How rare is an EF-5 tornado?

Hannah Rahner
·2 min read
6

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — A tornado outbreak in the Great Plains yesterday will go down in history. As of 7 a.m., there were more than 70 tornado reports from yesterday’s system. The most violent tornado appears to have occurred near Bennington, Nebraska where the damage is devastating.

This tornado could be rated an EF-5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale which would be the first EF5 in the United States in nearly 11 years. Nothing is confirmed just yet, the National Weather Service will have to survey the damage and based on the severity, an estimated wind speed will be determined and that will correlate to a specific EF-rating.

An EF-5 tornado will produce winds greater than 200 mph. As you can imagine, systems like this strong are exceptionally rare. The National Center For Environmental Information highlights from 1950-2023 there were 68,762 tornadoes in the United States and only 59 received an F-5 or EF-5 rating. The Fujita Scale was changed to the Enhanced Fujita Scale in 2007. Less than 0.1% of tornadoes attained the highest, most intense tornado rating.

The most recent EF-5 occurred on May 20, 2013, in Moore, Oklahoma. Climatologically speaking, May is the most active month for tornadoes, but tornadoes can occur any time of year. There has never been an F-5 or EF-5 tornado in January, September, or November.

The most recent April EF-5 tornado occurred on April 27, 2011, and it is on this date again that an intense tornado outbreak will unfold this afternoon in the Plains. Yesterday, the Storm Prediction Center issued an enhanced risk for severe weather from Iowa to central Texas. This area included a “hatched”, 10% risk of tornadoes. The “hatched” risk deals with the likelihood of violet tornadoes which would be tornadoes rated EF-2 or stronger. The risk for today is a 15% “hatched” risk and the overall threat is a level 4/5.

If the tornado out of Bennington, Nebraska is surveyed and rated an EF-5 tornado it will be the second to occur in the state with the first from 1964.

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