The Rarest of the Rare

 

NOAA's Tornado Averages By State

Tornadoes are ranked on the Enhanced Fujita Scale that starts with a minimal EF-0 that has winds of 65 – 85 mph.  The strongest tornadoes are ranked an EF-5 with winds of greater than 200 mph and are rare.  The United States is currently in a record stretch without a single EF-5 tornado reported in the United States in more than eight years since May 20, 2013.

2013:  Several dozen tornadoes occurred in the Midwest during a two-day severe weather outbreak on May 19-20.  The most devastating was on May 20 in the city of Moore, Oklahoma.  An EF-5 tornado touched down and caused widespread damage and a number of fatalities.  Since this tornado developed so quickly and was so intense – with winds greater than 200 mph – it was especially damaging and deadly.  According to NOAA, it caused two dozen fatalities and remains the third costliest tornado on record having caused $2 billion in damage (unadjusted for inflation). 

2011:  The town of Joplin, Missouri experienced a devastating EF-5 tornado on May 22.  The Joplin EF-5 remains the costliest tornado on record having caused $2.8 billion in damages (unadjusted for inflation).  With a total of 181 fatalities, it was also the single deadliest U.S. tornado since 1947.  The spring of 2011 was an unusually active severe weather season for the United States with a total of six EF-5 tornadoes.  That was the highest annual total since 1974.

1999: An F5 tornado occurred in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on May 3.  Wind of more than 300 mph were reported from a mobile Doppler radar that helped track this devastating storm.  This tornado ranked among the costliest in U.S. history and was the last observed F5 tornado in the United States before the Fujita Scale was updated or “enhanced” in 2007.  Many of the same areas would be impacted again by the devastating May 2013 EF-5 tornado.

While the April 2002 La Plata tornado in Charles County, Maryland remains the strongest tornado on record in the state of Maryland at F4 intensity, it would be ranked as an EF-5 on the updated Fujita Scale if a similar tornado were to occur today.  Fortunately, no severe weather is expected in the Mid-Atlantic Region over the Memorial Day weekend.