How strong was this tornado? You make the call!

[Jeff Miller]

I too went F1...and nothing much I can add here :lol:

 

[Kevin Scharfenberg]

Gotta agree with F1, for the reasons already stated by several folks.

 

[Dan Cook]

f1 for meh.

 

[Ben Cotton]

At first glance, it would be easy to call this F5. I mean, the house is GONE right? However, it strikes me as being poorly constructed. Maybe just cinder blocks resting on each other without any mortar or anything. The fact that a small tree wasn't even cleanly broken, and there is so much light debris nearby wouldn't indicate a strong tornado. I'm not sure if the car was there when the tornado was hit or not, but if It was, then it certainly doesn't appear to have been too disturbed. I say F1.


Ben

 

[Scott Currens]

Damage Photos

If you are having problems seeing the photos go to the following site.

http://community.webshots.com/album/114265220jDefqw

Ignore the May 9th image.

I'm interested in the reasoning behind the F3 votes. I don't think anyone that voted F3 wrote any comments.

Scott Currens

 

[David Sallee]

I couldn't decide between high F2 and low F3.... F2 because of the min. damage to the surroundings and F3 because of the somewhat clean foundation... and this is the first time I have ever tried to "rate" a tornado... I voted F3.....

After looking again at the pics, it does look "already cleaned up" a bit as stated above in another post... If it hasn't been "cleaned up" then where is the house debris? small items in yard look untouched but house & contents are gone??

 

[Angie Norris]

Voted F1 on this one.
Didn't see any evidence of any anchoring on the foundation, and even the small shrubs looked undisturbed. Couldn't really see any debris left behind except for the insulation in the fence...how long after the event were the pictures taken?
Any small flying debris could have taken out the rear windshield of the car. Couldn't see any other damage to the car.
My opinion, poorly constructed house slid off foundation by not-too-strong F1.

Angie

 

[Scott Currens]

More info

The tornado hit on May 4 2003, and pictures are from May 6th.

Clean up prior to the photos was minimal. I believe the owners tried to recover any valuable items left in the debris, other than that no debris was removed. The structure itself was exactly what Gene described it as.

a pre-fab set on a CMU foundation with no anchoring whatsoever

I believe the home rotated of its foundation as a single unit, and then disintegrated into the field in the background. The home was approximately 500 yards south of the centerline of the tornado. Picture #1 is looking north, you can see heavily damaged trees in the top right corner. The tornado passed over those trees moving to the NNE, then passed behind the trees on the top right corner of Picture #1.

Scott Currens

 

[Shane Adams]

So what was the official rating?

 

[Scott Currens]

The tornado was rated F2 at the site in question. Some other sites not pictured recieved F3 damage.

NWS Springfield
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/Events/2003may...ct_050403.shtml

I have added some additional pictures from other sites along the damage path, as well as video captures of the tornado.
http://community.webshots.com/album/114265220jDefqw/0

Scott Currens