Why F5/EF5 tornadoes state incredible phenomena will occur

[STurner]

I have read many descriptions on F5/EF5 tornadoes and at the end it usually states "incredible phenomena will occur." I know by definition that an F5/EF5 is considered incredible meaning well-built homes are swept away leaving a foundation or bare concrete slab, cars thrown for phenomenol distances, trees ripped of all their bark, and steel-reinforced concrete structures are severely damaged. I am just wondering why this is because I have seen tornadoes that were rated like EF3 or EF4 and it looked like incredible phenomena had occured in these specific areas. It seemed like it was something not ordinarily you would typically see even in these less intense tornadoes and it could be due to many factors i.e. construction etc.

 

[Adam Lucio]

I think its just comes down to relative wording. Whomever writes the descriptions may not consider EF4 damage to fit the criteria for "incredible phenomena"."

This person might consider it just "Incredibly severe damage."

People choose the words they choose in order to get the point across. An EF-5 is an extremely rare event, and a significant one, so unique wording would often be used to set it above and aside from the rest.

At least thats how I see it.

 

[rdale]

All depends on your definition of "incredible" - that's why the official definition of EF5 does not include that phrase. The word itself isn't anywhere in the 111-page TTU document.

It's just something people add for whatever reason, there's no advanced meteorology behind it

 

[Grant Gutierrez]

In the Moore, OK tornado, a bedroom slipper penetrated 3 inches deep into a steel tire. I'd consider that pretty incredible. It was things like this that Ted Fujita observed which made him state that as part of the 5 rating.

 

[Jason Foster]

It should also be pointed out that while some storms appear to have (E)F4 or (E)F5damage, but rated lower because there was a careful examination of the damage. Because the system was originally designed to catalog damage, the specific dealt with damage. Structures have different levels of strengths. Even homes side by side can have a varying degree of strengths. A house sweep away except for the foundation slab may not have been sweep away with proper anchorage.

This is a good thing for any chaser or severe weather enthusiast to read up on, is tornado ratings, especially with the newer EF scaling. I myself need to read the full 111 page (or as much as my non-meteorology degree mind can understand) document.