The history of tornado research spans back centuries, with the earliest documented
tornado occurring in 200 and academic studies on them starting in the 18th century. This is a timeline of government or academic research into tornadoes.
The earliest-known German tornado struck
Freising (modern day Germany) in 788.[2][3] The earliest-known Irish tornado appeared on April 30, 1054, in Rostella, near
Kilbeggan. The earliest-known British tornado hit central London on October 23, 1091, and was
especially destructive, with modern research classifying it as an F4 on the
Fujita scale.[4]
After the discovery of the
New World, tornadoes documentation expanded into the Americas. On August 21, 1521, an apparent tornado is recorded to have struck
Tlatelolco (present day
Mexico City), just two days before the Aztec capital's fall to
Cortés. Many other tornadoes are documented historically within the
Basin of Mexico.[5] The first confirmed tornado in the United States struck
Rehoboth, Massachusetts in August 1671.[6][7][8] The first confirmed tornadic death in the United States occurred on July 8, 1680 after a tornado struck
Cambridge, Massachusetts.[9]
18th century
The first
case study on a tornado took place following the violent
1764 Woldegk tornado, which struck around
Woldegk,
Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany).[10] Between 1764 and 1765, German scientist
Gottlob Burchard Genzmer published a detailed survey of the damage path from the tornado. It covers the entire, 33 km (18.6 mi) long track and also includes eyewitness reports as well as an analysis of the debris and hail fallout areas. Genzmer calls the event an "Orcan" and only compares it to
waterspouts or
dust devils.[11][12] Based on the damage survey, modern day meteorologists from the
ESSL were able to assign a rating of F5, on the
Fujita scale, and T11 on the
TORRO scale, making it the earliest known F5 tornado worldwide.[10] The T11 rating on the TORRO scale also places this event among the most violent tornadoes ever documented worldwide.[10]
19th century
In 1838, the earliest recorded Asian tornado struck near the city of
Calcutta in present-day
West Bengal, India. It was described as moving remarkably slow across its 16-mile (26 km) path southeast over the span of 2 to 3 hours. It was recorded to cause significant damage to the area, including 3.5-pound (1.6 kg) hail being observed at the Dum Dum weather observatory.[13]
Between 1839 and 1841, a detailed survey of damage path of
significant tornado that struck
New Brunswick, New Jersey on 19 June 1835, which was the deadliest tornado in New Jersey history, occurred. The path was surveyed by many scientists on account of its location between New York City and Philadelphia, including early tornado theorists
James Pollard Espy and
William Charles Redfield. Scientists disagreed whether there was whirling, convergent, or rotational motion. A conclusion that remains accurate today is that the most intense
damage tends to be on right side of a tornado (with respect to direction of forward movement), which was found to be generally easterly).[14][15]
In 1840, the earliest known intensive study of a tornadic event published in Europe, by French scientist Athanase Peltier.[16]
In 1865, the first in India and earliest known scientific survey of a tornado that analyzed structure and dynamics was published in 1865 by Indian scientist Chunder Sikur Chatterjee. The path damage survey of a tornado that occurred at Pundooah (now
Pandua),
Hugli district, West Bengal, India, was documented on maps and revealed
multiple vortices, the
tornadocyclone, and direction of rotation,[17] predating work by
John Park Finley,
Alfred Wegener,
Johannes Letzmann, and
Ted Fujita.
On March 18, 1925, the
violent Tri-State tornado occurred, killing 695 people, while traveling 219 miles (352 km) over a period of 3 hours and 45 minutes. At one point, the tornado was moving with a forward speed of 73 miles per hour (117 km/h), setting the record as the fastest forward moving violent tornado in history. The tornado also became the deadliest tornado in United States history as well as the longest traveled tornado in history. All of these records have led the Tri-State tornado to be extensively surveyed and analyzed by academic researchers.[18][19][20]
On April 21, 1946,
a tornado struck the area in and around
Timber Lake, South Dakota. The
United States Weather Bureau published a paper later in the year stating the width of this tornado was 4 miles (6.4 km), which would make this the widest tornado ever documented in history.[22]
1950s
In September 1958, E.P. Segner Jr. published a case study on the
1957 Dallas tornado. In the analysis, Senger estimated that the tornado had winds at least up to 302 mph (486 km/h), due to the obliteration of a large billboard.[23] The 1957 Dallas tornado was also studied extensively by the Severe Weather Forecast Unit in
Kansas City, who proved several prominent theories about tornadoes were wrong. One of these-then proven false theories was that all air and debris flowed inward into the funnel and then upward, but on the outside edges of the funnel debris and people were even lifted. Among the studies was the first-ever photogrammetric analysis of wind speeds in a tornado. The film of the tornado is still regarded as being of exceptionally high quality and sharpness. Additionally, structural surveys following this and the
Fargo tornado later in the year provided data that contributed to the development of the
Fujita scale.[24][6]
1960s
On June 25, 1967, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) issued a
weather forecasting calling for tornadoes, which became the first-ever tornado forecast in Europe.[25]
1970s
In 1971,
Ted Fujita, with the
University of Chicago, in collaboration with
Allen Pearson, head of the National Severe Storms Forecast Center/NSSFC (currently the
Storm Prediction Center/SPC), introduced the
Fujita scale as a way to estimate a tornado's intensity. Following the scale's introduction, tornadoes across the United States were retroactively rated on the scale going back to 1950, and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) formally adopted the scale. The scale was updated in 1973, taking into account path length and width, becoming the modern-day Fujita scale.[26] Ted Fujita rated tornadoes from 1916 to 1992, however, pre-1949 rating were not formally accepted by the U.S. government.[27][28]
Between April 3–4, 1974, a
catastrophic Super Outbreak occurred across the United States, which produced 148 tornadoes in a 24-hour period and led to the deaths of 335 people.[29] The 1974 Super Outbreak was extensively studied by Ted Fujita along with other researchers.[30][31][32] Following the outbreak, Fujita and a team of colleagues from the
University of Chicago,
University of Oklahoma, and
National Severe Storms Laboratory, undertook a 10-month study of the 1974 Super Outbreak. Along with discovering new knowledge about tornadoes, such as
downbursts and
microbursts, and assessing damage to surrounding structures, the
violent tornado which struck Xenia, Ohio was determined to be the worst out of 148 storms.[33][34] Fujita initially assigned a preliminary rating of F6 intensity
± 1 on the Fujita scale,[35] before stating F6 ratings were "inconceivable".[36]
1990s
In 1993,
Thomas P. Grazulis, head of The Tornado Project and regarded tornado expert, published Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991 in which, he documented all known significant tornadoes, which he considered F2–F5 intensity or one that caused a death, in the United States going back to 1680. He also retroactively rated significant tornadoes in the United States going back to 1880.[6] This book, also called the "de facto bible of U.S. tornado history" is widely cited by meteorologists, historians, and by the United States government.[37]
21st century
2000s
In 2002, a Service Assessment Team was formed by the United States government to assess the quality of forecasts and post-tornado assessments conducted by the
National Weather Service (NWS) office in Baltimore/Washington for the
2002 La Plata tornado. Their assessment and findings, released in September 2002, found that the local NWS office failed to indicate the initial findings of F5 damage on the
Fujita scale was "preliminary" to the media and public.[38] The Service Assessment Team also recommended the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration require local National Weather Service offices to only release "potentially greater than F3" if F4 or F5 damage was suspected and to only release information regarding F4 or F5 damage after Quick Response Team (QRT) had assessed the damage.[38] Following the report, the National Weather Service created a national Quick Response Team (QRT), whose job is to assess and analyze locations believed to have sustained F4 or F5 damage on the
Fujita scale.[38]
In February 2007, the
Enhanced Fujita scale is formally released and put into use across the United States, replacing the
Fujita scale.[39][40] In May, the
2007 Greensburg tornado family occurred, producing a
tornado family of 22 tornadoes, including the first tornado to receive the rating of EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale; the 2007 Greensburg tornado.[41]
In August 2008,
Timothy P. Marshall, a meteorologist and structural and forensic engineer with Haag Engineering, Karl A. Jungbluth with the
National Weather Service, and Abigail Baca with RMS Consulting Group, published a detailed damage survey and analysis for the
2008 Parkersburg–New Hartford tornado.[42] In October, Matthew R. Clark with the United Kingdom's
Met Office published a case study on a
tornadic storm in southern England on December 30, 2006.[43]
2010s
In April 2011, the
Super Outbreak, the largest and costliest tornado outbreak ever to occur, produces 360 tornadoes across the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States, leading to dozens of academic studies.[44][45][46] On May 22, 2011, a
violent EF5 tornado impacts
Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people, becoming the deadliest modern-day tornado in history.[47]
In April 2013,
Environment Canada (EC) adopts a variation of the
Enhanced Fujita scale (CEF-scale), replacing the
Fujita scale across Canada.[48] In May,
a violent EF5 tornado impacts
Moore, Oklahoma, marking the last tornado to receive the rating of EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.[49] A few days later,
a violent tornado impacts areas around
El Reno, Oklahoma.[50] The
University of Oklahoma's RaXPol mobile Doppler weather radar, positioned at a nearby overpass, measured winds preliminarily analyzed as in excess of 296 mph (476 km/h). These winds are considered the second-highest ever measured worldwide, just shy of the 302 ± 22 mph (486 ± 35 km/h) recorded during the
1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado.[51][52] The El Reno tornado also had a documented width of 2.6 miles (4.2 km), which the modern-day National Weather Service stated was the widest tornado ever recorded, despite the United States government documenting and publishing about
a tornado that was 4 miles (6.4 km) wide in 1946.[53][54]
In 2021, Nate DeSpain, with the
University of Louisville and Tom Reaugh, with the National Weather Service, published a detailed damage survey and analysis of the
1890 Louisville tornado, where it was rated F4 on the Fujita scale.[63]
2022
In March 2022, the National Weather Service published a new damage survey and analysis for the
2012 Henryville EF4 tornado, where a "possible EF5 damage" location is identified and discussed.[64] In July, a research team, from the
University of Oklahoma,
National Severe Storms Laboratory, and
University of Alabama in Huntsville was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to investigate a stretch 8.7 miles (14 km) of the
2019 Greenwood Springs, Mississippi EF2 tornado where the National Weather Service was unable to survey. In their survey, published in Monthly Weather Review, they note that the tornado "produced forest devastation and electrical infrastructure damage up to at least EF4 intensity" and conclude by writing that "the Greenwood Springs event was a violent tornado, potentially even EF5 intensity."[65]
Days later,
Timothy Marshall, a meteorologist, structural and forensic engineer; Zachary B. Wienhoff, with Haag Engineering Company; Christine L. Wielgos, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service of Paducah; and Brian E. Smith, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service of
Omaha, publish a detailed damage survey and analysis of the
2021 Western Kentucky EF4 tornado. In their conclusion, the researchers state, “the tornado damage rating might have been higher had more wind resistant structures been encountered. Also, the fast forward speed of the tornado had little ‘dwell’ time of strong winds over a building and thus, the damage likely would have been more severe if the tornado were slower.”[67]
In March 2024, Anthony W. Lyza, Matthew D. Flournoy, and A. Addison Alford, researchers with the
National Severe Storms Laboratory,
Storm Prediction Center,
CIWRO, and the
University of Oklahoma's School of Meteorology, published a paper where they state, ">20% of supercell tornadoes may be capable of producing EF4–EF5 damage" and that "the legacy F-scale wind speed ranges may ultimately provide a better estimate of peak tornado wind speeds at 10–15 m AGL for strong–violent tornadoes and a better damage-based intensity rating for all tornadoes". In their conclusion, the researchers also posed the question: “Does a 0–5 ranking scale make sense given the current state of understanding of the low-level tornado wind profile and engineering of structures?”[79]
In April 2024, the
European Severe Storms Laboratory and the
Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, along with seven other European organizations, publish a detailed damage survey and analysis on the
2021 South Moravia tornado using the International Fujita scale.[80] Also in April, Timothy A. Coleman, with the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), Richard L. Thompson with the NOAA Storm Prediction Center, and Dr. Gregory S. Forbes, a retired meteorologist from
The Weather Channel publish an article to the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology stating, "it is apparent that the perceived shift in tornado activity from the traditional tornado alley in the Great Plains to the eastern U.S. is indeed real".[81] On April 26, a
Doppler on Wheels (DOW) mobile radar truck measured 1-second wind speeds of approximately 224 mph (360 km/h) at a height of ~282 yards (258 m) as
a tornado passed near
Harlan, Iowa, causing widespread destruction.[82][83] On April 30, strong tornado near
Hollister, Oklahoma passed close to a
NEXRAD radar. The radar measured a
tornado vortex signature with a gate-to-gate of 260 miles per hour (420 km/h) about 600 feet (200 yd; 180 m) above the surface.[84][85]
^Dr. R. Hennig, Katalog bemerkenswerter Witterungsereignisse. Berlin 1904; Originalquellen: Aventinus (Turmair), Johannes (gest. 1534): Annales Boiorum. Mit Nachtrag. Leipzig 1710; Annales Fuldenses, Chronik des Klosters Fulda. Bei Marquard Freher: Germanicarum rerum scriptores ua Frankfurt aM 1600–1611)
^
abcGrazulis, Thomas P. (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films.
ISBN1-879362-03-1.
^Beck, Lewis C. (July 1839). "Note on the New Brunswick Tornado, or Water Spout of 1835". American Journal of Science and Arts. 36: 115–118.
^Redfield, W. C. (June 1841). "Whirling Action of the New Brunswick Tornado". American Railroad Journal. 12: 345–352.
^Peltier, Athanase (1840). Météorologie: Observations et recherches expérimentales sur les causes qui concourent à la formation des trombes (in French). Paris: H. Cousin.
OCLC457395666.
^De, S.; A. K. Sahai (2019). "Was the earliest documented account of tornado dynamics published by an Indian scientist in an Indian journal?". Weather. 75 (4): 120–123.
doi:
10.1002/wea.3485.
S2CID149888981.
^"Update On May 31 El Reno Tornado". National Weather Service Norman, Oklahoma. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. June 4, 2013. Archived from
the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
^"HGX Tornado Warning #8". mesonet.agron.iastate.edu. National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX.
Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
^Pieter Groenemeijer (ESSL); Lothar Bock (DWD); Juan de Dios Soriano (AEMet); Maciej Dutkiewicz (Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology); Delia Gutiérrez-Rubio (AEMet); Alois M. Holzer (ESSL); Martin Hubrig; Rainer Kaltenberger; Thilo Kühne (ESSL); Mortimer Müller (Universität für Bodenkultur); Bas van der Ploeg; Tomáš Púčik (ESSL); Thomas Schreiner (ESSL); Miroslav Šinger (SHMI); Gabriel Strommer (ESSL); Andi Xhelaj (University of Genova) (30 July 2023).
"The International Fujita (IF) Scale"(PDF). European Severe Storms Laboratory. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
^Kosiba, Karen (28 April 2024).
"@DOWFacility research RE many peoples' questions"(Post on
𝕏). 𝕏 (Formerly Twitter). @karen_kosiba. Retrieved 29 April 2024. These data: Height ~258 m ARL (see 2) Gate 12m/beam 122m, gusts ~1sec