Portal:Tornadoes

The Tornadoes Portal

A tornado near Anadarko, Oklahoma, in 1999

Tornadoes are violently rotating columns of air that are in contact with the Earth and either a cumulonimbus or a cumulus cloud. Tornadoes are often referred to as twisters, whirlwinds, or cyclones. While most tornadoes attain winds of less than 110 miles per hour (180 km/h), are about 250 feet (80 m) across, and travel a few miles (several kilometers), the wind speeds in the most intense tornadoes can reach 300 miles per hour (480 km/h), are more than two miles (3 km) in diameter, and stay on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 km). Various types of tornadoes include the multiple vortex tornado, landspout, and waterspout. Other tornado-like phenomena that exist in nature include the gustnado, dust devil, fire whirl, and steam devil. Most tornadoes occur in North America (in the United States and Canada), concentrated in a region nicknamed the Tornado Alley. Tornadoes also occur in South America, South Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

Selected tornado article -

A series of destructive severe thunderstorms struck southeastern Queensland, Australia, on 29 November 1992. The storms produced strong winds, flash flooding and large hailstones in the region, including the capital city of Brisbane. The storms also spawned two of the most powerful tornadoes recorded in Australia, including the only Australian tornado to be given an official 'F4' classification on the Fujita scale and the last violent tornado in Australia until 21 March 2013.

The meteorological instability in the region resulted in the formation of at least five supercell thunderstorms in the space of around three hours. The storms, which spawned progressively further up the coast from Brisbane to Gladstone as the afternoon progressed, left a trail of damage resulting from hail, rain and wind. The event has been described as "one of the most widespread outbreaks of severe thunderstorms recorded" by veteran meteorologist Richard Whitaker. (Full article...)

Selected tornado list -

This is a list of all tornadoes that were confirmed throughout Europe by the European Severe Storms Laboratory and local meteorological agencies during 2011. Unlike the United States, the original Fujita Scale and the TORRO scale are used to rank tornadoes across the continent. (Full article...)

Selected image -

An F4 tornado striking Union City, Oklahoma, on May 24, 1973.

Selected tornado year -

Tornado tracks of 1956.

This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1956, primarily in the United States. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due to fewer reports or confirmed tornadoes.

The total count of tornadoes and ratings differs from various agencies accordingly. The article, therefore, documents information from the most contemporary official sources alongside assessments from tornado historian Thomas P. Grazulis. (Full article...)

Related portals

2024 tornado activity

This page documents all tornadoes confirmed by the European Severe Storms Laboratory or various governments or universities across Europe during 2024. Unlike the United States, the original Fujita Scale and the TORRO scale are used to rank tornadoes across the continent. (Full article...)

Tornado anniversaries

June 9

• 1953 – One day after the devastating F5 tornado in Flint, Michigan, an F4 tornado (possibly F5) devastated Worcester, Massachusetts and the nearby communities of Shrewsbury, Southborough, and Westborough, killing 94 people and injuring nearly 1,300. This was the third extremely deadly tornado to strike the United States in 1953; the high death tolls led to the development of a nationwide warning system.
• 1984 – A devastating tornado outbreak struck the eastern Soviet Union. A tornado estimated at F5 intensity struck Ivanovo. There is considerable uncertainty about the death toll; with estimates ranging from 69 to over 400. A 320,000-kilogram (710,000 lb), was flipped and a 50,000-kilogram (110,000 lb), water tank was thrown 200 metres (660 ft) A second tornado near Kostroma may also have reached F5 intensity.

June 10

• 1938 – A slow-moving F5 tornado approached Clyde, Texas and made a sudden turn, devastating the west side of town and killing 14 people. A group of nine homes "vanished." A family of six attempting to flee in their car were picked up; four of the occupants died and the two survivors were found half a mile (0.8 km) away.
• 1958 – An F4 (possibly F5) tornado devastated the southwestern part of El Dorado, Kansas, destroying 200 homes and killing 15 people. A car was thrown 100 yards and crashed through the roof of a house.

June 11

• 2008 – Part of a larger outbreak sequence, tornadoes touched down across the Midwestern United States. An EF3 tornado struck the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, killing four Boy Scouts, all aged 13 or 14, and injuring 48 other people. An EF3 tornado caused extensive damage in Chapman, Kansas, destroying 70 homes and killing one person, and an EF2 tornado killed one person near Soldier, Kansas. An EF4 tornado caused major damage in Manhattan, Kansas

Did you know…

• ...that the 2013 Moore tornado that struck Moore and Newcastle, Oklahoma, is the most recent EF5 tornado?
• ...that the 2021 South Moravia tornado, an IF4 tornado with winds between 207–260 mph (333–418 km/h), was the strongest tornado to hit the Czech Republic in modern history?

General images -

The following are images from various tornado-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  Radar 3D volume scan of the supercell showing debris lofted over 30,000 feet (9.1 km) in the air as the tornado struck Mayfield (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado)
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  A liquor store that was destroyed in the western part of Bowling Green, Kentucky. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
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  Radar collage of a supercell that spawned a tornado family during the outbreak (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
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  Derecho moving across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa (from December 2021 Midwest derecho and tornado outbreak)
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  High-end EF4 damage to a house in Bremen (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado)
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  Debris and destroyed homes along Alexander Street in Dawson Springs (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado)
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  Widespread devastation in a residential area of Dawson Springs (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado)
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  EF3 damage to businesses in downtown Dresden, Tennessee. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
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  A satellite view of the extratropical cyclone that was responsible for the tornado outbreak on December 11. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
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  High-end EF3 damage to homes in the Creekwood subdivision in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Numerous fatalities occurred in this area. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
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  Major structural damage to a house near Hartford (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado)
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  Trees that were completely debarked and denuded near Buckeye, Arkansas. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
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  Aerial view of EF4 damage in Mayfield the day after the tornado (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado)
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  Low-end EF4 damage to a business in downtown Cayce (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado)
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  A multi-ton freight car that was thrown from the tracks in Barnsley (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado)

Featured Article or List -

This is either a featured article or featured list, which represents some of the best articles on English Wikipedia.

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Hailstones dropped during the storm, compared to a cricket ball (7 cm or 2.8 in diameter)

The 1999 Sydney hailstorm was the costliest natural disaster in Australian insurance history, causing extensive damage along the east coast of New South Wales. The storm developed south of Sydney on the afternoon of Wednesday, 14 April 1999, and struck the city's eastern suburbs, including the central business district, later that evening.

The storm dropped an estimated 500,000 tonnes of hailstones in its path. The insured damage bill caused by the storm was over A$1.7 billion (equivalent to $3.8 billion in 2022), with the total bill (including uninsured damage) estimated to be around $2.3 billion. It was the costliest single natural disaster in Australian history in insured damage, surpassing the $1.1 billion in insured damage caused by the 1989 Newcastle earthquake. Lightning also claimed one life during the storm, and the event caused approximately 50 injuries. (Full article...)

List of Featured articles and lists
Hurricane Katrina tornado outbreak List of Connecticut tornadoes List of tornadoes in the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak 2006 Westchester County tornado

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Tornadoes

Tornadoes by continent

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Tornadoes by year

19th-century tornadoes

20th-century tornadoes

Buildings and structures destroyed by tornado

Deaths in tornadoes

Satellite tornadoes

Tornado outbreaks

Tornado-related lists

Works about tornadoes

Related WikiProjects

The scope of WikiProject Severe weather is to write articles about severe weather, namely thunderstorms and tornadoes. Their talk page is located here.

WikiProject Weather is the main hub for all articles that are weather-related. WikiProject Weather strives to improve articles in a variety of weather topics, including Tropical Cyclones, Severe Weather, General meteorology, Non-tropical Storms, Climate, Floods, Droughts and wildfires, Meteorological instruments and data, Meteorological Biographies, and Space Weather. If you would like to help, please visit the project talk page.

WikiProject Meteorology is a collaborative effort by dozens of Wikipedians to improve the quality of meteorology- and weather-related articles. If you would like to help, visit the project talk page, and see what needs doing. The project is currently being merged into WikiProject Weather.

WikiProject Tropical cyclones is a daughter project of WikiProject meteorology. The dozens of semi-active members and several full-time members focus on improving Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones.

Wikipedia is a fully collaborative effort by volunteers. So if you see something you think you can improve, be bold and get to editing! We appreciate any help you can provide!

Things you can do

Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : WikiProject Weather article requests Expand : Severe weather Stubs : Expand Thunderstorm and tornado stub articles

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