Friday night's long track tornado has many threads on USMB as well as a bunch of hyped media claims about the "records" it probably set. And many of the other threads on USMB were echoes of "never let a good crisis go to waste" by mocking the disaster with POLITICAL overtones and claims that ONLY Global Warming could explain this event.
It probably DID set a record for the longest continuous track US tornado disaster. Somewhere between about 230 and 250 miles ON the ground. NOAA/USWeatherService will not plot strengths and we won't even have a death toll for maybe a week.
But in all likelihood -- other than total track length, it will probably NOT exceed the death toll from the Tri-state tornado of 1925 which took an IDENTICAL course thru 3 states on a track just about 80 miles to the north of Friday tornado
vlab.noaa.gov
America's deadliest tornado occurred on March 18, 1925. Tracking across three states, it killed at least 695 people. The tornado was later considered to be F5 strength, the top of the original Fujita Scale for tornado intensity.
The Illinois portion of the track was surveyed by Clarence Root, of the Weather Bureau office in Springfield, IL, and William Barron of the Cairo, IL office; the Indiana portion was surveyed by Albert Brand of the Evansville, IN office. Root and Barron's survey took seven days; in the March 1925 edition of Climatological Data: Illinois Section, they describe staying "as close to the storm track as roads would permit." While going into great detail on the damage along the path, no mention was made of the tornado lifting. In fact, they state: "It can positively be stated that there was only one tornado in Illinois, and that it was continuous from Missouri to beyond Princeton, Indiana."
The tornado that devastated the town of Mayfield was produced by a parent thunderstorm that traveled more than 230 miles across four states over the course of four hours.
The National Weather Service will perform the official tornado survey to confirm if it was a continuous tornado or several tornadoes produced by the same storm. If confirmed as one single and continuous tornado, it will set the record for the longest “long-track” tornado in U.S. history.
The longest on record is the “Tri-State” tornado from 1925, which tracked 219 miles across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
While the National Weather Service provides the official intensities of the tornadoes after conducting storm surveys, there are several indications that the tornadoes, including the Mayfield one, were in the strong to violent categories, which meteorologists consider EF3, EF4 or EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
Track Comparison
It probably DID set a record for the longest continuous track US tornado disaster. Somewhere between about 230 and 250 miles ON the ground. NOAA/USWeatherService will not plot strengths and we won't even have a death toll for maybe a week.
But in all likelihood -- other than total track length, it will probably NOT exceed the death toll from the Tri-state tornado of 1925 which took an IDENTICAL course thru 3 states on a track just about 80 miles to the north of Friday tornado
The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 - National Weather Service Heritage - Virtual Lab
The deadliest tornado in U.S. history struck 3 states on March 18, 1925, with southern Illinois hardest hit.
vlab.noaa.gov
America's deadliest tornado occurred on March 18, 1925. Tracking across three states, it killed at least 695 people. The tornado was later considered to be F5 strength, the top of the original Fujita Scale for tornado intensity.
The Illinois portion of the track was surveyed by Clarence Root, of the Weather Bureau office in Springfield, IL, and William Barron of the Cairo, IL office; the Indiana portion was surveyed by Albert Brand of the Evansville, IN office. Root and Barron's survey took seven days; in the March 1925 edition of Climatological Data: Illinois Section, they describe staying "as close to the storm track as roads would permit." While going into great detail on the damage along the path, no mention was made of the tornado lifting. In fact, they state: "It can positively be stated that there was only one tornado in Illinois, and that it was continuous from Missouri to beyond Princeton, Indiana."
MSN
www.msn.com
The tornado that devastated the town of Mayfield was produced by a parent thunderstorm that traveled more than 230 miles across four states over the course of four hours.
The National Weather Service will perform the official tornado survey to confirm if it was a continuous tornado or several tornadoes produced by the same storm. If confirmed as one single and continuous tornado, it will set the record for the longest “long-track” tornado in U.S. history.
The longest on record is the “Tri-State” tornado from 1925, which tracked 219 miles across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
While the National Weather Service provides the official intensities of the tornadoes after conducting storm surveys, there are several indications that the tornadoes, including the Mayfield one, were in the strong to violent categories, which meteorologists consider EF3, EF4 or EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
Track Comparison
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