Jackstraw Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 #18 - April 23, 1968 12 tornadoes 224 miles 8 F2+ 3 F4+ 14 fatalities The Big Rapids F3 track has my feeble weather brain puzzled. It occurred almost simultaneously with the F4's in Ohio and Kentucky to the south but its track was plotted from NNW to SSE, perpendicular to the other tracks and I guess you could say in an opposing direction. Right moving supercell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornadotony Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 The Big Rapids F3 track has my feeble weather brain puzzled. It occurred almost simultaneously with the F4's in Ohio and Kentucky to the south but its track was plotted from NNW to SSE, perpendicular to the other tracks and I guess you could say in an opposing direction. Right moving supercell? Far more likely incorrect start/stop points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 The Big Rapids F3 track has my feeble weather brain puzzled. It occurred almost simultaneously with the F4's in Ohio and Kentucky to the south but its track was plotted from NNW to SSE, perpendicular to the other tracks and I guess you could say in an opposing direction. Right moving supercell? It would actually make more sense based on the 700 mb plots if the storm was moving from the SSE to NNW, given the location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1900hurricane Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 April 21st, 1967 (Belvidere/Oak Lawn) is my guess for being the other one out of the top 5. Ranks high on fatalities and number of violent/significant tornadoes. http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/1967/4/21/map Ooh, good call on that event; that was one I was unfamiliar with. Now that it has been made known to me, I think I might bump this one up to three, shift 6/2/90 and 11/17/13 down a spot each, and then bump out 11/22/92. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 I checked what Grazulis had for that Big Rapids tornado and he lists it as moving northeast. Also, he has it as F2 and not F3 with a 10 mile path length. If you look at how it's plotted on THP, perhaps that SSE turn is bogus. http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/19680423.26.3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 #5 - April 21, 1967 34 tornadoes 218 miles 20 F2+ 5 F4+ 58 fatalities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 #4 - November 17, 2013 71 tornadoes 574 miles 32 EF2+ 2 EF4+ 8 fatalities Some might be thinking how I can rank this above 4/21/1967. It wasn't an easy call but the rationale is that this one produced many more (strong) tornadoes and at a time of year that is not as climatologically favorable for the region. Quite frankly if you just saw the numbers and not the date of this outbreak, you'd think that it was a very impressive spring-like outbreak, but the problem with that of course is that it occurred in the middle of November. Digging into some details, this outbreak produced 2 of the 5 November F4's since 1950 in the region and is responsible for about one quarter of the strong tornadoes to affect the region in the month of November since 1950. The 71 tornadoes occurred in just over 6 hours time, a truly prolific rate of tornado production that would rival the biggest spring outbreaks. FWIW, 4/21/1967 and 11/17/2013 both produced 3 killer tornadoes...of course the ones in 1967 were much worse. Zoomed in: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 #3 - June 2, 1990 63 tornadoes 550 miles 29 F2+ 7 F4+ 9 fatalities Note: largest tornado outbreak on record in Indiana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 So we're down to the final 2. Though there have been many impressive outbreaks over the past 60+ years, there are 2 that stand above the rest in most categories. These are really the only ones where an argument could be made that either one could be #1 due to the magnitude of both, and I actually considered going with a 1A and 1B classification because of that. Anyway... #2 - April 11-12, 1965 45 tornadoes 991 miles 31 F2+ 17 F4+ 260 fatalities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 #1 - April 3, 1974...the Super Outbreak 76 tornadoes 1384 miles 58 F2+ 20 F4+ 164 fatalities Note: largest tornado outbreak on record in Kentucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 Here's how my top 25 ranked in the various categories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Great work man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 Great work man. Thanks. A good deal of thought went into it but it's only person's take. A lot of dates that could've made it but were left off... 2/25/1956, 6/4/1958, 5/8/1964, 4/27/1984, 3/10/1986, 3/27/1991, 7/12/1992, 11/22/1992, 5/18/1995, 5/30/2004, 4/2/2006, 2/5/2008, 4/19/2011, 5/25/2011 to name some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornadotony Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 I completely agree with the ordering of #4 and #5. With 21 April 1967, there are some questions as to exactly how many of those F4s would still be F4s. I doubt Lake Zurich would, and even Belvidere would be a maybe (no danger of Oak Lawn not being rated F4). In contrast, if 17 November 2013 occurred in the '60s, I'd almost guarantee Washington would have been rated F5 when ratings were assigned in the '70s. Furthermore, if you put the Washington tornado in the Chicago metro, we're talking about an unimaginable disaster. I remember nearly being sick to my stomach watching that behemoth track toward the metro and thinking there wasn't much other than the storm itself to stop it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 I completely agree with the ordering of #4 and #5. With 21 April 1967, there are some questions as to exactly how many of those F4s would still be F4s. I doubt Lake Zurich would, and even Belvidere would be a maybe (no danger of Oak Lawn not being rated F4). In contrast, if 17 November 2013 occurred in the '60s, I'd almost guarantee Washington would have been rated F5 when ratings were assigned in the '70s. Furthermore, if you put the Washington tornado in the Chicago metro, we're talking about an unimaginable disaster. I remember nearly being sick to my stomach watching that behemoth track toward the metro and thinking there wasn't much other than the storm itself to stop it. FWIW, I checked to see what Grazulis has for that outbreak and he has the Michigan F4 as an F3. The other F4s in the SPC database match up with what he has in terms of ratings. 11/17 was just so over the top, especially considering the time of year. Once I put it ahead of 4/21, I was contemplating putting it ahead of 6/2/1990, but what held me back was the gap in violent tornadoes. If 6/2/1990 had less or 11/17 had one or two more, I might've put it 3rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormtrackertf Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 An enjoyable and informative read. Great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Yeah man, great thread. Enjoyed reading through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinook Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 This was a great write-up. I think forecasters from local NWS offices would read it if it were in some sort of published format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 #10 - January 24, 1967 23 tornadoes 140 miles 20 F2+ 2 F4+ 5 fatalities This was an unusual January outbreak for so far north. This outbreak is responsible for 2 of the 3 F4s that have occurred in the region in the month of January since 1950. 12z.png 18z.png 00z.png jan1967.png Which gave way to one of the greatest snow storms of all time. Can you imagine these forums with a repeat? I would love to follow such a event and thus the severe outbreak and the blizzard and historic ice storm if i recall for some.. #5 - April 21, 1967 34 tornadoes 218 miles 20 F2+ 5 F4+ 58 fatalities 196718z.png 196700z.png 19676z.png apr1967.png And interestingly enough a snow storm ( dropped 5.9" on the 23rd here ) followed on it's heels. Talk about a hyperactive winter/spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Which gave way to one of the greatest snow storms of all time. Can you imagine these forums with a repeat? I would love to follow such a event and thus the severe outbreak and the blizzard and historic ice storm if i recall for some.. Somewhat analogous to the Super Tuesday outbreak + snowstorm in the days following. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 Somewhat analogous to the Super Tuesday outbreak + snowstorm in the days following. The Super Tuesday storm was a big snowstorm in the Lakes. I don't recall anything big in the days after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 The Super Tuesday storm was a big snowstorm in the Lakes. I don't recall anything big in the days after that. I meant the fact that there was a tornado outbreak followed immediately by a significant snowstorm (not necessarily all in the Lakes region). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 Hoosier do you happen to remember the paper about different types of synoptic patterns for Great Lakes tornado outbreaks that I believe I was released from someone in Michigan? I distinctly seem to recall something along these lines, but now I can't seem to find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted June 24, 2016 Author Share Posted June 24, 2016 Hoosier do you happen to remember the paper about different types of synoptic patterns for Great Lakes tornado outbreaks that I believe I was released from someone in Michigan? I distinctly seem to recall something along these lines, but now I can't seem to find it. I vaguely know what you're talking about but I don't remember reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 I vaguely know what you're talking about but I don't remember reading it. Yeah I know I have read it before, but it appears to have disappeared from the internet. It basically organized either Great Lakes or just Michigan tornado events into 3 or 4 different synoptic setup groups and then analyzed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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