This list includes tornadoes with possible F5 or EF5 damage indicated by the National Weather Service as well as tornadoes with possible F5/EF5 damage by other branches of the United States government, tornado experts (i.e. Thomas P. Grazulis, Ted Fujita), or meteorological research institutions (i.e. European Severe Storms Laboratory

An EF5 rating on the new scale requires a higher standard of construction in houses than does an F5 rating on the old scale. So, the complete destruction and sweeping away of a typical American frame home, which would likely be rated F5 on the Fujita scale, would probably be rated EF4 or …

Since 2013, the United States has experienced a record lack of tornadoes that have been rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale by the National Weather Service. [1] This period, which has been dubbed the EF5 drought or EF5 gap by some media outlets, [2] is the longest drought of EF5 tornadoes in recorded history. [3]

Mar 14, 2025 · This is the longest period without an EF5-rated tornado since official records began in 1950. “We were curious about why the US is in this historically long period without an F5 or EF5-rated tornado and how likely this period was due to natural causes as opposed to changes in tornado surveying practices,” said lead author and research ...

This is a map and list of tornadoes since 1950 which the National Weather Service has rated F5 (before 2007) or EF5 (equivalent, 2007 onward, the most intense damage category on the Fujita and Enhanced Fujita damage scales. The tornadoes are numbered in the order they happened since 1950; so the numbers run from the bottom up.

When tornado-related damage is surveyed, it is compared to a list of Damage Indicators (DIs) and Degrees of Damage (DoD) which help estimate better the range of wind speeds the tornado likely produced. From that, a rating (from EF0 to EF5) is assigned.

*** IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ENHANCED F-SCALE WINDS: The Enhanced F-scale still is a set of wind estimates (not measurements) based on damage. Its uses three-second gusts estimated at the point of damage based on a judgment …

Mar 21, 2025 · The most recent EF5 tornado. It’s been more than 10 years since an EF5 tornado hit in the United States. On May 20, 2013, an EF5 tore through Moore, Oklahoma, and surrounding communities. The ...

The United States today averages 1200 tornadoes a year. The number of tornado reports increased dramatically in the 1990s as the modernized National Weather Service installed the Doppler Radar network.

Mar 12, 2025 · EF5 Typical Observations: Incredible damage. Strong frame houses leveled off foundations and swept away; automobile-sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 109 yards; high-rise buildings...