Most violent tornado in history?

[Elliott Budd]

I know people have different opinions. There have been many violent tornados such as El Reno and others. What is the general consensus of the most violent tornado in US history?

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[Shane Adams]

Because it's impossible to record at-ground tornadic windspeeds, determining which one was "most violent" is also impossible. But, here's a list of some of the most-noteworthy F5 tornadoes in recorded history...might be a good place to start the debate:

Tri-State tornado(es) of MO/IL/IN - March 18, 1925

Xenia, OH - April 3, 1974

Andover, KS - April 26, 1991

Jarrell, TX - May 27, 1997

Bridge Creek/Moore/OKC, OK - May 3, 1999

Greensburg, KS - May 4, 2007

This is a conversation that could go on forever. It will be interesting to see who bites.....

 

[Elliott Budd]

El Reno probably be EF5 if it did more damage. I guess it looked violent since it caught Tim off guard...

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[Skip Talbot]

What criteria are we using for "violent"? It's the Tri-State most ways you can think to slice it.

El Reno isn't even in the running. It sticks out to us because of how recent it was and its personal impact, but the capability of that tornado to cause death and damage is far less than many other tornadoes. Keep in mind, the bulk of that 2.6 mile width contained F1-ish winds, and the 300 mph subvorts weren't present the whole time and covered a relatively small area. The width is not a good indicator of tornado strength, and there could have been many other tornadoes that were as large or larger than El Reno. We just don't know since we didn't have mobile radars to measure them all.

 

[JeffGonzales]

I would think Joplin would have to at least be in the Discussion with the high death toll in more of a "modern time".

 

[James Gustina]

I'd also throw in the 1947 Glazier/Higgins/Woodward tornado. The tornado reduced Glazier to a ghost town (it's essentially still one now), obliterated Higgins and went through Woodward killing 180 in all three towns. It traveled somewhere in the 100-130 mile range. That definitely fits the bill of a violent, long-track tornado.

 

[David E. Young]

I always thought that the Pampa, Texas tornado packed some pretty strong winds, a real "drill bit" tornado

 

[Jon Strebler]

This topic is one of those that will always be open to interpretation. The Tri-State Tornado caused major damage while having an incredible forward speed while a tornado such as Jarrell caused complete destruction while moving very slowly. I've always wondered how much that has to be taken into account.

 

[Elliott Budd]

My interpretation is long track, high fatality rate, preliminary wind speed(if possible) and damage

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[Rob H]

I can't find my video, so here is someone else's of the infamous Bonny Reservoir tornado:

Watch video >

edit: Seriously though, this is a tough question because you're comparing what are essentially poorly documented tornado myths (Tri state/Xenia/etc) with poor visibility (Greensburg, Bridge Creek, etc.). Do you take the largest amount of damage in the smallest physical area to infer intensity - letting Elie and Pampa win?

Although "only" an EF-4, Tuscaloosa is one of the most evil looking tornadoes to me, and reminded me a lot of Andover. Any time you get those rolling horizontal waves and appendages, that's nature's way of saying "back off". Manchester and Bowdle looked pretty wicked too, and might have gone higher than 4s if they actually hit anything.

 

[Shane Adams]

As far as pure visuals, Andover has long been my choice for "most violent." Not just the motion itself, but the speed with which the transitions from phase to phase occur are mind blowing.

Watch video >

 

[mwenzbauer]

My vote goes to Hackleburg/Phil Campbell, AL of 4/27/11 - 132 mile path, multiple areas of EF5 rated damage (read somewhere it had more F5/EF5 damage than any other modern tornado), 72 fatalities to just 150-something injuries (didn't hit any major cities, very high fatality to injury rate). Not a ton of pictures or videos of it as most attention went to Tuscaloosa/Birmingham at the time.

For pure damage intensity you gotta consider Jarrell. I think some under-rated or overlooked ones are Brandenburg, KY (4/3/74) and El Reno (5/24/11). The Udall, KS tornado is another among the older ones that I've been very impressed with damage pics of.

 

[Elliott Budd]

The tri-state was probably one of the big ones since it caused so much damage and loss of life but its hard to document those old tornadoes. Tuscaloosa did look pretty wicked to me. If your house was in the path of the El Reno tornado you probably survive unless you were really unlucky and one of the subvorts hit you. El reno looked like it would do damage but the main part was EF1ish

Keep in mind, the bulk of that 2.6 mile width contained F1-ish winds, and the 300 mph subvorts weren't present the whole time and covered a relatively small area. The width is not a good indicator of tornado strength, and there could have been many other tornadoes that were as large or larger than El Reno. We just don't know since we didn't have mobile radars to measure them all.

It may look violent except not really.

 

[Andy Wehrle]

Here's an interesting "top 20." This writer only considers tornadoes that occurred since Fujita's time (thus this is his list of the top 20 most violent tornadoes since 1970) and only considers tornadoes that were killers. Still, he makes a compelling case for why each one deserves its place on the list. To start from the bottom and work your way up, scroll to the bottom of each post:

http://extremeplanet.me/2012/10/03/...e-strongest-tornadoes-ever-recorded-part-iii/

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I found his method of comparing degrees of ground scouring and vegetation damage interesting...thoughts?

 

[Kent Heiderich]

I like the posted links Andy. My mind can't help but wonder why the F4 "Terrible Tuesday" Wichita Falls tornado 4/10/1979 isn't included somewhere on those list. 42 dead and the video I have seen is competitive with any tornado out there. Have to cut it off at 20 I suppose, just saying the field gets crowded competing for number 21