Confirmed Tornadoes of the 11/15 Outbreak (50 as of 24/05z)

[Andy Wehrle]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/...al/13188398.htm

Linked from that article posted above. ????? Says one was an F5.

 

[Michael Auker]

Originally posted by Andy Wehrle
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/13188398.htm

Linked from that article posted above. ????? Says one was an F5.

I wonder if that's a case of the media taking a guess at the rating? It was probably based on reports from the Buckner Ridge area.

 

[Kevin Askew]

Heres the latest dily-yo on Hopkins Co. from WFO PAH.


PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
523 PM CDT THU NOV 17 2005

...PRELIMINARY DAMAGE SURVEY RESULTS FOR HOPKINS COUNTY KENTUCKY...

THE FOLLOWING IS A PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT FOR THE DAMAGE THAT
OCCURRED OVER THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN SECTIONS OF HOPKINS COUNTY
KENTUCKY ON NOVEMBER 15 2005.

* EVENT DATE: TUESDAY NOVEMBER 15 2005

* EVENT TYPE: F4 TORNADO

* EVENT LOCATION: 1.5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF EARLINGTON TO 7 MILES EAST
OF HANSON.

* PEAK WIND: 210 MPH

* AVERAGE PATH WIDTH: 525 YARDS (APPROXIMATELY 1/3 MILE). TORNADO
WAS CLOSE TO A HALF MILE WIDE IN PLACES.

* PATH LENGTH: 15 MILES

* INJURIES: 27

* FATALITIES: NONE

* DISCUSSION/DAMAGE: THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 1.5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
EARLINGTON AND LIFTED APPROXIMATELY 7 MILES EAST OF HANSON NEAR
THE HOPKINS/MCLEAN COUNTY BORDER. PEAK WIND SPEED WAS
REACHED IN THE HIGHLAND PARK ROAD AREA OF EARLINGTON. DAMAGE
INDICATIONS AS WELL AS EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS INDICATE THE OCCURRANCE
OF MULTIPLE VORTICES NEAR EARLINGTON. DAMAGE RESULTS ARE AS
FOLLOWS: 303 BUILDINGS/HOMES RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE...67 RECEIVED
MAJOR DAMAGE...AND 151 WERE DESTROYED

 

[Kevin Askew]

Very could well have been an F-5 if the foreward speeds were reduced in this cell?

 

[Robert Dewey]

Originally posted by Kevin Askew
Very could well have been an F-5 if the foreward speeds were reduced in this cell?

It's not an F5 if there was no F5 damage found. Remember, the Fujita scale is based only on damage - nothing else. That simply means even if the tornado had a measured 500MPH winds - if it was over a wheat field, it wouldn't be rated more than F0/F1 at best due to lack of damage.

 

[Kevin Askew]

Yeah I understand that. It did appear F-3-F4 damage was present. Im saying that the fast foreward speeds may have contributed to the storms/tornadoes intensity. Meaning that if the storm itself had a 30 mph foreward NE speed as apposed to 50-60 mph, it might have been able to produce a more intense mesocyclone/tornado. The fast speeds, may have been responsible for shearing apart a more intense circulation. Just a theory I have discussed with a few chasers. I seen as well as Glenn Schubert, a very rapid rotating wall cloud ramp up & then become ragged then do over again before breifly touching after we lost it before Galatia IL. Should have tornadoed in my opinion, but did not. Plus might have contributed to funnels not touching down, as apposed to a slower foreward speed, touching down, being a more intense meso. In other words if the mean storm motion of the LEWP's- Sups was reduced to say 20-30 knts, It could have REALLY been alot worse.
Kevin

 

[Andy Wehrle]

Sometimes, storm motion can actually enhance windspeed. Forward speed has a lot to do with damaging straight-line wind potential, and can increase tornado windspeed as well. To the right side of the path (in a cyclonic tornado) where the winds are blowing toward the direction of movement, a high forward speed can increase the windspeed on that side.

 

[Michael Auker]

Paducah NWS has released their preliminary report on the Marshall County tornado: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/product.php?site=P...NS&issuedby=PAH They also have some more photos of the Madisonville damage here: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crnews/display_sto...id=324&source=0 It has been quite a while since Kentucky has had an F-4 tornado; the last one was May 28, 1996, in Jefferson, Bullitt, and Spencer counties just south of Louisville. That F-4 caused quite a bit of destruction, with over 1,000 homes damaged or destroyed and $100 million in damage. Even with all the damage, that was just a minimal F-4; the majority of the damage was F-2 and F-3, with the F-4 rating just based on one leveled home. The F-4 before that was on November 22, 1992, in Gallatin County. You have to go all the way back to the Super-Outbreak to see more KY F-4's. They are quite rare in KY, especially compared with some surrounding states like Indiana, Illinois, and even Tennessee.

 

[Bill Tabor]

Originally posted by Kevin Askew
Yeah I understand that. It did appear F-3-F4 damage was present. Im saying that the fast foreward speeds may have contributed to the storms/tornadoes intensity. Meaning that if the storm itself had a 30 mph foreward NE speed as apposed to 50-60 mph, it might have been able to produce a more intense mesocyclone/tornado. The fast speeds, may have been responsible for shearing apart a more intense circulation. Just a theory I have discussed with a few chasers. I seen as well as Glenn Schubert, a very rapid rotating wall cloud ramp up & then become ragged then do over again before breifly touching after we lost it before Galatia IL. Should have tornadoed in my opinion, but did not. Plus might have contributed to funnels not touching down, as apposed to a slower foreward speed, touching down, being a more intense meso. In other words if the mean storm motion of the LEWP's- Sups was reduced to say 20-30 knts, It could have REALLY been alot worse.
Kevin

As Andy mentions forward speed in the right front quadrant assuming cyclonic rotation can enhance damage. Alternatively a slower moving tornado has more time to inflict damage. Some surmize that the Jarrell F5 only did F5 damage because it moved so slowly and just shredded everything with such a large rotation and so much time over target.

 

[Nick Smith]

The Paducah WFO has been surveying and has found additiona tornadic damage in parts of Graves and extreme northwest Calloway Counties of Kentucky. The website says they will issue a PNS with more details.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crnews/display_sto...id=324&source=0

I've been preparing a map of the tornado outbreak as the survey results come in. The current tornado count is 33.

 

[Sam Sagnella]

Updated to include several new tornadoes from WFO PAH (both in IL and KY) and added one to the MEG total. Also updated the Benton tornado path length from "20+ miles long" to the updated total length of 44.1 miles. I still don't understand why no updated LSRs or PNSs were issued from IND -- they had two F3s in their CWA and no statements were issued other than a post on their website. :?

 

[Rob Satkus]

Just saw a PNS and LSR from NWS OHX (Nashville)...they have updated the total count in their area to 19 tornadoes....the largest tornado outbreak in a single day for their area.

Rob