RED States Smackdown: Tornadoes Surged to F3s and an F4
Psalm 110
had three supercells that produced four or five tornadoes. It
certainly is a 50-year to 100-year event.''...
"All of the tornadoes reached the F3 category at some point on their
destructive journeys. One became an F4. An F3 has winds of 158 to 206
mph. An F4 has winds of 207 to 260 mph. Most tornadoes are F0s, with
wind speeds of 40 to 72 mph."
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Tornadoes Surged to F3s and an F4
While the cleanup of debris and the reconstruction of damaged
buildings throughout the area was in full swing, the National Weather
Service was wrapping up its field investigation of the tornadoes that
struck Southwest Missouri and Southeast Kansas on Sunday.
Bill Davis, director of the weather service station in Springfield,
said the storms that churned through dozens of counties, killing 17
and leaving hundreds of homes, businesses and government buildings
damaged or destroyed, was an "unprecedented event."
"It has happened elsewhere, but not here," Davis said Wednesday. "We
had three supercells that produced four or five tornadoes. It
certainly is a 50-year to 100-year event.''
Davis said all of the tornadoes were documented on video by storm
chasers. The instability of the atmosphere was known well in advance
of the outbreak, and that gave chasers ample opportunity to document
the twisters as they developed.
The National Weather Service also is seeking copies of amateur
pictures and videos.
The area death toll remained at 17. One person from Cherokee County,
Kan., remained in critical condition at St. John's Regional Medical
Center in Joplin.
"The early warning saved a lot of lives, but it was a record number of
lives lost to tornadoes in this area,'' Davis said.
The loss of life can be linked to the intensity of the tornadoes. Such
storms are rated from F0 to F5 on the Fujita scale, based on wind
speed and damage. The scale was developed by Theodore Fujita of the
University of Chicago.
All of the tornadoes reached the F3 category at some point on their
destructive journeys. One became an F4. An F3 has winds of 158 to 206
mph. An F4 has winds of 207 to 260 mph. Most tornadoes are F0s, with
wind speeds of 40 to 72 mph.
Three separate tornadoes are believed to be responsible for most of
Sunday's damage.
The twister that struck Pierce City started as an F0. On the outskirts
of the town, the tornado intensified to an F3. After it hit Pierce
City, it diminished to an F2, with wind speeds of 113 to 157 mph. The
tornado killed five people, one in the city and four in the rural
areas of Lawrence County.
The tornado that passed north of Galena, Kan., was an F2 that
intensified to an F3 before hitting Carl Junction, killing three in
rural Cherokee County and two in Carl Junction.
The tornado that ripped through the community of Ringo, near Girard,
Kan., was an F3 that intensified into an F4 before hitting the
community of Franklin, north of Pittsburg, Kan. Davis said that
tornado was "a high end'' F4. After Franklin, it continued as an F3,
striking the towns of Liberal and Stockton. That tornado killed seven
people.
The tornadoes left 30,000 people without electrical power Sunday
night. Amy Bass, spokeswoman for Empire District Electric Co. in
Joplin, said 2,500 customers still were without power by Thursday
morning.
"Those without service are primarily in Carl Junction, Stockton,
Pierce City and the Aurora area,'' she said. "There are rural outages
around all of those areas.
"Getting service to these people will take more time. It will be
slower. It's hard to say when service will be restored.''