An F6 Tornado?

[David Brookshier]

:?: I have read many textbooks on the matter of whether or not their has ever been an F6 tornado. The last time I checked Howard Bluestein had captured the fastest wind on record F5 speed for sure but is this information still up to date? A BBC textbook on understanding weather states that during the May 3rd 1999 outbreak in central Oklahoma their was an F6 tornado in that outbreak where as I have heard Meteorologists state that thier has never been an F6 tornado. In theory an F6 should still be possible I mean we just need to record a minimum windspeed of 319 mph for a tornado to officially be classified as an F6. So why is it that the tiny plastic portable tornado toy has it's Fujita scale stop at F5 with 261-318 mph? and some weather books don't even have F6 listed in the Fujita scale where as others do! Can anyone help with this??? I would think they should leave F6 in the scale as Dr Fujita intended, it is his scale after all and we have had tornados that are just a few miles below F6 standards. An F6 has to happen sooner or later and the chaser that bags it will get the publicity of a lifetime.

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

Am I correct that the scale actually goes up to F-12.. which would be wind speeds of Mach 1? I think they just stop at F5, because there hasnt ever been an F6, and the odds of one are so low. The winds in the May 3rd 1999 tornado were measured at 318 mph, not 319... and were measured some distance up in the tornado, thus the actual surface wind speeds were somewhat lower than that, still making it a strong F5, but still not that elusive F6.

EDIT: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/satellite/sate...nal/fujita.html

I thought so.. the scale does indeed go From F0- F12.. however F6-12 are often left off due to the odds we'll never see one. For what it's worth though, an F12 would indeed have winds at Mach 1.. of 738 mph.. wouldnt that be something?

 

[David Draun]

Ugh, I hate to reference TWC's Storm Stories for this, but that one May 3rd 1999 one is played so much. At the end, Jim Cantore deals with the F6 issue, becuase the windspeed was supposedly the strongest tornado on record. I don't exactly remember what his respones was... :?

 

[Fred Gossage]

Here's the problem.......

The Fujuta damage scale is based on exactly just that..... DAMAGE. The wind speeds given for each level of strength are only ESTIMATES of what it would take to possibly cause a certain kind of damage. Even if somehow, meteorologists were able to prove a 319 or high mph wind was in contact with the ground during a tornado, it would more than likely still be rated an F5 because what F6 damage there may be would be pretty much indistinguishable from the F4 and F5 damage surrounding it.....also remember that in some of the higher-end F5 tornadoes of the past, even housing foundations have been dislodged and swept away (Guin, AL 1974 for example), so as you go higher up in the F5 range....there may not be anything left to look for F6-like damage anyway.

 

[David Brookshier]

Ah ha so we are only 1 mph off, that means we're getting closer to an F6. I have never seen the F scale go all the way to 12 wow Is this true? If so forget about an F6 I think I'll start looking for an F12 :shock: (you've just got to shoot for high goals no matter how unrealistic they really are)

 

[David Draun]

If I remember right, F6 to F12, was to classify damage produced in the winds from a nuclear blast. BOOM! Those wind speeds can easily break 800 mph I believe

 

[David Brookshier]

A nuclear blast :shock: uh on second thought I don't want to see an F12 :!: Guaranteed to be the last event anyone will ever chase.

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

Originally posted by David Brookshier
Ah ha so we are only 1 mph off, that means we're getting closer to an F6. I have never seen the F scale go all the way to 12 wow Is this true? If so forget about an F6 I think I'll start looking for an F12 :shock: (you've just got to shoot for high goals no matter how unrealistic they really are)

Well, still.. as Fred stated.. how are we going to identify F12 damage. If an F5, or even F6 wipes everything clean.. what more can be done?

 

[Andrew Khan]

So, an F5 could potentially go through pure open country lands, and not event be given a higher F-Rating that F0-F1? I think that is absolutely crazy. This system for damage inspection is very imperfect, it needs to be changes, somehow. Can't they record wind speeds, VIA DOW and/or some sort of probing device/velocity scanning.


I am also wondering why an F5 tornado can go up to JUST 318, and that 1 small mile per hour, it needs to make F6 status is not attainable...how can this be? What would stop it from gaining an extra 1 MPH?


There might have been an F6, or even higher....before the Fujita scale was invented, or before his started being recorded.

 

[Robert Dewey]

Exactly... An F6 will NEVER occur - even if they record winds well in excess of 318MPH, it's still an F5. Why? Because the Fujita scale is purely a damage scale... You can only destroy something so much until there is nothing left to destroy (an F5 would do that).

Quite possibly though, if a tornado with a measured wind speed of 400MPH (obviously hypothetical) creates a unique ground swirl (or even "digs" into the SFC itself), then that would be the distinguishable factor and a higher rating might be warranted...

 

[Andy Wehrle]

Personally, I think of F5 as "261 mph and up" rather than "261-318". It's the same with the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. 155 mph and up is a category 5-there's nothing higher. A 250 mph hurricane (!) would still be a category 5. A 400-mph tornado (also !) would still be an F5.

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

Originally posted by Andrew Khan
So, an F5 could potentially go through pure open country lands, and not event be given a higher F-Rating that F0-F1? I think that is absolutely crazy. This system for damage inspection is very imperfect, it needs to be changes, somehow. Can't they record wind speeds, VIA DOW and/or some sort of probing device/velocity scanning.

This happens very often. If a tornado doesnt hit anything, there is nothing to base it's intensity off of. Its a DAMAGE intensity scale, not a WINDSPEED scale..

I am also wondering why an F5 tornado can go up to JUST 318, and that 1 small mile per hour, it needs to make F6 status is not attainable...how can this be? What would stop it from gaining an extra 1 MPH?

If I remember right, the estimated wind speeds of a tornado have only exceeded 300 mph once, that being the May 3 1999 tornado. They arent saying a tornado can have a wind speed of 318, not 319.. but the odds of it even hitting the top of the F5 plateau are so tiny that the chances of going beyond it are almost nil.

 

[Chris Lott]

I've watched a documentary on the Jarrell, Texas F-5 that featured Meteorologist Lon Curtis who chased this particular storm and they said their were cattle that literally had the lungs sucked right out of them! :shock: I also went through the damage path two days after the Lake Whitney tornado of 1999(or 2000). It was rated an F-3 and it destroyed everything in it's path, but we're not talking brick buildings here. Still, the damage was very impressive. I can't believe the damage an F-5 could produce, much less an F-6!

 

[Michael Auker]

Originally posted by Chris Lott
I've watched a documentary on the Jarrell, Texas F-5 that featured Meteorologist Lon Curtis who chased this particular storm and they said their were cattle that literally had the lungs sucked right out of them! :shock: I also went through the damage path two days after the Lake Whitney tornado of 1999(or 2000). It was rated an F-3 and it destroyed everything in it's path, but we're not talking brick buildings here. Still, the damage was very impressive. I can't believe the damage an F-5 could produce, much less an F-6!

Yeah, I don't get it when people say the Jarrell tornado only produced F-5 damage because it was moving so slowly. Cattle being skinned and their lungs sucked out, vehicles thrown long distances, and people being mutilated and dismembered are examples of incredible phenomena, IMO.

 

[Rob Satkus]

Originally posted by Michael Aukerquote
Yeah, I don't get it when people say the Jarrell tornado only produced F-5 damage because it was moving so slowly. Cattle being skinned and their lungs sucked out, vehicles thrown long distances, and people being mutilated and dismembered are examples of incredible phenomena, IMO.

Put a blender on a lower setting and leave it on for awhile, you'll eventually get the same results as putting it on high for a short period.

Rob