what is the biggest tornado in history

by Adriana Hill Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

What are the five worst tornado events in history?

Tri-State Tornado: March 18, 1925.
Natchez Tornado: May 7, 1840.
St. Louis/East St. Louis Tornado: May 27, 1896.
Tupelo Tornado: April 5, 1936.
Gainesville Tornado: April 6, 1936.

What are the top 10 deadliest tornadoes?

What are the top 5 worst tornadoes?

Daulatpur-Saturia Tornado, Bangladesh, 1989. This April 26, 1989, storm was about a mile wide and traveled 50 miles through poor areas of the Dhaka region of Bangladesh. …
Tri-State Tornado, 1925. …
The Great Natchez Tornado, 1840. …
The St. …
The Tupelo Tornado, 1936.

What are two of the worst tornadoes in history?

What are the two worst tornadoes in history?

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Daulatpur and Saturnia – Bangladesh, 1989: 1,300 Fatalities. …
Tri-State – United States, 1925: 695 Fatalities. …
Nawabanji, Singair, and Manikganj – Bangladesh, 1973: 691 Fatalities. …
East Pakistan – 1969: 660 Deaths. …

What was the costliest tornado in US history?

History

May 22, 2011: Joplin, Mo. A mile-wide, EF5 tornado with peak winds over 200 mph, tore a six-mile long gash through the heart of the city of about 50,000 ...
May 27, 1896: St. Louis, Mo. ...
April 27, 2011: Tuscaloosa, Ala. ...
Sept. ...
March 18, 1925: Tri-State Tornado. ...

What is the longest tornado track?

The longest-known track for a single tornado is the Tri-State Tornado with a path length of 151 to 235 mi (243 to 378 km). For years there was debate whether the originally recognized path length of 219 mi (352 km) over 3.5 hours was from one tornado or a series. Some very long track (VLT) tornadoes were later determined to be successive tornadoes spawned by the same supercell thunderstorm, which are known as a tornado family. The Tri-State Tornado, however, appeared to have no gaps in the damage. A six-year reanalysis study by a team of severe convective storm meteorologists found insufficient evidence to make firm conclusions but does conclude that it is likely that the beginning and ending of the path was resultant of separate tornadoes comprising a tornado family. It also found that the tornado began 15 mi (24 km) to the west and ended 1 mi (1.6 km) farther east than previously known, bringing the total path to 235 mi (378 km). The 174 mi (280 km) segment from central Madison County, Missouri to Pike County, Indiana is likely one continuous tornado and the 151 mi (243 km) segment from central Bollinger County, Missouri to western Pike County, Indiana is very likely a single continuous tornado. Another significant tornado was found about 65 mi (105 km) east-northeast of the end of aforementioned segment (s) of the Tri-State Tornado Family and is likely another member of the family. Its path length of 20 mi (32 km) over about 20 minutes makes the known tornado family path length total to 320 mi (510 km) over about 5½ hours. Grazulis in 2001 wrote that the first 60 mi (97 km) of the (originally recognized) track is probably the result of two or more tornadoes and that a path length of 157 mi (253 km) was seemingly continuous.

What is the widest tornado in the world?

Officially, the widest tornado on record is the El Reno, Oklahoma tornado of May 31, 2013 with a width of 2.6 miles (4.2 km) at its peak. This is the width found by the National Weather Service based on preliminary data from University of Oklahoma RaXPol mobile radar that also sampled winds of 296 mph (476 km/h) which was used to upgrade the tornado to EF5. However, it was revealed that these winds did not impact any structures, and as a result the tornado was downgraded to EF3 based on damage.

How many tornadoes were there in 2011?

The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest tornado outbreak spawned by a single weather system in recorded history; it produced 360 tornadoes from April 25–28, with 216 of those in a single 24-hour period on April 27 from midnight to midnight CDT, fifteen of which were violent EF4–EF5 tornadoes. 348 deaths occurred in that outbreak, of which 324 were tornado related. The outbreak largely contributed to the record for most tornadoes in the month of April with 771 tornadoes, almost triple the prior record (267 in April 1974). The overall record for a single month was 542 in May 2003, which was also broken.

What was the most extreme tornado in history?

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 is considered an F5 on the Fujita Scale, even though tornadoes were not ranked on any scale at the time.

What was the costliest tornado in recent history?

Louis tornado on May 27, incurred the most damages adjusted for wealth and inflation, at an estimated $4.6 billion (2019 USD). In raw numbers, the Joplin tornado of May 22, 2011 is considered the costliest tornado in recent history, with damage totals near $3.18 billion (2019 USD).

How fast was the tornado in 1999?

During the F5 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado on May 3, 1999, in the southern Oklahoma City metro area, a Doppler on Wheels situated near the tornado measured winds of 302 ± 22 mph (486 ± 35 km/h) momentarily in a small area inside the funnel approximately 100 m (330 ft) above ground level. These are also the highest wind speeds observed on Earth.

When was the Tanner tornado?

Tanner, a small town in northern Alabama, was hit by an F5 tornado on April 3, 1974 and was struck again 45 minutes later by a second F5 (however, the rating is disputed and it may have been high-end F4), demolishing what remained of the town. Thirty-seven years later, on April 27, 2011 (the largest and deadliest outbreak since 1974), Tanner was hit yet again by the EF5 2011 Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado, which produced high-end EF4 damage in the southern portion of town. The suburban community of Harvest, Alabama, just to the northeast, also sustained major impacts from all three Tanner tornadoes, and was also hit by destructive tornadoes in 1995 and 2012 .

Why was the 2013 tornado so destructive?

In 2013, a group of weather experts reevaluated the tornado in search of reasons why it was so huge and so destructive. Though they did find an unusual combination of a warm front, the tornado’s supercell and a favorable storm environment, they concluded that there wasn’t a single reason why the storm was so huge.

How many people died in the Murphysboro tornado?

Soon the tornado had marched through Murphysboro, Illinois, where 243 people were killed, 623 injured and the city’s industries decimated. In nearby De Soto, 7-year-old Betty Moroni was in her classroom when the storm hit.

What happened on March 18 1925?

But March 18, 1925 was a day like no other the region had ever seen. That day, a huge outbreak of tornadoes marched across a swath of the Midwest and Southeast. The largest of them all—the deadliest tornado in United States history—laid ...

How fast was the tornado in Missouri?

Modern meteorologists believe wind speeds topped 300 miles per hour in some locations. At one point, observers in Missouri calculated that it was a full mile wide.

When did the word "tornado" become banned?

The ban on the word had been in effect since the 1880s, when weather forecasters first began developing methods of predicting tornadoes. At the time, forecasting was in its infancy, and officials worried that meteorologists could not provide adequate forecasts of how a tornado might behave.

Where did the tornadoes happen in 1925?

But though people in Missouri , Illinois and Indiana were used to storms and tornadoes, they had never seen anything like the storm that developed the afternoon of March 18, 1925. A small tornado that touched down near Ellington, Missouri gained momentum over the course of the afternoon.

Where are the sisters from the Galveston Hurricane?

Sisters Minnie and Rose Hawkins sit amongst the wreckage of their home in Murphysboro, Illinois, in the wake of the 1925 tri-state tornado. READ MORE: How the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 Became the Deadliest U.S. Natural Disaster.

What was the only tornado in the U.S. to have killed more people than it injured?

This tornado struck Natchez, Mississippi, on May 7, 1840, and holds the record as the only massive tornado in the U.S. to have killed more people than it injured. The death toll was at least 317, with the majority of casualties on flatboats sunk along the Mississippi River. The loss of life was likely greater because the deaths of enslaved people would not have been counted in this era. "There is no telling how widespread has been the ruin," wrote the Free Trader across the river in Louisiana. "Reports have come in from plantations 20 miles distant in Louisiana, and the rage of the tempest was terrible. Hundreds of (slaves) killed, dwellings swept like chaff from their foundations, the forest uprooted, and the crops beaten down and destroyed."

How many people died in the 1925 tornado?

The 219-mile path it cut through Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois is also on record as the longest in world history. The death toll from this March 18, 1925, twister was 695 , with more than 2,000 injured. Most of the deaths were in southern Illinois. The monstrous tornado was three-quarters of a mile wide, though some reports put it at a mile wide in places. Winds may have exceeded 300 mph. The twister destroyed 15,000 homes.

Where did the tornado hit in 1896?

This tornado hit May 27, 1896, striking the major city of St. Louis, Missouri, and neighboring East St. Louis, Illinois, across the Mississippi River . At least 255 died, but the toll may have been higher (as people on boats might have washed down the river). It's the only tornado on this list to be considered a category F4 instead of the most powerful F5. Less than a month later, the city hosted the 1896 Republican National Convention, where William McKinley was nominated before being elected the 25th president of the United States.

Where was the Daulatpur-Saturia tornado?

Daulatpur-Saturia Tornado, Bangladesh, 1989. This April 26, 1989, storm was about a mile wide and traveled 50 miles through poor areas of the Dhaka region of Bangladesh. Along with the U.S. and Canada, this is one of the countries most frequently hit by tornadoes.

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How many tornadoes are F5?

Worldwide, a total of 62 tornadoes have been officially rated F5/EF5 since 1950: 59 in the United States and one each in France, Russia, and Canada. Of the 59 tornadoes in the United States, 50 are officially rated F5 on the original Fujita scale (with dates of occurrence between May 11, 1953, and May 3, 1999), and nine are officially rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale (with dates of occurrence between May 4, 2007, and May 20, 2013). An additional four tornadoes which occurred prior to 1950, all in Europe, have been officially rated F5 or equivalent by the European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL) or the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO), bringing the worldwide total for official ratings of F5/EF5 or equivalent to 66.

What is the T scale for tornadoes?

Most of Europe, on the other hand, uses the TORRO tornado intensity scale (or T-Scale), which ranks tornado intensity between T0 and T11; F5/EF5 tornadoes are approximately equivalent to high-end T9 to T11 on the T-Scale. In the United States, between 1950 and January 31, 2007, a total of 50 tornadoes were officially rated F5, and since February 1, ...

What is the F5 tornado?

F5 damage in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma from the May 3, 1999 tornado. This is a list of tornadoes which have been officially or unofficially labeled as F5, EF5, or an equivalent rating, the highest possible ratings on the various tornado intensity scales. These scales – the Fujita scale, the Enhanced Fujita scale, and the TORRO tornado intensity scale ...

How violent are tornadoes?

Tornadoes are among the most violent known meteorological phenomena. Each year, more than 2,000 tornadoes are recorded worldwide, with the vast majority occurring in the United States and Europe. In order to assess the intensity of these events, meteorologist Ted Fujita devised a method to estimate maximum wind speeds within tornadic storms based on the damage caused; this became known as the Fujita scale. The scale ranks tornadoes from F0 to F5, with F0 being the least intense and F5 being the most intense. F5 tornadoes were estimated to have had maximum winds between 261 mph (420 km/h) and 318 mph (512 km/h).

What scale is used to measure the intensity of a tornado?

These scales – the Fujita scale, the Enhanced 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. Tornadoes are among the most violent known meteorological phenomena.

Why are tornado ratings lower?

Additionally, because tornado ratings are damage-based, many tornadoes capable of causing F5/EF5 damage, such as those that move through rural areas, may receive lower ratings because their strongest winds do not impact any suitable damage indicators.

When did the F5 tornado occur?

The work of tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis revealed the existence of several dozen likely F5 tornadoes between 1880 and 1995.

Overview

Tornado outbreaks

Tornado casualties and damage

On April 26, 1989, in Bangladesh a large tornado took at least 1,300 lives.
The Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925, killed 695 people in Missouri (11), Illinois (613), and Indiana (71). The outbreak it occurred with was also the deadliest known tornado outbreak, with a combined death toll of 747 across the Mississippi River Valley.
Similar to fatalities, damage (and observations) of a tornado are a coincidence of what characte…

Largest and most powerful tornadoes

Early tornadoes

• The earliest recorded tornado in Europe struck Freising (Germany) in 788.
• The earliest-known Irish tornado appeared on April 30, 1054, in Rostella, near Kilbeggan. The earliest-known British tornado hit central London on October 23, 1091, and was especially destructive.
• An apparent tornado is recorded to have struck Tlatelolco (present day Mexico City), on August 2…

Exceptional tornado droughts

Before the Greensburg EF5 tornado on May 4, 2007, it had been eight years and one day since the United States had a confirmed F5/EF5 tornado. Prior to Greensburg, the last confirmed F5/EF5 had hit the southern Oklahoma City metro area and surrounding communities on May 3, 1999. This stretch was later surpassed by an ongoing drought which began on May 20, 2013; it is now the longest interval without an F5/EF5 tornado since official records began in 1950.

Exceptional survivors

Matt Suter of Fordland, Missouri holds the record for the longest-known distance traveled by anyone picked up by a tornado who survived their ordeal. On March 12, 2006, he was carried 1,307 feet (398 m), 13 feet (4.0 m) shy of one-quarter mile (400 m), according to National Weather Service measurements.

Exceptional coincidences

The small town of Codell, Kansas, was hit by a tornado on the same date (May 20) three consecutive years: 1916, 1917, and 1918. The United States has about 100,000 thunderstorms per year; less than 1% produce a tornado. The odds of this coincidence occurring again are extremely small.
Tanner, a small town in northern Alabama, was hit by an F5 tornado on April 3, 1974 and was str…