Smallest Tornado Ever?

Jason Persoff

Jason Persoff

EF3
May 18, 2004
285
89
11
51
Centennial, CO
stormdoctor.com
On this outbreak day many of us are watching with earnest as the storms develop in chase territory. As I perused the SPC storm report page I found the following report out of TX:

TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY A STORM CHASER 1 MILE NORTHEAST OF SILVERTON. IT WAS 1/8 IN DIAMETER. (LUB)

I thought to myself, "Wow! That's precise! A 1/8 inch tornado." I chuckled and thought I'd share. And, yes, I'm aware it was a 1/8 mile wide tornado...but the report still struck me as funny.
 

Paul Austin

Yeah, I got a laugh out of that one too. Gotta have an awefully good HD camera to get that one visibly on tape. :)
 

Dan Robinson

I can see a huddle of chasers with video cameras pointing down at the ground, following it across the road.
 

John Peters

EF3
Mar 2, 2007
202
0
5
36
Ft. Collins, CO
I can remember seeing video of an extremely narrow rope tornado in the video compilation "Twister 1" when i was younger. They showed images of the path, which only appeared to be a meter or two in diameter.
 

B Ozanne

EF5
May 3, 2004
1,740
0
5
111
Connecticut
www.easternlight.net
Not to be an ass, but everytime there is a weather typo do we have to start a topic and talk about it? A topic in W&C no less. Maybe we could point out funny typos in B&G, but I consider W&C to be on a level above that.
 
John Olexa

John Olexa

EF5
Dec 13, 2003
612
65
11
64
La Plata, Maryland
B Ozanne said:
Not to be an ass, but everytime there is a weather typo do we have to start a topic and talk about it?
Click to expand...
No, we don't have to. But if someone wants to There allowed. If it bothers someone all they have to do is simply not reply.

There was a typo Last summer in my area Issuing a tornado warning for like 7 countys! they meant watch but had warning on the screen! That was serious! But it's not the end of the world to poke a little fun at typo like an 1/8 inch tornado.
 

Dan Robinson

The tornado that Peggy Willenberg and Melanie Metz filmed on the highway in front of them in Minnesota a couple of years ago had to be no more than two to three feet in diameter (at least the visible condensation funnel) in its initial stage.
 
Scott Weberpal

Scott Weberpal

EF5
Dec 11, 2004
1,084
20
6
42
Janesville, WI
Dan Robinson said:
The tornado that Peggy Willenberg and Melanie Metz filmed on the highway in front of them in Minnesota a couple of years ago had to be no more than two to three feet in diameter (at least the visible condensation funnel) in its initial stage.
Click to expand...
Here's a capture from my vantage point that day. Looking at the video, the visible condensation was surrounded by a more broad circulation about the size of the road....

 

Jeff Wright

EF3
Apr 23, 2010
272
66
6
That’s a dead link now.
Antonio Hernandez filmed a very narrow tornado in Maine, Wisconsin on August 10 as per usatornadoes.com
 

Jeff Wright

EF3
Apr 23, 2010
272
66
6
About the same size as the one above:

This one looks to be even smaller..not a gustnado as it was on radar:

The very compact rope that gave rise to Jarrell was also compact. This waterspout almost seems as concentrated:

weather.com

Watch: Towering Waterspout Forms Ahead of Monsoon - Videos from The Weather Channel

A fisherman spots a waterspout off the coast of Thailand shortly before a storm rolled in. - Videos from The Weather Channel | weather.com
weather.com weather.com
 
Ethan Schisler

Ethan Schisler

EF5
Aug 9, 2012
582
1,336
21
Macomb, IL
stormoptics.smugmug.com
I think it would be hard to put into perspective the size of any tornado unless we have the exact survey data. In which case it would be the smallest tornado ever surveyed. A lot of times with tornadoes, the tornadic winds extend beyond the condensation funnel which makes the damage path wider than what the tornado may appear. This isn't the case all the time, but some times.

So once again goes the saying that "big tornadoes aren't necessarily stronger". Smaller tornadoes may appear that way, but could in fact but satellite tornadoes to larger tornadoes or have an expanding wind field. So I think its honestly impossible to say. 10 yards is probably the narrowest I've seen surveyed around here. Usually is the "go to" for an EF-U type tornado or landspout.
 
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Mike Smith

EF3
Feb 19, 2021
278
409
6
Wichita
It would be nice if operational meteorology could ignore these. Unfortunately, as we know, there is little correlation to appearance of the vortex and its intensity. The atmosphere is so very complex.
 

Jeff Wright

EF3
Apr 23, 2010
272
66
6
True.

Visually, they are delightful…more interesting than wedges that can look like a distant fire.

A very narrow dust devil that came to a point and left a beautiful little track…the funnel having writ, moves on:

 
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