A sign left for looters by a property owner marks a house in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 22, 2013, two days after a destructive tornado tore through the city. File Photo by J.P. Wilson/UPI | License Photo
An EF5 tornado is one of the most catastrophic weather events on Earth. Monstrous twisters of this magnitude can destroy entire neighborhoods in the blink of an eye, grow to be more than a mile wide and pack winds over 200 mph -- stronger than any Category 5 hurricane on record across the Atlantic basin.
On May 20, 2013, an extremely powerful tornado destroyed a huge part of Moore, Okla. Eleven years later, it remains the most recent tornado to be rated EF5, the strongest possible rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The 11-year gap is the longest since official U.S. records began in 1950.
Before the Moore tornado, the blockbuster tornado season in 2011 led to the confirmation of five EF5 twisters, including the Joplin, Missouri, EF5 that killed 161 people. A total of 50 tornadoes have been rated F5/EF5 since records began in the United States in 1950.
Because most weather instruments can't survive tornadoes, the EF scale estimates tornado strength based on NWS staff investigating damage indicators.
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Meteorologist Bob Henson said in 2023 that the current EF5 "drought" is hard to explain since damage estimates can be subjective. Damage to a "well-constructed building" is the most common factor that helps the National Weather Service (NWS) confirm an EF5, yet many homes in the U.S. do not meet that criteria.
Henson quotes Tanya Brown-Giammanco, director of Disaster & Failure Studies at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, who says that many houses are missing key features to be considered wind resistant, disqualifying them from being used to determine if a twister reached EF5 status.
The Enhanced Fujita system is not likely to change from a ground-damage-based scale, Henson says, but new standards may be implemented to improve rural damage assessments based on damage to wind turbines, irrigation systems, farm silos, churches and passenger vehicles.
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| A large tornado tracks past a highway near Lincoln, Nebraska, on April 26, 2024. (Aaron Jayjack) |
The National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program at NIST is developing these standards, which would have to be adopted by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center to change the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
Radar data, by definition measured above ground, cannot be used to rate tornadoes on the EF scale. This precedent was reaffirmed by the El Reno tornado on May 31, 2013, which tracked just south of El Reno, Oklahoma. At peak strength, Doppler radar measured winds over 300 mph.
The National Weather Service initially rated El Reno as an EF5, but subsequent damage investigations were unable to find damage indicators above EF3 since it largely tracked over open fields. Because of the damage found, the El Reno tornado, despite being the largest twister ever recorded at 2.6 miles wide, was confirmed as an EF3.
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FAQs
On May 20, 2013, an extremely powerful tornado destroyed a huge part of Moore, Okla. Eleven years later, it remains the most recent tornado to be rated EF5, the strongest possible rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The 11-year gap is the longest since official U.S. records began in 1950.
Why hasn't there been an EF5 in so long? ›
But if there aren't structures in the area built strong enough to begin with to meet the standards of EF5 damage, it wouldn't be possible to achieve the rating, even if the tornado technically did have 200 mph-plus winds. “As a result, there are fewer 'targets' for a tornado to hit that could be EF5.
When was the last EF5 tornado in the US? ›
The nation's last EF-5 tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013.
What is the longest tracking tornado in US history? ›
The so-called Tri-State Tornado traveled an exact heading N 69° E for 183 of its 219 mile track. It was on the ground for 3 ½ hours and killed an estimated 695 people. Its average forward (not rotational) speed was 27.7 m/s (62 mph) with a maximum speed of 32.6 m/s (73 mph).
Has there been an EF5 in 2024? ›
F/EF4 and F/EF5 tornadoes make up a small fraction of all tornadoes. Yet they're responsible for a majority of the nation's tornado deaths. There have already been a few tornadoes this strong in 2024. Two happened in Oklahoma and one in Iowa.
Has there ever been a F6 tornado? ›
In total, two tornadoes received the rating of F6, but both were later downgraded to F5. Based on aerial photographs of the damage it caused, Fujita assigned the strongest tornado of the 1974 Super Outbreak, which affected Xenia, Ohio, a preliminary rating of F6 intensity ± 1 scale.
Which state has had the most EF5? ›
The states with the highest number of F5 and EF5 rated tornadoes since data was available in 1950 are Alabama and Oklahoma, each with seven tornadoes. Iowa, Kansas, and Texas each are tied for second-most with six. The state with the highest number of F5 and EF5 tornadoes per square mile, however, was Iowa.
What's the worst tornado in US history? ›
Deadliest single tornado in US history
The Tri-State tornado of March 18, 1925, killed 695 people in Missouri (11), Illinois (613), and Indiana (71). The outbreak it occurred with was also the deadliest known tornado outbreak, with a combined death toll of 747 across the Mississippi River Valley.
What was the largest F5 tornado ever recorded? ›
The path of the Tri-State Tornado (at times rated as a F5) of March 18, 1925, in its full, originally calculated length of 219 miles. Subsequent research found that the longest unbroken damage path within this track was apparently 151 miles long. This was the deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
What is the rarest tornado ever? ›
F5/EF-5 tornadoes are very rare
Tornado data is far more sparse in Canada, where Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Northern Tornadoes Project have confirmed more than 2,500 touchdowns since 1980. Out of all those tornadoes, only 60 (0.085 percent) have ever been rated an F5 or EF-5.
Today in Weather History: Widest tornado on record touches down in Oklahoma. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — 46 football fields. That's about how wide the monster El Reno, Oklahoma tornado on May 31, 2013 was. 2.6 miles wide to be exact.
What is the biggest tornado ever spotted? ›
Tornado: Widest Tornado (maximum diameter)
| Record Value | 4184 meters (2.6mi) in width |
|---|
| Date of Event | 31/5 (May)/2013 |
| Length of Record | 1950-present |
| Geospatial Location | El Reno, Oklahoma [35°31'N, 97°57'W, elevation: 414m (1358ft)] |
The greatest distance travelled by a tornado is 219 miles (352 km) from Ellington, Missouri to Princeton, Indiana on 18 March 1925.
Why has 2024 been such a bad year for tornadoes? ›
The lack of a date-delineated “tornado season” has been evident in 2024, with this year being called the most active tornado season since 2017. Unusually warm temperatures – both land and sea – have caused increased storm systems which have frequently spun off tornadoes. As of Sept.
Can you survive an EF5 above ground? ›
A small percentage of folks living in tornado-prone areas still believe that the only way to survive an EF5 tornado is by sheltering below ground. But scientific research has proven that properly engineered and built above ground storm shelters are more than capable of standing up to 250 mph winds to save lives.
What states are in Tornado Alley 2024? ›
That's exactly what was happening in spring 2024. The tornadoes mostly occurred in the traditional Tornado Alley, from northern Texas to South Dakota, with an extension across the Corn Belt through Iowa and as far east as Ohio, matching the findings of that study.
Has anyone ever survived an F5 tornado? ›
Texas A&M storm chaser survived monster F5 tornado that killed her little sisters when she was 8. Aria Vargyas was in second grade when the monster tornado obliterated her school and destroyed her family's home in Moore, Oklahoma.
How often do EF5 tornadoes occur? ›
Only about 0.06% of all tornadoes are classified as F5 or EF5.
How rare is an EF5? ›
An EF-5 tornado will produce winds greater than 200 mph. As you can imagine, systems like this strong are exceptionally rare. The National Center For Environmental Information highlights from 1950-2023 there were 68,762 tornadoes in the United States and only 59 received an F-5 or EF-5 rating.
