Who here has witnessed an F4/F5 Tornado?

Published by: anonym 2009-01-09

Tornado Hits London::
sometimes (like I witnessed) people get thrown through Belmond IA Oct 14, 1966, I was there about 15 min behind the tornado. It is listed as F4-F5.
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=58826HOME

First I just want to get this out of the way, this thread is not mean't to be a pi--ing contest just want to find out who here on Storm Track has witnessed an F4 or F5 tornado (definitely including the now enhanced fujita scale)? Has anyone witnessed more than one F4/F5 tornado? (I know there are some long-time chasers on here so I figured this should make for an interesting thread) :)

The Greensburg EF5 tornado this year was my first major league tornado...

The '07 chase season started off well. We ended up in SE Kansas on Feb 28 for the Blue Mound Wedge. The first EF4. Kinda weird that the biggest tornado I have seen came in February. Attached is a still from a friend's camera. I left the lens cap on my camera and never noticed since it was dark. Wish it could have been for one of the smaller ones I have seen.

All of the violent tornadoes I've witnessed were back in the 90s (4/26/91 Andover KS; 5/5/93 Hugoton KS; 6/8/95 Kellerville and Allison TX; 5/3/99 Bridge Creek and Mulhall OK). The closest I've been to that caliber of tornado this decade was the Greensburg night with one of the tornadoes farther to the NE.

Rich T.

Survived the 1990 Plainfield, IL, tornado "sheltered" in a car wash. Never saw the tornado which lifted about a mile from our house due to the torrential rain and hail.

Driving through the damage swath 36hrs after the tornado hit on 183, south of Greensburg was as close as I've come to that sort of violence.

I don't want to ever see something like that again.

I have witnessed many tornadoes. I guees I was at the right place at the right time. When I was little and my dad was at McConnell AFB as an officer, I watched the Andover F-5 rip thru base, about 300 yards away from me. Watched the Moore, OK F-5 from the rooftop of Southwest Mecial Center in OKC, the Moore, OK F-4 from I-35 & Shields BLVD in 2003, and this kinda counts, the Birmingham, AL F-5 from Red Mtn. in Hoover, AL, we could see it in the lightning a few times. This doesn't count, but worthy of mentioning, the downtown Nashville F-3 from the Fifth Third Center Tower. I guess I just have darn good luck, or not so, who knows. I also have a cousin that attends Enterprise H.S. and his truck was thrown 2 blocks from the school this past March. He had a few cuts and one helluva bruise from a flying brick.

You some how were a part of all those -- without chasing?

Extremely impressive, if true.

I've chased 9 years and am not thinking I've seen an F4(and certainly never an F5). And even without the whole having to hit things, I don't think I've ever seen a truly violent tornado. Guessing Hill City 2005 was the strongest I've seen, and that was only during a small portion early in its life and never violent. The latter parts were not strong looking. This topic makes me think of Mike Umscheid's Ocemento(sure that is spelled wrong) tornado video. Damn was that spinning incredibly fast. Some of the most violent motion I've seen on video. 2002?

Guess it was Yocemento and 1998. Another one might be the Girard KS tornado video from 2003.

I was lucky enough to witness an F-4 in Indiana quite a few years ago, I can not remember what year and I didn't get to close, I was working not chasing but my God, was it a beautiful sight!

A Time To Mourn - 1936 Gainesville Tornado April 6, 1936::
of April 5, 1936, Tupelo, Mississippi took a glancing blow from an F5 tornado. at about 8:15 a.m. an F4 tornado landed in Hall County southwest of Gainesville
http://ngeorgia.com/ang/1936_Gainesville_TornadoHOME

Good day,

Mine was the Hallam, NE storm on May 22, 2004.

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/mwcl2004/m5wedge3.jpg

This caused high-end F4 damage (on the old scale)!

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/mwcl2004/m5hal4.jpg

Damage from this was sickening, and the storm was 2.5 miles wide!

Harper County. May 12th 2004. F4. Photo credit: Chris Gullikson.

http://a923.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/124/l_2340a8cbb3a537a4e5980524a4877402.jpg

Doug Raflik

I witnessed the Kansas City KS F4, Blue Mound KS EF-4, and Greensburg KS EF-5 tornadoes. Also saw the Hallam tornado when it initiated near Daykin NE. Much like Brian, I definitely prefer a nice cone or stovepipe over any sort of wedge. I have missed enough "pretty" tornadoes while chasing to fill a large book.

Wunder Blog : Weather Underground::
That cell IS nasty, it could be putting down an F4 or F5 easily. A TORNADO HAS BEEN REPORTED 5 KM NORTHWEST OF PIPESTONE AT 7:45
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=699&tstamp=200706&page=10HOME

Rich T.

A little off topic, but what was Hugoton, KS, rated? Was it a 4? I just came across a video of basically its whole life cycle and it looked very powerful.

I was out chasing the May 3rd, 1999, F5 Moore tornado. Little did I know when I pulled out of my drive way that day that it would be the last time I did that. My friend, Gene, and I followed it up from Newcastle into south OKC. We sat on SW 134th as it crossed about 1 1/2 miles in front of us, moved into my neighborhood and leveled my house.

I couldn't fathom the damage done until we drove into the Eastlake addition and saw the destruction. I felt like I was in the twilight zone while running up the street to my house. I couldn't even recognize which one was mine. There's a happy ending though because everyone in the house survived and everything was replaced. And I still go out chasing because I'd rather be out watching it and then taking cover and riding it out.

Click on the thumbnail to see a bigger picture. This picture was taken about 15 minutes after the tornado hit.

This depends. I saw the Oakfield, WI f5, during the rope stage... when no longer producing F5 damage. Does that count? Otherwise, I'm out on this one.

http://www.tornadoproject.com/past/oakfotos.htm

Pictures by Cailyn Lloyd

I think that if you saw the Oakfield tornado in any stage, you technically saw an F5.

Almost forgot to ask, if anyone has any personal stories and or pics of these events it would be great if they could share these (will help me with my sudden case of SDS):D

Greensburg would be the only F5 (EF5) I've ever witnessed. We missed the Harper County F4 May 12, 2004 by about 40 minutes. Nothing else I've seen has even been close.

A little off topic, but what was Hugoton, KS, rated? Was it a 4? I just came across a video of basically its whole life cycle and it looked very powerful.

Hugoton was rated F4, and it occurred immediately after another relatively large tornado that was rated F3 in the OK Panhandle.

Rich T.

Chased the Bridge Creek/Moore F5...and have seen a few F4's in my career. The funny thing was how close the Franklin KS F4 resembled the May 3rd tornado structure-wise from my vantage point. Steady state RFD, super low and dark cloud base...with a mean wedge underneath. I do prefer to chase the solitary tube or stove-pipe tornado over the wedges though....as long as the road network is agreeable. :cool:

I've seen one F5:
http://www.passiontwist.us/5399stat1.JPG

I've never seen an (officially-rated) F4. However IMPO I've probably seen a few (Mulvane).

I witnessed the amazing Girard F-4 while chasing with Cloud 9 Tours. The boiling motion going up the sides of this vortex was breath taking !

Girard, Kansas - May 4th, 2003
http://www.mthurricane.com/Torn_May4th_2.jpg

Girard, KS F4. May 4, 2003 outbreak.

I saw the Greensburg, KS tornado and I have seen F-4 damage in Wichita from May 3, 1999 and F4 damage in Moore, OK from May 8, 2003. I have not been chasing long enough though to have seen any other tornadoes of that magnitude.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/wolverines028/Image0-1.jpg
Here is a still I have of the Greensburg, KS tornado.

Thanks folks for the awsome pics and stories (going through my 2nd case of Strep Throat in less than 2 months so this helps distract me!) :)

I saw the Hallam F4 early in it's track, and one week leter I was heading south on I-35 near Cameron Mo while the Santa Rosa F4 was heading north somewhere in the darkness:rolleyes:

Greensburg. ef5. and the hopewell/Macksville tornado right after that. im not sure what rating that one got. 3 or 4. can't remember.

Greensburg, KS EF5 - May 4th, 2007. That evening was unreal. I also spent the next few days in the area documenting the aftermath. Still can recall the sounds and smells from that night and probably always will... And still can not get myself to go through my footage, edit it and put the full account online how sick the experience made me.

I saw the Hesston (March 13 1990) and the Andover (April 1991) I do have some pictures of the Andover tornado that I just found that I need to get scanned in.

Greensburg, KS EF5 - May 4th, 2007. Still can recall the sounds and smells from that night and probably always will... And still can not get myself to go through my footage, edit it and put the full account online how sick the experience made me.

Yeah, the smell is what I remember most. Every time I pump gas now, automatically, I think of Greensburg. The alarms going off in dead silence in the town, along with the lightning, smell, and of course the damage, will be in my thoughts daily for a long, long time. It definitely gave me a different perspective on life and storm chasing.

I saw the F4 Van Wert Ohio tornado on Nov 10, 2002. It was several miles away to my northwest from Ohio City and only intermittently visable due to distant tree groves. It struck the west and northwest side of Van Wert doing much damage with 2 deaths in Van Wert and 3 in the country.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/program_areas/events/2002/11_10_02_tornadoes/vanwert/index.php

I also had an elderly friend , now deceased, who witnessed the great Tri State tornado of March 18, 1925. He was in high school at that time in Princeton Indiana and saw it from the second floor of the school near the end of its life cycle.

Jon Miller
KT8NDO
Celina, Ohio