Strongest tornado of 2010

[Will Tinder]

I'm wondering if situational factors are playing into the 'meanness' look of Bowdle over Yazoo as well. What terrain was Yazoo going over, compared to Bowdle going over farm fields--was there as much dirt that could get sucked up into the circulation to reveal its full power? And from the videos Yazoo was not nearly as visible as Bowdle. Considering the damage it did, I'm going on a limb and saying all other things equal, it would've probably been visually just as mean.

I'm guessing both in terms of raw windspeed and power, were roughly the same--if they'd hit something solid, they would have likely done EF5 damage. Bowdle, however, would've left more intense damage, simply due to that ponderous pace...

 

[Danny Neal]

I guess the biggest difference in Bowdle v. Yazoo was the environments involved. Bowdle was 5K CAPE day with moderate shear whereas Yazoo was AOA 1,000 CAPE day and insane shear. It was almost like the Bowdle storm utilized every j/kg it had to work with that day.

Yazoo City

Bowdle (Looking for our write up of that, maybe Jesse will post it)

 

[Jesse Risley]

I guess the biggest difference in Bowdle v. Yazoo was the environments involved. Bowdle was 5K CAPE day with moderate shear whereas Yazoo was AOA 1,000 CAPE day and insane shear. It was almost like the Bowdle storm utilized every j/kg it had to work with that day.

Yazoo City

Bowdle (Looking for our write up of that, maybe Jesse will post it)

Yeah, I haven't had a chance to formally write a case study on Bowdle, but SBCAPE values were on the order of 5000 J/KG, with shear values on the order of 40-50 kts, SRH values around 200-300 m**2/s**2 and 0-1 km EHI values of 6-8.

Yazoo City was a fairly early event, whereas there was some slight concern during the early afternoon that Bowdle was going to be a day that might be dampened by a stout EML in place across the region.

 

[James Gustina]

Well, I don't have much of a reference base for these tornadoes since I chased none of them but the Bowdle, SD tornado has my vote. I think the biggest reason why the Bowdle one is winning right now is because it was easier to view. The Yazoo City tornado was mostly rain-wrapped which might mess a little bit with how people view it compared to the clearly visible wedge that the Bowdle, SD was and how clear the motion on it was. But I do agree that if both tornadoes had hit a town full on that this thread would be which one was the stronger EF5.

 

[Danny Neal]

I guess why I am a bit biased (besides the fact I chased Bowdle) is because the Yazoo City tornado DID hit the town. Granted it was the north side of the circulation that produced EF-4 damage. Since the area around YC is fairly populated (compared to Bowdle area) and there was no evidence of EF5 damage; it makes me wonder had the Bowdle tornado followed the same path would it have inflicted EF5 damage on the same structures the YC tornado hit. Probably a question that won't be answered. Does anyone know if the YC tornado hit any high tension power lines during its peak strength?

 

[ChristianTerry]

Well, I don't have much of a reference base for these tornadoes since I chased none of them but the Bowdle, SD tornado has my vote. I think the biggest reason why the Bowdle one is winning right now is because it was easier to view. The Yazoo City tornado was mostly rain-wrapped which might mess a little bit with how people view it compared to the clearly visible wedge that the Bowdle, SD was and how clear the motion on it was. But I do agree that if both tornadoes had hit a town full on that this thread would be which one was the stronger EF5.

I wonder if rain wrapped tornadoes can have their full potential taken away from them by the rain choking off warm air from the circulation. If that is the case, Bowdle could have been stronger.

 

[Bob Hartig]

Yazoo and Bowdle were two very different storms. In a way, even though they're both tornadoes, it's kind of like comparing apples and oranges. I chose not to chase the southern outbreak because a) the storm motions looked to be insane; b) any tornadoes would almost certainly have been rain-wrapped; and, very importantly, c) I was tired to the bone after driving with my buddies straight on out from Michigan to the panhandles and then up to northeast Kansas over the previous two days. So I can't speak from personal experience with Yazoo, but I surely remember that crazy setup. Here's my thinking:

* Considering that the Yazoo tornado got its rating based on a substantial amount of structural damage, its EF-4 status seems reasonably established. Winds in the EF-5 category, if they did occur, would most likely have been a product of the added translational speed on the southern side of the tornado. In other words, take the basic rotational velocity, or whatever the proper term for it is, and tack on another 65 mph.

* The Bowdle wedge didn't require any help from forward momentum. It was innately powerful, processing its 5,000 J/kg CAPE with ferocious efficiency. While SRH wasn't over the top the way Yazoo was, it was more than adequate; then add in that honking huge CAPE and you've got a tornado that could conceivably generate top-end winds just by sitting there in the open field. It's a darned good thing we're just speculating how that thing would have rated had it actually hit Bowdle, but I think anyone who witnessed it has little doubt.

 

[Dean Baron]

Reading through the discussion here I think if I could I would switch my vote to Bowdle. I haven't watched a ton of video of it because it is simply too painful to watch what I missed out on that day because of work. But I think Bob brings up a good point. The forward speed of the Yazoo City storm helped increase the wind speeds of the actual tornado. The Bowdle storm was moving very slow (I cant remember exactly what its speed was). If you put the forward speed of the YC storm to the Bowdle tornado, the wind speeds would have been much stonger. Vice versa, take away the forward speed of the YC storm and replace it with the forward speed of the Bowdle storm, the winds would have been noticeably lower. Just my $.02 now that I have heard some good arguements.

 

[Shane Adams]

It's important not to get too wrapped up in "if this had hit so and so it woulda been F5...". Tornadoes are constantly in a state of flux, and can change windspeeds rapidly. Even the most famous F5 tornadoes were only F5 strength for a very small %age of their overall path. It's impossible to know whether or not a given violent tornado maxed out for a few seconds at 170, 180, 210mph in an area that had nothing to hit.

I'd say, from reading the overall thread and getting a really good feel for how these tornadoes are being judged, that Bowdle is gonna win because it was the most visible. However that is no guarantee that it was more powerful than any other tornado (regardless of survey info).

Based on the damage left, I can see choosing an absolute strongest tornado. However speculation about what might've been had it done this or that, is inaccurate because it's impossible to quantify.

 

[Brett Adair]

I don't really want to get into specifics.....but I have a hard time believing that the Yazoo City tornado was in a 1000 J/KG CAPE environment when the 12z observed sounding at JAN had 1917 J/KG CAPE already. I'm more inclined to believe with destabilization due to the mid level dry slot that we were looking at CAPE in the 3k-3500J/KG range....which no doubt made this massive beast a sustained 147 mile tracker.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I grabbed the SPC sounding images before they dropped off

12Z JAN http://www.benholcomb.com/gallery/v/StormChasing/20100424/20100424_JAN_12Z.gif.html
13Z JAN http://www.benholcomb.com/gallery/v/StormChasing/20100424/20100424_JAN_13Z.gif.html
18Z JAN http://www.benholcomb.com/gallery/v/StormChasing/20100424/20100424_JAN_18Z.gif.html

Looks like the 13Z sounding had MUCAPE of 3500/SBCAPE of 2200.

 

[ChristianTerry]

It's important not to get too wrapped up in "if this had hit so and so it woulda been F5...". Tornadoes are constantly in a state of flux, and can change windspeeds rapidly. Even the most famous F5 tornadoes were only F5 strength for a very small %age of their overall path. It's impossible to know whether or not a given violent tornado maxed out for a few seconds at 170, 180, 210mph in an area that had nothing to hit.

I'd say, from reading the overall thread and getting a really good feel for how these tornadoes are being judged, that Bowdle is gonna win because it was the most visible. However that is no guarantee that it was more powerful than any other tornado (regardless of survey info).

Based on the damage left, I can see choosing an absolute strongest tornado. However speculation about what might've been had it done this or that, is inaccurate because it's impossible to quantify.

I agree. Some tornadoes leave only one trace of f5 damage. Im sorry im not that experienced when i post stuff, so i may sound stupid.

 

[Lanny Dean]

Without going into much detail, as I don't know if I can, there were some very interesting measurements taken at basically ground level or just above ground level (2ft AGL, .7 meters or so) by the twistex team on the Bowdle wedge.
Winds were in excess of 130mph....makes a guy wonder how strong they were at 30ft?!?!? Of course Shane and the others are right, it is hard to tell which tornado may have been stronger but visually Bowdle wins in my book!

Great discussion BTW!

 

[Bob Hartig]

I agree totally that, for all practical purposes, this discussion can't establish much of anything. It's pure speculation, different folks tossing out their reasonings, points of consideration, and what-ifs just because it's fun to exercise our minds and opinions about this stuff. Doing so serves no conclusive purpose, but it keeps older storm farts like me from going Alzheimer during the off season, younger ones from beating each other up, and all of us from going crazy. And, of course, it's an opportunity to learn. If it proves anything, it's that we're shifting gears for the long stretch till next March.

 

[Lanny Dean]

I agree totally that, for all practical purposes, this discussion can't establish much of anything. It's pure speculation, different folks tossing out their reasonings, points of consideration, and what-ifs just because it's fun to exercise our minds and opinions about this stuff. Doing so serves no conclusive purpose, but it keeps older storm farts like me from going Alzheimer during the off season, younger ones from beating each other up, and all of us from going crazy. And, of course, it's an opportunity to learn. If it proves anything, it's that we're shifting gears for the long stretch till next March.

Boy if thats not the understatement of the year I don't know what is!

No if we could only keep it this "light hearted" till March!