[tornadotony]

Here is the list of contenders I am using. High fatalities, large amounts of damage, and large numbers of strong/violent tornadoes are the qualifiers for an event making this list. Let me know if there are any other events you believe should make this qualifying list.

The qualifying for this event consists of the following (must fulfill #1 and one of #2-6):
1. The event MUST have AT LEAST 1 fatality
2. Ten fatalities
3. 70 tornadoes
4. 10 strong tornadoes
5. One violent tornado
6. $100 million in damage

2/13-2/14/00 (Camilla, GA, et. al.)
7/25/00 (Granite Falls, MN)
9/20/00 (Xenia, OH)
12/16/00 (Tuscaloosa, AL, et. al.)
2/24/01 (Pontotoc, MS, et. al.)
4/21/01 (Hoisington, KS)
9/24/01 (College Park, MD, et. al.)
11/23-11/25/01 (Madison, MS, et. al.)
4/27-4/28/02 (La Plata, MD, et. al.)
11/10-11/11/02 (Veteran's Day Weekend)
5/4-5/5/03 (Kansas City, MO, et. al.)
5/6/03 (Grand Chain, IL, et. al.)
5/10/03 (South Pekin, IL, et. al.)
6/23/03 (Coleridge, NE)
5/22/04 (Hallam, NE, et. al.)
5/29/04-5/31/04 (Weatherby, MO, et. al.)
11/23-11/25/04 (Olla, LA, et. al.)
11/6/05 (Evansville, IN)
11/15/05 (Madisonville, KY, et. al.)
11/27/05 (Ripley, MO, et. al.)
3/12-3/13/06 (Springfield, MO, et. al.)
4/2/06 (Newbern, TN, et. al.)
4/7-4/8/06 (Gallatin, TN, et. al.)
11/14-11/16/06 (Riegelwood, NC, et. al.)
2/2/07 (Lady Lake, FL, et. al.)
2/28-3/2/07 (Enterprise, AL, et. al.)
3/28/07 (Holly, CO, et. al.)
5/4-5/5/07 (Greensburg, KS, et. al.)
5/5-5/6/07 (Sweetwater, OK, et. al.)
8/26/07 (Northwood, ND, et. al.)
10/17-10/18/07 (Nappanee, IN, et. al.)
1/7-1/8/08 (Strafford, MO, et. al.)
2/5-2/6/08 (Super Tuesday)
3/15/08 (Ides of March)
5/1-5/2/08 (Earle, AR, et. al.)
5/10-5/11/08 (Mother's Day Weekend)
5/22/08 (Windsor, CO, et. al.)
5/23/08 (Quinter, KS, et. al.)
5/25/08 (Parkersburg, IA, et. al.)
6/11/08 (Manhattan, KS, et. al.)
2/10/09 (Lone Grove, OK, et. al.)
4/9-4/10/09 (Murfreesboro, TN, et. al.)

[Fred Gossage]

If Super Tuesday isn't in the top 3, something is seriously wrong. Watching that unfold in the guidance from over a week out, and then watching it play out in real-time... to the ferocity that it did... was something that rarely happens in a career.

[tornadotony]

Fred Gossage, on 19 December 2009 - 07:46 PM, said:

If Super Tuesday isn't in the top 3, something is seriously wrong. Watching that unfold in the guidance from over a week out, and then watching it play out in real-time... to the ferocity that it did... was something that rarely happens in a career.

I'm trying to apply a somewhat-objective formula to making this list...I already have the top-ten, just organizing the rest...let me assure you, nothing is seriously wrong...

[radarMan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think either you (tony) or maybe someone else stated a while back that the Parkersburg tornado might be the strongest tornado in recorded history beating out moore, wheatland, greensburg, xenia, etc. If you are going to use #5 as a criteria, than this probably has to be on the list....

[Therussellweatherman]

radarMan, on 19 December 2009 - 07:56 PM, said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think either you (tony) or maybe someone else stated a while back that the Parkersburg tornado might be the strongest tornado in recorded history beating out moore, wheatland, xenia, etc. If you are going to use #5 as a criteria, than this probably has to be on the list....

Wheatland and Xenia were extremley powerful F5 Wedge Twisters

Parkersburg is no way stronger those two major twisters

[Fred Gossage]

Therussellweatherman, on 19 December 2009 - 07:57 PM, said:

Wheatland and Xenia were extremley powerful F5 Wedge Twisters

Parkersburg is no way stronger those two major twisters

Glad to know you are a damage assessment expert. I wouldn't make the bold statement that the Parkersburg, IA tornado was stronger than the Xenia OH, Wheatland PA, or Smithfield AL 1977 F5 tornadoes (yes, Smithfield is another F5 that Fujita considered giving an F6 rating to), but the damage is at least VERY comparable. Reinforced basement walls collapsed or severely damaged in a few instances, pieces of well constructed homes ground to as small as coins in some cases. While the tornado may not be a strong as some of the above mentioned F5s, saying that it isn't comparable is out of either ignorance or an incorrect, flawed, regional bias.

[Surfacebase]

Overall, Super Tuesday #1, and it was crazy. I still remember driving down the I-65 from Louisville to Nashville in the morning and when the SPC issued the High Risk. Saw 3 tornadoes near Memphis that day.

And 1 year before, we were on the Greensburg supercell as well. That storm was the most intense storm I have ever seen.

[tornadotony]

Well, the list is done.

I tried to do this with some objectivity and by balancing many aspects of outbreaks together to come up with a list that doesn't just contain the deadliest, costliest, most prolific, or most violent outbreaks of the decade. The formula I used was a simple summation formula, adding together the following terms:

(Fatalities)*2
(EF2 tornadoes)*2
(EF3 tornadoes)*10
(EF4 tornadoes)*20
(EF5 tornadoes)*30
(Total tornadoes)*1
($10,000,000 damage)*2

So, in essence:
1 EF2 tornado = 1 fatality
1 EF3 tornado = 5 fatalities
1 EF4 tornado = 10 fatalities
1 EF5 tornado = 15 fatalities
1 tornado = 1/2 fatality
$10,000,000 damage = 1 fatality

The sum of those is the index number that each outbreak will receive. The resulting list, I think, proves that the index gives good unbiased data.

Top Ten Tornado Events from 2000-2009:
1. February 5th-6th, 2008: 483.84
57 fatalities, 16 EF2 tornadoes, 5 EF3 tornadoes, 5 EF4 tornadoes, 86 tornadoes, $509.2 million damage
2. May 4th-5th, 2003: 462.50
38 fatalities, 13 EF2 tornadoes, 9 EF3 tornadoes, 4 EF4 tornadoes, 109 tornadoes, $407.5 million damage
3. November 10th-11th, 2002: 298.72
32 fatalities, 15 EF2 tornadoes, 8 EF3 tornadoes, 1 EF4 tornado, 69 tornadoes, $178.6 million damage
4. May 29th-30th, 2004: 294.00
5 fatalities, 10 EF2 tornadoes, 6 EF3 tornadoes, 1 EF4 tornado, 169 tornadoes, $75.0 million damage
5. February 28th-March 2nd, 2007: 285.40
20 fatalities, 9 EF2 tornadoes, 3 EF3 tornadoes, 3 EF4 tornadoes, 54 tornadoes, $417.0 million damage
6. May 10th-11th, 2008: 268.56
24 fatalities, 15 EF2 tornadoes, 3 EF3 tornadoes, 2 EF4 tornadoes, 79 tornadoes, $207.8 million damage
7. April 10th-11th, 2009: 265.92
5 fatalities, 9 EF2 tornadoes, 9 EF3 tornadoes, 1 EF4 tornado, 70 tornadoes, $289.6 million damage
8. March 12th-13th, 2006: 250.48
8 fatalities, 14 EF2 tornadoes, 9 EF3 tornadoes, 1 EF4 tornado, 57 tornadoes, $197.4 million damage*
9. April 2nd, 2006: 235.28
27 fatalities, 8 EF2 tornadoes, 6 EF3 tornadoes, 67 tornadoes, $191.4 million damage
10. November 23rd-25th, 2001: 232.98
13 fatalities, 19 EF2 tornadoes, 3 EF3 tornadoes, 3 EF4 tornadoes, $49.9 million damage

*$100,000,000 added to Storm Events total from Springfield, IL, tornado (damage not included in entry)

The rest of the data for the other outbreaks previously listed can be downloaded from this Excel spreadsheet:
 2000-2009 outbreaks.xls (31.5K)
Number of downloads: 4

[wxmann_91]

I'd say this is a very good list.

[WxMidwest]

Locally 8-18-05 Wisconsin Outbreak will be remembered....

[janetjanet998]

I like your idea of an Tornado outbreak index number(TOIN)


what was the TOIN for the superoutbreak? and what outbreak is in second place..

perhaps we can calculate the TOIN for other notable outbreaks(ie palm sunday, 1999 Moore, etc)

also don't forget to adjust for inflation for the damage points

perhaps we can tweak your scale too over time but i like it so far

most weight seems to be tornadoes, then total damage, then fatalities

it would take alot of time but perhaps we could calculate every years TOIN(might be a good school senior project for you)

The Moore/OKC Tornado damage of 1B would give it 200 points right there alone

perhaps too much weight is put on damage and $20,000,000 = 1 fatality instaed? (or 10M is 1 point not 2)

[janetjanet998]

moore/OKC outbreak

140 Tornadoes

18 F2
10 F3
4 F4
1 F5


50 deaths


1.9 Billion in Damage

[goobagooba]

Therussellweatherman, on 19 December 2009 - 07:57 PM, said:

Wheatland and Xenia were extremley powerful F5 Wedge Twisters

Parkersburg is no way stronger those two major twisters

I would think the Jarrell, TX 5/27/97 twister would be the most powerful of all time.

[Kokomo1]

no EF5s in the top 10 list...

[Hoosier]

goobagooba, on 29 December 2009 - 01:26 PM, said:

I would think the Jarrell, TX 5/27/97 twister would be the most powerful of all time.

There's a lot of controversy about that one given the slow movement.

[DVDweather]

janetjanet998, on 29 December 2009 - 01:03 PM, said:

I like your idea of an Tornado outbreak index number(TOIN)


what was the TOIN for the superoutbreak? and what outbreak is in second place..

perhaps we can calculate the TOIN for other notable outbreaks(ie palm sunday, 1999 Moore, etc)

also don't forget to adjust for inflation for the damage points

perhaps we can tweak your scale too over time but i like it so far

most weight seems to be tornadoes, then total damage, then fatalities

it would take alot of time but perhaps we could calculate every years TOIN(might be a good school senior project for you)

The Moore/OKC Tornado damage of 1B would give it 200 points right there alone

perhaps too much weight is put on damage and $20,000,000 = 1 fatality instaed? (or 10M is 1 point not 2)

Actually, it may not be quite as hard to do every year's TOIN (nice acronym :P ) as one might think. The data needed to pull that off is sitting in spreadsheets at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/#data The document needed to decode what's in the spreadsheets is at http://www.spc.noaa....description.pdf Basically I think the spreadsheets have all of the info needed to calculate TOIN for every year in the database. It's just a matter of sorting through it. Still a nice chunk of work to do, but fortunately it helps some that it's already in Excel.

Tony, I think that this is a cool thing you've put together, and I expect to see yearly TOIN calculations two days from now. ;)

[OEM1]

radarMan, on 19 December 2009 - 07:57 PM, said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think either you (tony) or maybe someone else stated a while back that the Parkersburg tornado might be the strongest tornado in recorded history beating out moore, wheatland, greensburg, xenia, etc. If you are going to use #5 as a criteria, than this probably has to be on the list....

Strongest in recorded history???? Moore Ok, May 3rd, 1999. Hands down, no contest.

As far as top 10, heres mine from your list Tony. Not that you were asking for it, but I included a uniqueness factor as well.

1 Hallum NB.
2 Moore OK
3 Greensburg, KS
4 Parkersburg, IA
5 Enterprise, AL
6 Suffolk, VA
7 La Plata, MD
8 Clinton, AR (Super Tuesday storm)
9 College Park, MD
10 Jackson, TN

T

[OEM1]

goobagooba, on 29 December 2009 - 01:26 PM, said:

I would think the Jarrell, TX 5/27/97 twister would be the most powerful of all time.

Interesting storm, one of the only F5s I am aware of that moved SW.

[Hoosier]

OEM1, on 29 December 2009 - 08:46 PM, said:

Strongest in recorded history???? Moore Ok, May 3rd, 1999. Hands down, no contest.

As far as top 10, heres mine from your list Tony. Not that you were asking for it, but I included a uniqueness factor as well.

1 Hallum NB.
2 Moore OK
3 Greensburg, KS
4 Parkersburg, IA
5 Enterprise, AL
6 Suffolk, VA
7 La Plata, MD
8 Clinton, AR (Super Tuesday storm)
9 College Park, MD
10 Jackson, TN

T

Moore was an F5 and undoubtedly devastating but likely not the strongest as far as F5's are concerned... Josh Wurman was in the right spot at the right time and the tornado happened to hit some pretty populated areas.

[Hoosier]

OEM1, on 29 December 2009 - 08:56 PM, said:

Interesting storm, one of the only F5s I am aware of that moved SW.

There's only 2 that I know of since 1950 that had any sustained/prolonged motion featuring a southerly component...the other being Plainfield IL in 1990.