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The National Weather Service's arrow showing the EF scale. This includes a description word for each level of the scale. The Enhanced Fujita scale (abbreviated as EF-Scale) is a scale that rates tornado intensity based on the severity of the damage they cause.
The 1977 Birmingham–Smithfield F5 tornado's damage was surveyed by Ted Fujita and he "toyed with the idea of rating the Smithfield tornado an F6". [13] In 2001, tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis stated in his book F5–F6 Tornadoes ; "In my opinion, if there ever was an F6 tornado caught on video, it was the Pampa, Texas tornado of 1995 ". [ 14 ]
Tornado intensity is the measure of wind speeds and potential risk produced by a tornado. Intensity can be measured by in situ or remote sensing measurements, but since these are impractical for wide-scale use, intensity is usually inferred by proxies , such as damage.
The Enhanced Fujita scale measures a tornado's intensity on a scale of 1 to 5 based on its wind speed estimates and resulting damages.
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]
An EF4 tornado with wind speeds ranging from 166 to 200 mph can cause devastating damage. Most to all walls on a well-built house will likely collapse, and high-rise buildings can sustain ...
Tornado watch: An alert signifying that weather conditions favor thunderstorms capable of producing a tornado within a certain location. People caught in a tornado watch area are urged to be prepared.
It linked damage descriptions—like felled trees or destroyed houses—to a bracket of wind speeds that would have been necessary to cause the damage, assigning each a rating from F0 to F5. This approach to rating tornadoes and concluding their probable wind speeds was revolutionary and was replicated and adapted into the various scales used ...