tornado width vs damage width

[freepcrusher]

I've been curious as to why a big scary wedge-looking tornado is sometimes only an F2 while you will sometimes have narrow snake tornadoes (think Tracy, MN in 1968) that are an F5. Is it possible that while wedge tornadoes are obviously scary looking, that the actual damage path is narrower than it appears and that it could very well be a narrow tornado that is concealed by various stuff?

The Manchester SD tornado in 2003 which was an F4 is sort of an example of that. It was a scary looking wedge but later in its life form, it took on the form of a drill-bit type tornado. It might not have been an f4 at that point, but assuming it was, is it possible it was a drill bit tornado the entire time and that it was concealed by rain/clouds etc?

It's been known that there has actually been one and sometimes two narrow tornadoes inside a wedge. Like the famous "dead man walking" formation you see in tornadoes like Xenia 1974 or Jarrell 1997.

[Rand]

Now I’m craving potato wedges, thanks.

[GM Team Member and Deputy PPT WB]

The size of the circulation isn't the only thing that effects the wind speed. There's many factors that go into it. Larger tornadoes are generally stronger, but not always.


Elie MB is one case where the tornado getting smaller towards the end actually was the reason it was so strong (conservation of momentum) becoming Canada's only F5 to date. And a very Canadian one at that! Turned over a semi truck, damaged an industrial building, then threw one house into the air (F5 damage), damaged some others, no injuries. Also had a goofy looking path:

Updated tornado track of Elie, Manitoba 2007 F5
Wikiwillz, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

[freepcrusher]

what does the damage of each type of tornado look like in practice? My guess is that F3 damage is you have homes still standing but maybe the front wall missing. F4 damage is the house has been destroyed but there is still a mountain of rubble. F5 damage is when the all the rubble has been blown away.

I think maybe the reason that F4/F5 tornadoes tend to be wider is maybe because there are multiple vortexes within it? Elie i think was a single vortex but single vortex F4/F5 tornadoes are rarer.

[emailking]

I don't have anything to contribute to the question, but when I read this I randomly got curious whether a tornado can form in Antarctica, and the internets say it can probably happen but one has never been recorded.

[freepcrusher]

are tornado ratings effectively worthless? Like you see damage from tornadoes pre-1950 and it's pretty incredible. But those homes were also poorly built. Like there were twelve F5s in the 1950s alone, yet there hasn't been an F5/EF5 in eleven years. Isn't it possible most F5s in the past would be F4s now?