 | Will be working to get my grades up, not sure when I'll be back. Will be (much?) less active then usual. |
Places I've been, clockwise from top-left:
- El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico;
- A 50501 protest in Downtown Columbus, Ohio;
- Glen Arbor, Michigan, a cute town;
- A destroyed fire truck at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Manhattan;
- A rainbow in Franklin County, Ohio during a severe weather outbreak in April 2024;
- The Chagrin River in December 2024;
EF5 is the highest rating a tornado can receive on the Enhanced Fujita scale. For some reason, we haven't had an EF5 tornado for over eleven years (if we do have one in 2025, it would be a monumental event in tornado history).[1][2]
- My guide to writing about tornadoes, for those who want it.
- Things I've written about.
- I am an Inclusionist.
- I am currently attempting to write about a tornado that took place in every year since 2000. The years I currently have done are: 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024
- ^ Reliable sources aside, here's why I think we haven't seen an EF5 tornado in so long, and what would be needed for one to happen:
- Damage surveyors nitpick every part of a structure to justify a lower rating.
- DoW measurements aren't used, even when they give an exact windspeed of the tornado.
- The addition of stupid disqualifiers like the "debris damaged the home, not the tornado" and "the tree over there is standing, despite this place being destroyed!" quips.
- Damage surveyors literally going out of their way to avoid potential EF5 damage indicators, notably parking stops that were ripped out of concrete.
Bluntly, the scale is broken and sucks. To fix this issue, we should factor in other forms of measurement, like data from DoW, radar or scientific instruments to more accurately gauge how powerful a tornado is. For a tornado to receive an EF5 rating in this day and age, it'd have to be extremely powerful, hit at least two well-built structures, be relatively wide and happen in the bounds of a WFO that doesn't nitpick. Seems impossible. - ^ Tornadoes that I believe were withheld of a proper EF5 rating:
- 2013 El Reno tornado
- 2014 Mayflower–Vilonia tornado
- 2020 Bassfield–Soso tornado
- 2021 Western Kentucky tornado
- 2023 Rolling Fork–Silver City tornado
- 2024 Greenfield tornado
And a few others. I wouldn't be surprised if 2025 sees additions to this list.