Normandy

I'm so sorry you wasted so much time typing that. You guys need to lighten up a little. I know Calderon is not a dumbass. I know he has insane amounts of knowledge. I know this was not the tri state tornado. When y'all get in these events your asses get tight lol. All love Calderon

Sorry. I wanted to believe. Carry on

Ruthless crowd tnight. Gotta watch those keystrokes. I bet it crosses into Missisippi. New tri state tornado here we come

I don't count missisipi as a state. ..

Yes dumbass when it crosses Alabama it will be three. Jesus christ

I don't mean tri state intensity. Just crossing three states. Relax yall

New tri state tornado?

While ratings for tornadoes are fun for speculation, I take them less seriously than hurricane ratings since it is purely damage based. And also ever since the el Reno tornado was not upgraded based upon in situ Doppler estimates just because it did not produce EF-5 damage. Judging from the damage pictures it's likely the tornado was anywhere between EF3 and EF5, likely oscillating in strength very frequently as it moved along it's path When people see houses wiped clean they freak, but most don't understand how easy it is for 140 mph wind with extreme upward motion to remove A small wood frame structure from it's foundation. Woods lack of rigidity hurts with tornados, where In earthquakes it actually helps.

That's one of the best looking supercells I have ever seen

Honestly it wouldn't surprise me. From what I have learned so far about tornadoes is that they seem to parallel tropical cyclones in some ways. This one especially because it was wrapped in an envelope of high winds. Wouldn't really surprise me if the center was calm like they eye of a strong hurricane. I was thinking earlier, going through Hurricane Wilma while she was 884 mbs wouldn't be much different than the Joplin tornado. It would only be slightly wider damage swath lol.

What accounts suggest there was a calm in the center of the tornado? From every video I've seen (One on the lawn and gas station), there was no actual calm. There was an initial burst of high wind (like 70 - 100 mph), followed by the tornado which raged continuously until passing. I've only gathered from discussion that the tornado was wrapped in an envelope of high winds.

In Jeff's video you can see how strong the winds were far from the wedge (2:24 or so). Very interesting how it had an intense core surrounded by damaging winds....almost sounds like a tropical cyclone on a super micro-scale.

For me these two videos tell the story of Joplin's terror. First one shows the experience riding it out (audio only though), second one shows what actually happened to the gas station. Incredible that they survived a direct hit from an EF-5 tornado (I'd say this is EF-4 / EF-5 damage, the twisted and mangled steel is beyond incredible).

The Hospital damage is a great case study of what violent tornadoes could do to sturdy and well built structures. Large high-rises will remain standing, but completely gutted and denuded in some spots (like the top where only the steel frame is visible). Does anyone know if the hospital is salvageable?