List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes

The Xenia, Ohio, F5 tornado of April 3, 1974. This was one of two tornadoes to receive a preliminary rating of F6, which was downgraded later to a rating of F5.[1]

This is a list of tornadoes which have been officially or unofficially labeled as F5, EF5, T10-T11, IF5, or an equivalent rating, the highest possible ratings on the various tornado intensity scales. These scales – the Fujita scale, the Enhanced Fujita scale, the International Fujita scale, and the TORRO tornado intensity scale – attempt to estimate the intensity of a tornado by classifying the damage caused to natural features and man-made structures in the tornado's path.[note 1][note 2]

Each year, more than 2,000 tornadoes are recorded worldwide, with the vast majority occurring in North America and Europe.[9] In order to assess the intensity of these events, meteorologist Ted Fujita devised a method to estimate maximum wind speeds within tornadic storms based on the damage caused; this became known as the Fujita scale. The scale ranks tornadoes from F0 to F5, with F0 being the least intense and F5 being the most intense. F5 tornadoes were estimated to have had maximum winds between 261 mph (420 km/h) and 318 mph (512 km/h).[10][note 3]

F5 damage in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, from the May 3, 1999, tornado.

Following two particularly devastating tornadoes in 1997 and 1999, engineers questioned the reliability of the Fujita scale. Ultimately, a new scale was devised that took into account 28 different damage indicators; this became known as the Enhanced Fujita scale.[11] The Enhanced Fujita scale is used predominantly in North America. Most of Europe, on the other hand, uses the TORRO tornado intensity scale (or T-Scale), which ranks tornado intensity between T0 and T11; F5/EF5 tornadoes are approximately equivalent to T10 to T11 on the T-Scale.

In the United States, between 1950 and January 31, 2007, a total of 50 tornadoes were officially rated F5, and since February 1, 2007, a total of nine tornadoes have been officially rated EF5.[12][13] Since 1950, Canada has had one tornado officially rated an F5.[14] Outside the United States and Canada, seven tornadoes have been officially rated F5/EF5/T10+ or equivalent: two each in France and Germany, and one each in Italy, Argentina and Australia.

Several other tornadoes have also been documented as possibly attaining this status, though they are not officially rated as such. The work of tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis revealed the existence of several dozen likely F5 tornadoes between 1880 and 1995. Grazulis also called into question the ratings of several tornadoes currently rated F5 by official sources. Many tornadoes officially rated F4/EF4 or equivalent have been disputed and described as actual F5/EF5/T10+ or equivalent tornadoes, and vice versa; since structures are completely destroyed in both cases, distinguishing between an EF4 tornado and an EF5 tornado is often very difficult.[15] Additionally, because tornado ratings are damage-based, many tornadoes capable of causing F5/EF5/T10+ damage, such as those that move through rural areas, may receive lower ratings because their strongest winds do not strike any suitable damage indicators.[16]

In 2024, Anthony W. Lyza, Matthew D. Flournoy, and A. Addison Alford, researchers with the National Severe Storms Laboratory, Storm Prediction Center, CIWRO, and the University of Oklahoma's School of Meteorology, published a paper stating, ">20% of supercell tornadoes may be capable of producing EF4–EF5 damage".[17]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference F6Xenia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Multiple sources:
  3. ^ Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage". The Online Tornado FAQ. Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  4. ^ "Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale)". Environment and Climate Change Canada. June 6, 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  5. ^ "The International Tornado Intensity Scale". Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  6. ^ Grazulis 2001a, pp. 251–254.
  7. ^ Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "TORNADO CLIMATOLOGY and DATA". The Online Tornado FAQ. Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  8. ^ Cook & Schaefer 2008, p. 3135.
  9. ^ "U.S. Tornado Climatology". National Climatic Data Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on 2013-10-28. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
  10. ^ a b "Fujita Tornado Damage Scale". Storm Prediction Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2006. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  11. ^ Multiple sources:
  12. ^ "F5 Tornado - Fujita Scale". factsjustforkids.com. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
  13. ^ "EF5 Tornado - Fujita Scale". factsjustforkids.com. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
  14. ^ "Top ten weather stories for 2007: Canada's First F5 Tornado". Environment and Climate Change Canada. December 30, 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-03-12.
  15. ^ Multiple sources:
  16. ^ Multiple sources:
  17. ^ Lyza, Anthony W.; Flournoy, Matthew D.; Alford, A. Addison (March 19, 2024). "Comparison of Tornado Damage Characteristics to Low-Altitude WSR-88D Radar Observations and Implications for Tornado Intensity Estimation" (Academic publication). Monthly Weather Review. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Oklahoma via the American Meteorological Society. doi:10.1175/MWR-D-23-0242.1. Retrieved 2024-03-19.


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