Why do tornadoes leave objects directly in the damage path

[STurner]

I am not sure if there was thread discussed somewhere on this topic so let me know if there was. Just wondering why do some objects survive in the direct path of a violent tornado. My uncle told me about the Udall, Kansas F5 tornado sweeping the enitre house off its foundation but somehow the dishes and the table were left unscratched as well as the refrigerator. A more recent event was the Kansas City F4 tornado on May 4, 2003 which wiped a house completely off its foundation but the picnic table maybe 20 feet away was untouched with dishes set as they had been placed. I have heard of many other types of stories of this happening in tornadoes, especially very strong ones(F3/EF3) or greater. Are there many factors that may cause this to happen? This would be multiple vortices, construction practices, somehow the tornado missed the area entirely, or unknown reasons.

 

[Andrew Ryan]

Well...as you probably already figured out, picnic tables and dishes are immune to tornadic winds.

But seriously, there's probably two reasons why that happens. One reason is that, as you mentioned, multiple suction vortices are usually present in violent tornadoes. Wherever these vortices end up is where most of the damage is going to happen. So, if you the picnic tables were probably outside one of the suction vortices.

Second reason is because the strongest winds of a tornado are only in a small area of the tornado. So not every area is going feel F4-F5 strength winds as the tornado passes over.

 

[Bobby Prentice]

One of the most fascinating tornado characteristics is their extreme gradients of wind and damage as highlighted by the following dramatic YouTube video:

F2 Tornado Roars Through Car Lot in Leighton, AL on May 8, 2008

 

[Benjamin Rock]

Ive seen that video a hundred times and never realized that the cars that got flipped were facing opposite directions and flipped backends up, causing the roofs to impact each other. That is really interesting. Another wonder of mother nature.