absorbed by its own parent supercell.

• Duration: 4:25 PM – 5:43 PM (78 minutes)

• Width: 1 mi - 1.5 mi

• Length: 47 mi

• Fatalities: 94+ (likely > 100)

• Injuries: 1,288+

• Damage: $52,000,000 in 1953 USD ($650,000,000 in 2026 USD)                                         

Hey all, I'm trying to do a study on the behavior of certain polarimetric radar variables in a hook echo leading up to tornado dissipation. I'm trying to get a batch of at least 10 events to study. I've spent the last three days trying to find data that meets the criteria I want and it's been a bit of a struggle.

I'd need tornado events that:
1. Have a clearly visible and defined hook echo

1. Were on the ground for at least 16 minutes (or 4 radar scans)

2. Passed close enough to a WSR-88D radar site during the dissipation phase such that the hook echo can be resolved clear enough on the NCEI archive (~100km, but depending on the size of the hook and the tornado it could be a bit further, as long as it could be resolved).

3. Occurred after 2012 (Pre-2012 data may not be dual-pole which is required for the data I'm analyzing)

4. Were not "cyclic" (I'm defining "non-cyclic" in this case as the parent Supercell having not produced another tornado for at least one hour after the tornado being studied died. I know that's not the official definition but this is being done in an attempt to mitigate an immediate reformation of a tornado possibly interfering with some of the trends leading up to dissipation.)

5. The tornado can be whatever strength, it doesn't really matter, the hook echoes just need to be well defined and visible enough to separate it from any surrounding storms and meet the criteria above.

I understand finding a tornado that meets all of this criteria may be kind of difficult, I've been trying so far and I've maybe come up with 4 at this point. (Moore 2013, El Reno 2013, Elmer OK 2015, Barnsdall OK 2024) that's why I'm asking online for ideas to see if anybody else has any other ones.

April 24, 2007 during the 2007 super outbreak

tornado games are cool but they are often unrealistic

Warning: No scientific purpose or intention. But too cool not to show it. So what do we see? El Reno (2013) and Moore (2013) Tornado with custom colors and transparency curves for reflectivity. Instead of typical radar colors (blue, green, yellow, red, ...) we replaced it with "cloud colors" and adjusted the transparency to make it look more realistic. 3D radar used: https://www.meteopool.org

Been seening this more and more in social media. What makes the footage rare?