My goodness, the tornado that hit Enterprise, AL was 800 yards...

[originalpckelly]

or nearly a half mile wide!

My goodness, those poor people.

It's about 6.7 football fields in length!

:wow:

Absolutely insane. I cannot believe anyone survived.

[Horse with no Name]

1. Have they rated it yet on the Fujita scale?

It sounds like it may have been an F5.

[w8liftinglady]

3. I've been through two of those,believe it or not-abilene and san angelo,tx

[originalpckelly]

4. It was a vicious thing. As I understand it, the survey groups who come in and...

make a determination have yet to do so. They will be doing so soon.

[xmas74]

5. They don't always release that info immediately,

since it's only a guess. They really have to get weather service on the ground there to investigate and measure the damage to figure it all out.

Plus, they are using the enhanced scale this season for the first time. They'll have to get used to using it. On the old scale it could have been an F5. On the new scale there's room for higher. The standards changed because of places like Norman and Moore in 1999.

(I heard all about it from the weather guys last weekend when we had our first touchdown. They were giddy little schoolboys and schoolgirls talking about it!)

[karlrschneider]

12. Our local TV weatherman called it an EF3 (which I never heard of)

he indicated it means an 'enhanced' F3 whatever the hell that is. Something like a 3.5 I suppose...
??

[Horse with no Name]

14. I just googled it

http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/nebraska/enhanced-fujita-scale.html

>>>snip
"The EF scale provides more detailed guidelines that will allow the National Weather Service to more accurately rate tornadoes that strike the ,” said Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), director of the National Weather Service. “The EF scale still estimates wind speeds but more precisely takes into account the materials affected and the construction of the structures damaged by the tornado."

[karlrschneider]

22. I wonder if it isn't just unnecessarily complicating matters...

somebody had too much time on his hands, ISTM.

[Labors of Hercules]

that means they are using the enhanced Fujita scale...

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/ef-scale.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. As I understand it,

the earth changes happening will spawn a lot of wild weather. This, and the worst blizzard in 10 years in Iowa today are probably going to be repeated again and again in the coming years.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. Have you heard about that recent tornado in Dumas, Ark.?

It seems like that was a particularly nasty one, too.

[lapfog_1]

7. An F-5 hit topeka, KS in the sixties

half a mile wide and a 22 mile track.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/top/events/66tornado.php

(edit to add this - according to reports it ripped the grass out of the ground near Washburn University... think about it!)

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. An F-5 hit a suburb of KC and killed 54 people in 1957

http://members.aol.com/tornadfoto/p-torn9.html

I remember this one. I was 3 and a half and my sister was 2 weeks old. We lived about 5 miles from Ruskin, where the tornado hit. I can still remember my mom taking us to the basement and my sister sitting in her little infant seat on top of the dryer. I can remember my mom turning the dryer on so my sister wouldn't get cold.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

21. I saw the aftermath of that.

I was seven, and went with my dad to call on a dealer in downtown Topeka.

It is seared into my memory.

Houses speared through . . . with hundred year-old cottonwoods.

Houses simply splintered into sticks. Two doors away, a house would look relatively undamaged.

Astonishing devestation.

[Rex]

8. They can get massive.

Jaw dropping is right.

[originalpckelly]

9. Imagine what that must look like when you see it coming...

Has to be the most terrifying thing. Those poor poor dear souls.

[Rex]

15. I can't imagine seeing one that big in real life.

Can you imagine the sound!?!

[w8liftinglady]

11. they are scarier than shit-i had just brought my 2nd son home from the hospital

softball sized hail
house shook
windows blew out

[Rex]

16. I've had quite a few pass me by. Nothing compaired to the OP.

The sound must be unreal.

[Bicoastal]

10. Did anyone else catch that insane thread...

...about having no sympathy for the people of Southern Alabama because they're "probably all Republican"? It was almost certainly the work of trolls, and was quickly deleted by Moderators, thank God. And yet, after I was bashed mercilessly yesterday for professing that I DIDN'T wish the suicide bomber had blown up Cheney, I've had my doubts about the lack of empathy present in some jaded DU'ers.

Anyway, this thread is a breath of fresh air after that one. God, it's hellish in Hurricane Country right now! Let's all hope the direst of weather predictions don't come true for once.

[Horse with no Name]

17. To wish pain and suffering on anyone

especially kids is reprehensible.

[originalpckelly]

19. That didn't even enter my mind.

We need to have compassion for everyone when they go through something like this. It's got to be hard enough without having to worry about jerks posting that.

People should remember that Ava is from Alabama. My goodness, to lump everyone together like that. Speaking of, I hope she's alright.

[CBGLuthier]

23. unfortunately, there is always a little bit of that shit

Last year when Oklahoma was burning from one end to another some rather choice things were said about us deserving it.

I wish I could agree it was trolls. Sadly a very small minority of DU are just plain jerks.

Oh, and we had our last F5 in Oklahoma almost 8 years ago. Frightening damn thing that marched across half the state and killed 36 people. Did 1.1 billion dollars in damage. The only good thing was it moved slow and people had a chance to prepare otherwise it would have been a lot worse in terms of deaths.

[Davis_X_Machina]

18. The Worcester, MA, tornado...

...that killed a hundred or so and flattened most of Assumption College in 1953 was a mile wide, or more, at one point, and F4 in strength.

Flint-Worcester tornado.

Its path could still be easily traced by the age of trees and construction when I lived in the area in the '70's.

[originalpckelly]

20. That's even more horrible.

That's so big.