7/25/2016 Greenfield - Elwood EF5

General Information:

This tornado touched down just outside of Trenton, moving very slowly at first. The tornado quickly gained strength and moved Northwest towards Greenfield, where it would hit 200 MPH winds just inside the city. The tornado moves through Greenfield, completely leveling many homes, the storm chaser HQ, and knocking down the tower. The tornado continues gaining strength even as it moves out of Greenfield, reaching 278 MPH, then weakening as it continues towards Elwood. The tornado hits Elwood, moving a slab, then continues to weaken as it moves throughout the city. After the tornado exits Elwood, it continues to an empty field where it dissipates. Left in its path is total destruction.

Statistics:

• Max Windspeed: 278 MPH
• Cities Impacted: Greenfield, Elwood
• Time On Ground: c. 50 minutes
• Damage Rating: 200-215 MPH Weak EF-5*

*This damage rating is not exact because there is no current estimate for storm shelter destruction. In fact, in the Greenfield survey image, I forgot to point out the destroyed storm shelter as it was covered by part of a house's roof.

Damage Survey:

 

Greenfield Damage Survey (there should be one more piece of EF-5 damage where the storm shelter is)

Elwood Damage Survey

This tornado is the second EF-5 to impact two cities. However, it is the first undisputed EF-5 to impact two cities.

7/24/2016 Trenton Outbreak

Outbreak Statistics:

• Number of Tornadoes: Three
• Maximum Rating: 210 MPH Weak EF-5
• Minimum Rating: 65 MPH Weak EF-0*

 *This tornado is rated the minimum possible rating as it did not hit any structures, rather, formed near the city of Trenton

Tornado 1 Statistics:

• Max Windspeed: c. 300 MPH  
• Cities Impacted: Trenton
• Time On Ground: c. 65 minutes
• Damage Rating:   210 MPH Weak EF-5

Damage Survey:

 

 Tornado 2 Statistics:

• Max Windspeed: c. 200 MPH
• Cities Impacted: None**
• Time On Ground: Unkown
• Damage Rating: 65 MPH Weak EF-0

**This tornado formed just outside of Trenton, but did not impact the city.

Tornado 3 Statistics:

• Max windspeed: c. 110 MPH
• Cities Impacted: Trenton
• Time On Ground: 8 minutes
• Damage Rating: 109 MPH Strong EF-1

Damage Survey:

    

7/21/2016 Newton EF-4

General Information:

This tornado occurred on July 21, 2016 at around 2:15 P.M. Eastern. The tornado formed in the field between Elwood and Newton, quickly gaining size and strength. As it moved towards Newton, it turned towards the heart of the city as it was still strengthening. As it moved throughout Newton, it gained strength, and peaked at 166 MPH just as it exited the town. The tornado moved towards the empty fields and died out before hitting any other cities. As a result of the tornado, many houses were leveled, and a police car was thrown from the station into another house (which was freed before the image was taken). After this tornado, another 153 MPH tornado would touch down outside of Newton, hitting no structures and earning an EF-0 rating.

Statistics:

Max Windspeed: 166 MPH

Cities Impacted: Newton

Time On Ground: Unknown (No witnesses kept track)

Damage Rating: 153 MPH Strong EF-3

Photo of the damage twenty minutes after the tornado lifted.

 

My personal damage survey.

Other Damage Surveys:

• 153 MPH Strong EF-3 (mine)
• 166 MPH Weak EF-4 (Trevanothebest)
• 152 MPH Mid EF-3 (on-site witness)

7/5/2016 Dover Outbreak and Damage Survey

General Information:

This outbreak occurred on July 5, 2016 starting at approximately 2:15 P.M. EDT and ended approximately 3:30 P.M. EDT. During this time, five storms spawned and three tornadoes touched down. Two of these tornadoes were ranked EF-0 as they did not hit any structures, though one hit speeds of 165+ MPH. Below is my damage survey of the third tornado, whose winds peaked at 183 MPH and destroyed the city of Dover.

Statistics of Tornado:

Max Windspeed: 183 MPH

Cities Impacted: Dover

Time On Ground: ~40 minutes

Damage Rating: 148 MPH Mid EF-3

Overhead view of Dover moments after the tornado.

My personal damage survey moments after the tornado.

Random Facts and Other Important Information:

• This tornado is the strongest to ever hit Dover both in damage speed and wind speed.
• Out of the four damage survey personnel present, the ratings went like this:
• Mid EF-3 (mine)
• High EF-3 (zachthetwister)
• High EF-3 (on-site witness)
• Weak EF-3 (on-site witness)
• Along with this thunderstorm complex/tornado outbreak, an amazing spectacle of lightning was shown
• This is one of the first non-EF-5 tornadoes to have more than two people give a damage survey

7/1/2016 Greenfield EF-5

Statistics:

Max Windspeed: 273 MPH

Cities Impacted: Greenfield

Time On Ground: ~50 to 65 minutes

Damage Rating: Weak EF-5

This tornado formed in the open desert, where it remained for much of its long lifespan. Shortly after the tornado peaked at 273 MPH, the tornado began moving towards Auburn. After it began weakening, it quickly changed course to Greenfield. The tornado reached Greenfield when it had winds of approximately 230 MPH. The tornado continued through the heart of Greenfield, continuing to weaken. The tornado fell below 200 MPH just past HQ, then continued out of the city. Only one house survived the tornado. Shortly after this tornado, tornadoes with both EF-4 and EF-3 wind speeds occurred just outside Trenton.

Random facts because I FEEL LIKE IT:

• This tornado is the first EF-5 tornado (on this blog at least) to peak outside of a city
• A TIV 2 was thrown from one impacted house to the only non-impacted house, left surprisingly undamaged.
• This tornado is one of the only tornadoes to have taken down both the siren and camera tower
• I don't know what else to put here. What do you wish to know? :3

Images:

Overhead view of Greenfield following the tornado (sorry about the darkness)

Storm shelter entrance completely blocked and destroyed

HQ completely leveled, entrance almost blocked

My damage survey

There is an asterisk (*) next to a house that says Weak EF-5. This is because I gave this one specific house an EF-5 rating because I saw that the slab was very slightly rotated. However, one damage survey personnel did not think the slab was rotated enough to be considered true EF-5 damage. Since there were other, more clear evidences of EF-5 damage present in their survey (which was more of a verbal agreement so I knew what to put on the EF-5 list), their rating still stood as EF-5.

7/1/2016 Dover Tornado

Statistics:

Max Wind Speed: Unknown

Cities Impacted: Dover

Time On Ground: Unknown

Damage Rating: Strong EF-2

Not much is known about this tornado, other than it passed directly through the town of Dover. The tornado impacted all mobile homes, completely destroying several. From my perspective, the tornado looked to be heading west (which looks north in the picture), but I am not sure.

Photo of the damage (excuse the slight language in chat)

 

My damage survey