AccuWeather Meteorologist Tony Laubach goes into the history of the Fujita scale of rating tornadoes and the upgraded scale derived from it.
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00:00Whoever's stairs get kicked out of them, I know that.
00:04The strength of a tornado cannot be determined just by looking at it, and they can destroy
00:08just about any unprotected weather instrument placed in their path, making obtaining accurate
00:12wind speed measurements very difficult.
00:15Mobile Doppler radar has led to better wind speed measurements in recent years, but that
00:19is only a very small sample size compared to the total number of tornadoes recorded.
00:23The only consistent measurement with tornadoes is their aftermath.
00:27After writing a research paper in college, Dr. Theodore Fujita introduced the Fujita
00:31Scale in 1971, revealing how tornadoes rank in terms of damage.
00:36The scale was designed to categorize tornadoes based on intensity of damage, and to estimate
00:40wind speed based on the damage left behind.
00:42The Fujita Scale ranked tornadoes anywhere from F0, meaning the wind speeds are less
00:46than 73 mph with minor damage, all the way to F5, with wind speeds greater than 261 mph
00:53with an immense amount of damage.
00:55In 2007, the Enhanced Fujita Scale replaced the Fujita Scale.
00:59This updated version reflected more accurate tornado damage surveys, and aligned wind speed
01:03estimates more closely with the actual destruction observed.
01:07The EF Scale ranges from EF0, indicating minor damage, to EF5, representing total devastation.
01:13The new scale focuses on how various structures are designed, examining specific points known
01:18as damage indicators to better estimate the wind speeds required to cause that type of
01:22damage.
01:23However, one limitation of the EF Scale is that the tornado must cause a specific level
01:28of damage to be rated.
01:29Many powerful tornadoes occur in rural or unpopulated areas, meaning they often receive
01:34lower ratings because they don't affect buildings or structures that would provide clear evidence
01:38of their strength.
01:39For AccuWeather, I'm meteorologist Tony Laubach.