Talk:Tornado intensity and damage

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[edit] Update

Much of the article needs to be updated to include info on the EF scale. -RunningOnBrains 05:49, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Update Needed ... and a Question

In the section on Typical intensity, this article says, "The first, and last, known United States recording of an EF5 tornado occurred in Greensburg, Kansas on May 4, 2007." This is no longer accurate. On May 25, 2008, there was a confirmed EF5 tornado in Parkersburg, IA, as detailed on the Parkersburg page. Note that that page cites the official NOAA report.

The reason I don't edit this myself on this page is I'm not entirely sure why the statement about Greensburg was worded that way in the first place. It says Greensburg had the first (and last/latest) known EF5 tornado in the U.S. (in 2007). I'm guessing it says "first" because they (NOAA?) apparently started using the EF scale instead of the F scale earlier in 2007. However, it also sounds to me like they (NOAA or whoever) are back-rating older tornadoes based on the EF scale.

At any rate, I'm not completely familiar with the fine details of when the F vs. EF scales are used -- in fact, that's the reason I came to this page in the first place. I just learned here that it was changed in early 2007, but I'm unclear about the back-rating issue -- and what qualifies as the "first EF5" or the "last F5".

So somebody with a more definite understanding of these issues should update that last part of Typical intensity to include the latest information about Parkersburg, and I would request that the wording be cleared up for people like me who are unfamiliar with the official standards.

129.186.146.194 (talk) 14:23, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

According to [1], there are no plans to reassess old tornadoes on the EF scale. I have updated the wording.-RunningOnBrains 01:44, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Great! Thanks for the quick response!

129.186.146.194 (talk) 15:36, 12 June 2008 (UTC)