The El Reno, Oklahoma tornado is now the widest documented tornado on record at 2.6 miles wide. Experts at the National Weather Service have given the tornado an EF-5 rating which is the most destructive rating on the Fujita Scale.
Since 1950, there have only been eight EF-5 tornadoes and two of them have happened within the past two weeks.
Meteorologist Mike Bettes and The Weather Channel's tornado chase team received minor injuries when a twister near El Reno, Oklahoma picked up three chase vehicles and tossed them about 200 yards. Other vehicles on the road were tossed by the storm.
Bettes said "I saw my life passed before my eyes."
The chaser team was attempting to get away from a large wedge tornado but all three tornado chase vehicles were caught up in the funnel. All three vehicles were smashed and team members were wearing their seat blets. The twister picked up the vehicles which became airborne then crashed, tumbling end-over-end only to become airborne again.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for St. Louis County and Jeffersion County, MO. until 9:00 pm tonight.
A severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near arnold moving East at 40 mph. Reports of a developing tornado and quarter size hail in the area.
Update: 8:44 pm. – Multiple tornadoes have been reported in the St. Louis area.
Tens of thousands of people in the Oklahoma City and surrounding areas, including the already ravaged community of Moore, were scrambling to get out of the way of at least four reported tornadoes on Friday.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado emergency for a number of areas in and around Oklahoma's capital city, with tornadoes reportedly moving just outside of Moore, one near the suburb of Bethany, one north of Union City and another outside Tinker Air Force Base.
Parts of Interstates 35 and 40, which cut through Oklahoma City and Moore, were "a parking lot," the weather service said, warning that those caught in the heavy rush hour traffic "are in danger."
"Please try to get to a building or safe shelter!" the weather service tweeted.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol described the situation on the interstates as dire.
Overturned big rigs and cars littered portions of the roadway, and thousands more were believed to be stuck in the traffic.
"My biggest concern right now is the traffic that is out on the highway right now," Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said.
She said she has called out the National Guard, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the state Office of Emergency Management to "try to get the traffic moving" and get people to shelter.
Police and firefighters were responding to reports of damage in El Reno, just outside Union City, but it was not immediately known how bad the damage was, Mayor Matt White said.
The tornado emergency declaration means a large, destructive tornado is moving into a densely populated area where widespread damage and fatalities could occur.
The weather service issued the tornado emergency for Oklahoma City as well as its suburbs of Moore, Yukon and Bethany.
A large mile-wide tornado struck I-40 overturning vehicles include a Weather Channel chaser vehicle resulting in multiple injuries today.
Over 1,000 travelors have been evacuated to a tunnel under Will Roers Airport.
Large destructive hail and strong damaging winds were reported in Oklahoma and Logan Counties.
At 6:31 PM the tornado was just south of El Reno, Oklahoma.
Heavy rain and flash flooding are possible overnight.
Multiple injuries and severe damage reported.
The 16 tornadoes that dropped down on North Texas last week, ripping homes off their foundations and killing six people, was a prelude.
Severe weather is gathering over swathes of Midwest United States, from Texas to North Dakota. There is nothing unusual about this weather or its severity; it is, quite simply, tornado season.
Still, the tornadoes in Texas took people by surprise. Granbury was worst hit, with wind speeds of at least 179 miles per hour. Experts rated the twister a four or “devastating” on a five-point scale, where a five is “incredible”.
Some 150 dogs, 20 cats, birds, gerbils, lizards and even a rooster were misplaced in the aftermath. Residents of Granbury described the scene as a ‘warzone’ to Hood County News.
At first glance, it appears the twisters of such magnitude are rare, with the previous tornado of comparable intensity in Texas recorded back in May 1999.
But appearances can be deceptive. The National Weather Service changed the way it rates tornadoes in 2007. So, a “devastating” tornado today may have been rated as only “significant” in years past, cautions Harold Brooks, a research meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory in Oklahoma.
The practice began in 1971 when T. Theodore Fujita, a severe storms researcher at the University of Chicago, suggested the “Fujita” or F scale to rate twisters as weak or strong according to their intensity. The scale links the observed damage to wind speeds.
Broken chimneys and branches indicate winds of at least 40 miles per hour, and such tornadoes are rated F0. “Inconceivable” tornadoes, rated F6, have wind speeds of 319 miles per hour and can hurl cars and refrigerators like missiles.
The National Weather Service began dispatching experts to tornado-struck areas in 1973 to apply the F scale. If the experts found a home wiped off its foundation, they would rate the tornado “incredible” or F4. A tornado of this magnitude was linked to wind speeds of 261 to 318 miles per hour.
But a major problem with the Fujita scale was that the wind speeds were simply too high. Winds of 261 miles per hour are not necessary to completely destroy a house. Weaker winds can cause a similar amount of damage.
In 2006, researchers at Texas Tech University proposed the “Enhanced Fujita” or EF scale with more realistic wind speeds. An EF-4 tornado with winds speeds of 170 miles per hour is comparable to a F3 tornado. There were 17 tornadoes of F3 intensity in Texas between 1999 and 2006.
The weather service used EF scale to assess the damage in North Texas last week. Experts drove around the counties to assess the damage to trees, homes, barns, junior and senior high schools, and 24 other specific structures on the EF checklist.
Winds of 79 miles per hour can blow off 20 percent of the roof shingles off a two-story family home, according to the EF scale. As the winds pick up, glass windows shatter. The rest of the roofing material blows off, as do garage doors. Internal pressure accumulates within the house, and the wind lifts up and carries away the entire roof. Walls then collapse. If the winds are strong enough, the house is entirely destroyed. That’s a 10 on a 10-point scale of damage. The expected wind speed in this scenario is about 200 miles per hour.
Several tornadoes touched down in northern California on Monday, some causing damage to towns around the state's capital, Sacramento.
According to the Associated Press, any damage was minor and no injuries were reported.
The first tornado was reported near Yuba City shortly after 3:00 p.m. local time. Sutter County Sheriff and the fire department reported downed power lines and damage to structures.
A witness even described the tornado lifting up her barn and boat.
According to preliminary reports, up to five tornadoes touched down in total from the Sacramento metropolitan area to the eastern Sierra foothills between 3:08 and 5:19 p.m. local time.
One twister near Elk Grove damaged trees and the roof of a building.
Tornadoes are not uncommon in the Golden State, but are quite unusual this time of year.
Typically they occur most often during the winter and early spring months, often when powerful Pacific storms push ashore. Even so, the entire state usually only experiences a handful of tornadoes every year, making Monday's multiple tornadoes a remarkable oddity.
Brandon Ivey and Sean Casey got inside of a violent wedge tornado today. Brandon shot this insane footage of the TIV2 (tornado intercept vehicle) inside of a violent wedge tornado northeast of Smith Center, Kansas over eastern Smith County.
Wind speeds were 150 to 175 EF3 to EF4 before the tornado ripped the instruments off the top of the TIV.
Authorities confirm that a tornado touched down Monday afternoon in Rutherford County, Tennessee.
Fewer than a dozen homes suffered minor to moderate damage, trees were toppled and roads were blocked.
Minor damage was reported across much of the state after a line of severe thunderstorms swept through.
The tornado was on the ground for about 4 1/2 miles said Joe Gourley of the Rutherford County Emergency Management Agency.
The threat of severe weather returns as a strong cold front emerges from the Rockies which intercepts milder temperatures in the nation's midsection.
The system is favorable for severe thunderstorms producing damaging winds, heavy rain, hail, and possible tornadoes late Monday night through Wednesday in parts of the South, lower Midwest, and the mid-Atlantic region.
The biggest concern is the high winds from the large-scale system.
Jet stream winds are forecast to easily exceed 150 mph. The winds in the lower atmosphere are expected to be 90 to 105 mph just 5,000 feet above the surface. This will lead to widespread straight-line damaging winds along with the potential for tornadoes. Expect winds from 50 to 70 mph.
Some areas will also experience heavy rainfall which could turn to ice in colder areas.
The National Weather Services has issued flood watches for Indiana and nearby states.
