Most of us know about the 2023 Matador, Texas tornado. It was a bit unwarned since the NWS never expected a risk there. It was exceptionally violent, causing severe damage, though it earned an EF3 rating.

However, I think that it could’ve been rated higher, and that it was likely one of the strongest tornadoes ever recorded. With this post, I will try to argue why.

Documented feats:

No. 1 (Solid Case): The tornado cracked and shifted portions of the concrete foundation and sidewalk of the Marshall Family home, which was swept clean.

Taking a look at the surroundings, there were absolutely no structures/objects nearby that could’ve caused debris impacts, and the tornado didn’t hit anything prior to that either, making this an equation of almost purely wind, suction, pressure, and velocity.

With the help of contextual damage, we can narrow it down to a more accurate estimate; The contextual damage within the vicinity of the property included mesquite trees uprooted and thrown great distances, a barn on property shredded and granulated, and a small stone ouse sheared to the ground.

Taking all of that into consideration- we can say that the gusts that would’ve caused all this to the Marshall Family property may have been >211 MPH, though upper-end estimates may suggest >233 MPH.

No. 2 (Solid Case): A Dollar General location was flattened, with portions of the supporting beams that were drilled and anchored into the concrete foundation pulled out, and the worst being- the rebar-reinforced concrete ballards nearby were sheared from their base.

Taking a look at the surroundings, yes, there were plenty of structures/objects nearby that could’ve caused moderate debris impacts. With the help of contextual damage nearby, we can narrow down to a more precise estimate.

The contextual damage nearby included mesquite and other hardwood trees uprooted from the ground, asphalt stripped from the nearby road, and nearby infrastructure completely flattened and granulated.

Taking all that into consideration, we could estimate that:

The gust that would’ve pulled out the support beams may have been >200 MPH.

The gust that would’ve sheared the rebar-reinforced concrete ballards may have been >221 MPH.

No. 3 (Solid Case): Throughout the path of the tornado, mesquite trees, some of the hardest trees on Earth, were either uprooted or debarked and denuded.

Surprisingly, a DI (Damage Indicator) and DOD (Degree Of Damage) section already exists for such tree damage.

This falls under DI #27 (TH) DOD #5 (“Trees debarked with only stubs of largest branches remaining.”) obviously falling under the UB (Upper Bound) classification, as mesquite trees are much harder than other common hardwood trees.

The DI + DOD + UB states that the required 3-second gust to achieve such damage to trees may be >167 MPH, falling under the EF4 category, though for mesquite trees it could arguably be >180 MPH, and to uproot them even higher.

No. 4 (Potential/Unsure Case): Cars in the direct path of the tornado were mangled into unrecognisable junk lesser than their original size, with some SUVs having their engine sheared off of their chassis.

This serves as a very significant contextual indicator, and is very notable.

Assuming significant debris impacts occurred within the tornado, one can pretty easily estimate required winds. We can say that the debris were most likely travelling >180 MPH.

Rating Dispute:

We can clearly tell that the 2023 Matador TX tornado was likely of EF5 intensity, possibly one of the strongest to ever touch down, but it didn’t hit the right structures to verify its rating.

The EF3 rating of this tornado was based on the construction quality of the structures it impacted, and the available DIs in the EF scale.

However, the tornado could’ve certainly received a higher rating based on the damage to mesquite trees- some of the hardest hardwood trees on Earth, as a full DI and DOD section already existed for that sort of damage.

I think based on the tree damage, the EF4 rating could’ve been more appropriate for this tornado.

Though, I very well believe that the 2023 matador TX tornado was EF5 intensity, based on the speed it destroyed structures, and the contextual damage that I mentioned above (Case 1, Case 2).

Low quality sorry

The tornado first touched down in Petersham over the Quabbin Reservoir at 4:25 PM. Witnessed by three boaters, the tornado was described as three funnels rotating around one another as its core began stabilizing. Avoiding a direct hit on the town center, the tornado began tracking along the hilly terrain atop the New England Upland Plateau.

4:35 PM: The tornado narrowly avoids the town of Barre, striking a rural farmhouse on Old Stage Road. The farmhouse and accompanying property essentially vanish, killing Edward B. White (11) and Beverly Strong (18).

Rite Canney captures two photos of the tornado as it also narrowly avoids Rutland at 4:48 PM.

Donald Marsh, his wife, and his daughter are lofted by the tornado as their home is leveled in Rutland. Donald is killed and thrown over 100 yards, later found in a treetop. His wife and daughter survive.

After passing the town of Rutland, an elevation change of nearly 900 feet occurs as the tornado drops down the New England Upland Plateau and enters the Blackstone River Valley near the Worcester metro area. Topographical convergence aids in an extreme intensification of the vortex.

At 4:55 PM, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology radar captures the absolute textbook supercell as the tornado closes in on Holden.

4:57 PM: Stanley Smith captures the now extremely violent, half-mile-wide tornado accompanied by a horizontal vortex (top left) shortly after its dramatic intensification, as it points its crosshairs toward Holden.

5:00 PM: Homes along Winthrop Lane are swept away in the core. Granulation begins to occur at this point as the tornado grows stronger with every second.

5:06 PM: Brentwood Estates is impacted next; once again, homes are swept and granulated. Eleven people are killed as the tornado nears the densely populated metro area of Worcester.

5:08 PM: Howard Smith photographs the tornado from Indian Lake just after it crosses Brattle Street; the vortex was roughly 2 miles in front of him.

5:09 PM: The tornado enters the northwestern edge of Worcester. An unknown street on the western edge of Worcester is granulated and windrowed. The tornado effectively turns an entire neighborhood to dust.

5:10 PM: The tornado strikes Assumption College. The twister reduces the massive building, which had 3-foot-thick walls, by three floors. The vortex intensifies dramatically just after striking the building, with notable windrowing occurring just east of Assumption Avenue.

5:11 PM: Homes just east of Assumption Avenue are massacred and swept away in the core as the tornado reaches peak intensity just seconds after striking the massive Assumption College building.

5:12 PM: At the height of its otherworldly power, homes situated along Uncatena Avenue are not only swept clean, but near-powderization occurs to houses in the center of the core as the tornado obliterates everything in its path.

The construction quality of the homes in Holden and Worcester cannot be unequivocally ascertained, but the extreme granulation alone is an indication of incredible intensity.

5:14 PM: The tornado crosses over the Great Brook Valley neighborhood and pulverizes dozens of homes, continuing its unwavering butchering and narrowly avoiding a direct hit on a much larger population in the Curtis Apartments.

5:16 PM: Humes Avenue and Yukon Avenue are impacted next as the tornado shows no mercy. Complete annihilation and carnage are inflicted as the tornado continues its peak intensity through the neighborhood; 60 people are killed in Worcester.

The tornado, now over a mile wide, is captured at 5:19 PM, just before crossing Lake Quinsigamond into Shrewsbury.

Henry LaPrade captures the visually majestic tornado in Shrewsbury just east of Lake Quinsigamond at 5:22 PM.

5:25 PM: Shrewsbury is struck next. Photos are hard to come by, but nothing suggests a weakening phase. Twelve fatalities occur as the town avoids a direct hit; however, the tornado maintains its size and intensity, leaving nothing but carnage behind just like the structures before it.

5:27 PM: Robert Resch, located between Routes 9 and 20, captures the massive tornado leaving Shrewsbury.

5:30–5:42 PM: The tornado kills 5 people in Westborough as vortex breakdown begins and its eventual occlusion becomes imminent.

5:43 PM: After 78 minutes, the rampage finally ends as the rear flank downdraft (RFD) surge cuts off the tornado from the warm inflow fueling it. It curves northwestward before being absorbed by its parent supercell.

• Duration: 4:25 PM – 5:43 PM (78 minutes)
• Width: 1-1.5 mi
• Length: 47 mi
• Fatalities: 94+
• Injuries: 1,288+
• Damage: $52,000,000 in 1953 USD (roughly $650,000,000 in 2026 USD)

The morning of May 30, 1860, began with an oppressive, heavy stillness that the farmers of western Pennsylvania would talk about for generations.

Long before the first storm cloud appeared in the sky, the land itself seemed to know something terrible was coming.

By 6:00 AM, the typical crisp, cool mountain morning was entirely missing. Instead, the air was thick, humid, and completely stagnant. Men out in the fields, like Christopher Foster and Valentine Miller, found themselves drenched in sweat within minutes of sunrise as they looked toward the growing thunderhead in the morning sky, punching through the capping inversion and coming to life.

The leaves on the massive oaks and maples reportedly hung completely limp. There wasn't enough of a draft to stir the laundry hanging on the lines behind the log homes, creating an eerie, claustrophobic quiet.

The most unsettling sign was the sudden, absolute silence of the wildlife. The morning chorus of songbirds cut short. Woodpeckers stopped hammering, and the crows that usually filled the valleys around Redbank Creek vanished into the thick brush.

In the barns of the Shick and Harteel families, horses reportedly stomped restlessly in their stalls, refusing feed. Cattle out in the pastures gathered tightly in the low-lying hollows.

Inside their frame houses, mothers like Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. Hilliard looked out their windows at an approaching black wall, instinctively gathering their children close, completely unaware that the world they woke up to was about to be entirely erased.
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At 11:30 AM, the tornado was first seen in Sugar Creek Township on Christopher Foster’s farm. Fortunately, it caused no damage before crossing the Allegheny River near Grey's Eddy and tracking northeast.

The tornado moved into Madison Township, causing minor damage before crossing Redbank Creek into Clarion County at the mouth of Leatherwood Creek. J. B. Hassen's store was the first building completely demolished by the storm. The sheer violence of the tornado became undeniable at Mr. Shoemaker's farm. His house and barn were completely wiped clean, leaving nothing but the foundations and rafters. Mr. Shoemaker was seriously injured, his infant child was miraculously alive. None of the debris from the home, nor even the baby's cradle, was ever found. An entire orchard was completely granulated away.

Akin to the Philadelphia, MS tornado, witnesses reported seeing massive trenches two to three feet deep and up to five feet wide gouged into the earth along the path of the tornado. Small rocks were driven so deeply into tree stumps that they could not be removed. Nearby standing trees were caked in mud and clay. Large stumps were ripped directly out of the ground. In nearby fields that had been completely cleared of trees for over fifteen years, random timber and stumps suddenly appeared scattered across the dirt, their origins a total mystery for decades, until now.

The tornado narrowly avoided a direct hit on Valentine Miller's log home, tearing off the upper floor. His family managed to survive unhurt by crowding around the chimney. Sadly, Thomas Dougherty's property was cored by the tornado, and his daughter was killed by a falling log while trying to run to safety. J. M. Henry and his wife were severely injured when their home disintegrated around them. The homes and barns of Joseph Smith and John McMillin were also flattened, though their families escaped with minor injuries.

Charles Stewart's house was vaporized. His wife was trapped beneath a fallen oak tree, tragically dying from her injuries a few hours later.

John Mahoney’s home was completely leveled while the family was away. The wind was strong enough to throw a wheelbarrow over 400 yards, lodging it high in a tree.

The barns of Jacob Harteel, John Shick, and Samuel Shick were obliterated. In a rare stroke of luck, John Shick and his horses were swept clean across a field but emerged completely unharmed.

The village of Maysville, located on Redbank Creek, was utterly erased from the map. Once a bustling hub of homes, stores, and mills, all 25 of its buildings were reduced to splinters and scattered across the landscape. At least 30 people were injured, and several lost their lives:

• Irvin McFarland's wife was fatally impaled by a flying piece of timber.

• David Bachman was struck and killed by a flying wagon lofted by the tornado.

• At Nathan Haine's tavern, the owner's daughter was killed and his wife was severely injured. The hotel building itself was swept and thrown directly into the creek.

• The Hess family and two other households suffered severe injuries. The gigantic Hess grist-mill was torn apart, and its massive, heavy millstones were thrown at least 100 feet into the water.

• One man was found completely stripped of his clothing as the wind threw him.

Nearby, John Grabe's house was seen lifting entirely into the air instantaneously.

Leaving Maysville, the tornado followed the Redbank Valley into Jefferson County.
Paul Gearheart’s empty house was completely destroyed. Further northeast, south of Zion Church, Isaac Motter’s house, barn, and outbuildings were flattened, injuring his entire family. Henry Spare's house, barn, and orchard were leveled. McLain Ferguson's large double-frame barn was destroyed, and the top floor of his two-story home was ripped away, leaving one child with minor injuries. Orchard trees in the area were completely stripped of their bark and caked in mud once more. Nearby, half of Isaac Shaffer's roof was torn off and thrown 20 yards away.

• Rose Township: The storm passed right between the John Montgomery home and Cool Spring. While no buildings were hit here, it flattened a massive swath of woods, leaving at least a mile-wide path of downed timber. Sam Montgomery was working in a clearing just above Fuller Station on Sandy Lick when the tornado caught him. Falling trees severely injured him, dislocating and breaking his hip and knee. The horse he was riding was killed, and a second horse escaped only to be trapped by falling trees.

• In Pine Creek, Jacob Rinestein's home was razed, destroying all of his family's belongings. The tornado then moved into Winslow Township, crossing the road near Henry Amer's property, It advanced to William Dietrich’s farm near the county line, wiping out the house, barn, and every single outbuilding. Mr. Dietrich was severely injured, and his son suffered a broken leg.
The tornado finally crossed into Clearfield County, causing massive, widespread tree damage across the forest before finally dissipating near Penfield. The damage to vegetation was so extreme that the scar on the forests remained highly visible to locals for at least twenty-thirty years.
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Duration: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Path length: 55–60 mi
Width: 1–2 mi
Fatalities: 5+
Injuries: 50+

i know that cgi is not looking great but it dosen't bother me. in story is about Dr. Jake Arledge play by Gerald McRaney creating a system that can predicting a tornado 100% accurate to show where tornado exactly gonna hit anywhere anytime. my opinion is inaccurate that technology for perfectly predict when and where tornado will hit in reality but is really nice concept for a story and is more like science fiction. i did enjoy this film because a cinematography, little entertaining, and heart but the script part that dosen't make any sense and there are dumb moments, is not the worst tornado movie but is not the best. is free on tubi and youtube if you wanna see it.

I saw this 10d ago on the radar, could this mean possible rotation?

Why does it split into two near the end of the track in this map?

Most of us know about the 1990 Plainfield, Illinois tornado that struck the town of Plainfield and caused severe damage. Residents were unwarned of the tornado, and the weather service office was unaware of the tornadic threat by this storm due to the time of the year. It was the strongest tornado in the month of August in USA history since the recorded era began (1950), earning an F5 rating. It formed within a rather non-tornadic environment, as its own storm had to produce its corridor of intense tornadic environment.

However, many people are not aware of the extreme feats this tornado did, that even meteorologists like Ted Fujita himself, had never seen before until then. This post is here to state all of them.

By ’underrated; I don’t mean that it should've gotten a higher rating. I mean that this was no ordinary violent tornado. People tend to call the Plainfield tornado an ‘overestimated or ‘less extreme’ tornado, though I wouldn’t say the same.

Documented feats:

No. 1 (Solid Case): The tornado threw a tractor-trailer weighing 20 tons hundreds of feet high into the air and 0.5 miles away from original position. The tornado was said to have been near/at peak intensity when it did this, with extreme contextual damage indicators like ground scouring, etc.

Taking a look at the surroundings of the damage site, there was absolutely nothing that could’ve caused any debris impacts, it was an empty field, or farmland, where not even trees where present near the road. According to a video by the content creator Weatherbox Studios (click here), it completed a full revolution around the tornado before coming back down.

From Wikipedia (”1990 Plainfield tornado”):

As the tornado crossed US-30, a 20-ton tractor-trailer was thrown more than half a mile from the road, killing the driver. Three other motorists were killed in this area as their vehicles were thrown from the road. Some cars were picked up and carried considerable distances through the air. It was determined that the tornado reached its peak strength in this area, and the F5 rating was based on the extreme ground scouring that occurred.

Taking that into consideration, we can calculate that the windspeed required to loft a 20 ton tractor-trailer hundreds of feet into the air and toss it 0.5 miles, within this tornado, the gust that caused this must’ve been sustained >235 MPH for >4 seconds.

No. 2 (Solid Case): The tornado removed several inches of topsoil, and mature corn crop was completely stripped from the ground along a large section of the path.

From Wikipedia (”1990 Plainfield tornado”):

Past Wheatland Plains, the tornado continued to strengthen as it tore across open farmland, and reached F5 intensity in this area. A narrow swath of very intense ground scouring was observed, as mature corn crop was completely stripped from the ground, leaving nothing but bare soil behind. Several inches of topsoil were removed as well.

This was an extreme feat of contextual damage along the path of the tornado. Meteorologist Ted Fujita himself stated that he had never seen such contextual damage indicators before, being some of the most intense he had ever surveyed.

To calculate the windspeed required in contextual damage is very difficult, so we must use examples as a baseline. The 2011 Philadelphia MS tornado was rated an EF5 primarily because of its contextual damage, the ground scouring- said to be up to 19 inches, an estimated >205 MPH derived from it. Although an exact numeral was never provided, we can assume that the ground scouring depth was probably ~6 inches. That is 3x lesser than the ground scouring of the Philadelphia tornado, however the fact that there were mature corn crops securing the topsoil, which were all stripped out of the ground, makes the windspeed estimate much higher. Plus once again, there were absolutely no nearby objects/structures that could’ve caused debris impacts.

Applying all of the multipliers, that is equivalent to scouring 20 inches of topsoil.

Now doing the windspeed calculations, the gusts that would’ve done this may have been >208 MPH. Though, the damage that happened on top of it (tractor-trailer) suggests the gusts were even higher.

No. 3 (Potential/Unsure Case): The Plainfield High School was terribly obliterated, with the gymnasium completely collapsed and large sections of the building flattened entirely.

This damage can actually be overviewed by the EF scale if wanted to, so I will do that.

This sort of damage falls under DI (Damage indicator) #16 (JSHS) DOD (Degree Of Damage) #11 (“Complete destruction of all or a large section of the building”)

The DI + DOD states that the required 3-second gust windspeed may range between 163 MPH and >224 MPH depending on the construction quality of the building. Though, the contextual/infrastructure damage nearby suggests that the winds were probably >200 MPH regardless of the school itself.

So NOW I think you won’t underestimate the 1990 Plainfield IL tornado, will you?

I had to repost this because people didn’t understand what I ment by ‘underrated’ even though I mentioned it in the post…