The Greensburg Wedge - What's The Rating Going To Be??

[Willie Dines]

Hey everyone.

Before starting, I would also like to say that reguardless of this tornado's rating, it won't be able to bring back those who have died, as a result of this or any other tornadoes in the outbreak, and so, my sincerest thoughts, prayers and sympathies go to their families involved, but also I hope that you are all safe and well and that you got home ok, after the recent outbreak.

Now then, onto the topic at hand.

Having looked at various video clips and images on youtube and news websites, etc, I feel that there is 1 point in the life cycle of this tornado, where it is a little bit wider than a mile, but not much wider.

With the ferocity of this tornado, I find it amazing, but still saddening, that 9 people (Maybe more, but hopefuly not) have been killed and that an entire town has been wiped out, but there is 1 question that is constantly being asked in my mind is... What will the rating be and how accurate is it going to be?

From the various videos of the damage shown, to me, it's a sharp reminder of 5/3/99, but with the new rating system, I'm not so sure that the rating may be able to reflect this, because so far, I'm unaware if Josh Wurman and the crew were in the area with the DOW2, and so, there's no details of what the tornado core's peak wind speed was, and also, it has been mentioned many times that the width of the tornado, isn't always an indication os it's strength, but also, there is another reminder, of when the tornadoes that hit in AL and GA, in March, they were rated EF-3, but were then upgraded nearly 3 weeks later.

And so, with all of this in mind, when I look at the footage and imagery of the damage, a second time, the Weak to Moderate EF-5, is the rating that jumps out at me, but I have a feeling that the rating for this tornado will probably be in around a strong EF-4 to weak EF-5.

Willie

 

[Terry Tyler]

still wondering the same question...a damage survey team will eventually go there, but since yesterday was dangerous in the area, i dont think they conducted a survey for the greensburg storm...

with so many structures im sure its gonna take a while to assess it all...but, you can look at some of the damage yourself and compare it with the DODs to get an idea...

 

[Chris Hayes]

I'm guessing it will be EF4 or EF5. The damage there is deffinately from a violent tornado.

 

[Pierre-Marc Doucet]

I'm pretty sure that this tornado will be rated at least EF-4. But I think i'll take a guest to a EF-5, the damages seems incredible !

 

[Mike Umscheid]

It's a 5, it was just announced. Larry Ruthi our MIC and Dan McCarthy from the QRT made an announcement about 20 or 30 minutes ago that KWCH carried live for a bit. I think the damage to the schools were a strong player in 5 rating, but I don't know, I wasn't there. Every tree in the city was denuded and many of them debarked... an unreal sight

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

Wow, I was actually thinking it would end up being a strong 4. I saw some houses swept clean but figured those might just be poorly constructed homes. Ah well, I didn't see many pictures though so didn't have a great grasp on everything that happened. It certainly looked violent.

Congrats to those who were there to see our first ever EF5 tornado! Of course, not to take away from the hardship and pain the residents are dealing with right now as they recover.

 

[mike scantlin]

i was about 6 miles south of it when it hit greensburg. it was a monster. as it moved north and east, it got even bigger. i feel comfortable saying that as it moved out of town, it reached 2 miles in width. as it moved even further north, it got bigger as we stayed put. so if it was 1.4 in town, it was well over that as it moved towards hopewell. i will post pictures when i have time.

 

[Dan Cook]

wow first 5 in almost 10 years.

 

[Mike Birbeck]

Hearts go out to people affected by this devastating tornado

Have just seen footage here in the UK showing the damage to Greensburg and while I debated whether or not this was a EF5, Tina my partner, and the conscience in our household, pointed out the terrible trauma and loss all those people must be experiencing. I truly hope that no more fatalities will come from this disaster and that the additional severe weather threatening the plains tonight leaves everyone well alone.

 

[Chad Love]

I was chasing the Greensburg tornado with Marty Logan from KWTV Friday night. The damage on 183 south of Greensburg was incredible, houses destroyed, dead cattle, tank batteries blown away, propane tanks ruptured. I'm pretty sure the roaring natural gas leak was a compressor station that simply got scoured away. We saw the wedge and the two off to the east of it. We made it in to Greensburg a few minutes later, we knew it had been hit hard, but I had no idea just how bad until the next day when AP sent me back up there. The town was, of course shut down and evacuated but the National Guard did allow some of us to walk around and chronicle the damage.
It's not hyperbole to say the town is simply gone. I walked around for well over an hour shooting and I could not find a single intact structure. Most of the houses and buildings were completely destroyed, with many of them swept off their foundations. I saw a lot of debarked tree trunks. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Greensburg, but it was a really nice, neat little town I always tried to stop in whenever I was up that way (I live in Woodward) but I honestly don't know if they can rebuild from this. The town's quirky claim to fame was, of course, the "world's largest hand-dug well." It was a neat little museum and gift shop under the big tower in the middle of town. The only thing left of that is the hole in the ground.
I'm certainly no expert and I have no personal experience or notion of EF5 damage, but what I saw Friday certainly looked incredible to me.

 

[Willie Dines]

I'm not sure if you guys have seen much footage or images of the beastly wedge, but for those of you who haven't and for those who want to see it again, here's a pic and a link to a video clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRm4yu2MI-c

Note - I would like to point out, that at 0:16 in the video, when paused, you'll see the tornado as it's backlit from a lightning flash, and you'll see that it's a mile wide, but later in the clip, you'll need some patience to do this, but try to pause the clip exactly on the lightning flash at 1:16, if you can do this, you'll see that the tornado as grown considerably more in size, during that 1 minute and may have been at the tornado's widest point.

Thank you for the replies and for any chasers/spotters out on the road today, please be careful and stay safe.

Willie

 

[Kevin Bowman]

im guessing its going to be a EF5

i dont have any training but from some of the videos ive seen the damage looks incredible

one of the scariest looking tornadoes ive seen, too think it took out a entire town

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Note - I would like to point out, that at 0:16 in the video, when paused, you'll see the tornado as it's backlit from a lightning flash, and you'll see that it's a mile wide, but later in the clip, you'll need some patience to do this, but try to pause the clip exactly on the lightning flash at 1:16, if you can do this, you'll see that the tornado as grown considerably more in size, during that 1 minute and may have been at the tornado's widest point.

 

[B Ozanne]

CBS news is quoting NWS officials saying it was an EF-5. Damage widths 1.7 miles wide in places.

 

[Joshua Jones]

The Pictures are one thing but actually being there is something completely different. Friday night after I heard of the devastation I went down to Pratt and asked if they need any assistance. I was put in Charge of the Medical Needs of some of the patience in one of the Shelters. I would do a quick evaluation on each person, then decide if they need to go to the hospital. If they did not need to go I would bandage them up and treat what ever was wrong with them. I was there from about 3am Saturday til 1pm when I was relieved.

It is simply impossible to imagine the devastation. It is on a scale that I have never seen. As soon as I seen it I knew it would be an EF-5. Historically this was one of the longest stretches with out one so we in some ways were over due.

Josh