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I remember an "F6" running from IL to NY or something like that (maybe IL/IN to PA) it was on the ground for over 3 hours. There was a special on TWC (Storm Stories).
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Maybe that was the 'Tri-State Tornado' - 1925, which was an F5, tracking from near Ellington, Missouri to near Princeton, Indiana, crossing southern Illinois along the way. It was on the ground for 3 hours or so.
There was a very, very detailed study by meteorologist Thomas Grazulis (following earlier research by Ted Fujita) that theorized that the vast majority of tornadoes that track for more than 100 miles are actually probably tornado families or series, where breaks in the path are obscured by other kinds of wind damage, and are thus commonly improperly surveyed.
The "F6" rating is speculated about, but hasn't ever been used, for a variety of reasons, foremost among them the definition or calculation of F5/EF5 has no upper limit, and one of the reasons the scale was developed in that fashion was because F5 damage is so extreme that it would effectively hide or obliterate any pockets of even stronger damage. And the wild unevenness of engineering standards from place to place in the US would make establishing any definitive standard definition for that level of damage impossible - it is rather common for F2 or F3 tornadoes in places where strong tornadoes are extremely rare (and thus buildings aren't engineered to better withstand them) commonly produce damage that looks like F4 or even F5 damage.
^
Maybe that was the 'Tri-State Tornado' - 1925, which was an F5, tracking from near Ellington, Missouri to near Princeton, Indiana, crossing southern Illinois along the way. It was on the ground for 3 hours or so.
There was a very, very detailed study by meteorologist Thomas Grazulis (following earlier research by Ted Fujita) that theorized that the vast majority of tornadoes that track for more than 100 miles are actually probably tornado families or series, where breaks in the path are obscured by other kinds of wind damage, and are thus commonly improperly surveyed.
The "F6" rating is speculated about, but hasn't ever been used, for a variety of reasons, foremost among them the definition or calculation of F5/EF5 has no upper limit, and one of the reasons the scale was developed in that fashion was because F5 damage is so extreme that it would effectively hide or obliterate any pockets of even stronger damage. And the wild unevenness of engineering standards from place to place in the US would make establishing any definitive standard definition for that level of damage impossible - it is rather common for F2 or F3 tornadoes in places where strong tornadoes are extremely rare (and thus buildings aren't engineered to better withstand them) commonly produce damage that looks like F4 or even F5 damage.
This is an interesting comment! I remember once talking to a meteorolgist and he saying the Oklahoma City tornado (or a suburb of it) in 1998 got within ONE MPH clocked speeds of being that "Inconciveable" F-6. (319). BUT...no one wanted to go on record as actually "making the call". LOL
Also, on a related tangent, didn't the original "F" scale go up to 12? If I recall correctly, its origins were in 1973, and nobody at that time knew if tornadic wind-speeds did not reach super-sonic levels. Now we know more about it all...but oh man, an F-12? Would it pull the core out of the earth?
Of course, as you say, once one gets past F-5, the damage is so devastating as that the next level might be impossible to discern...
There is also what's nicknamed "Dixie Alley" - that streak of higher tornado activity that starts around Houston, cuts across LA, MS, AL, GA, the Carolinas, and ends up around tidewater VA, and the frequency drops off quite a bit once you get into NC and especially VA. But it seems that most of the big SE outbreaks all seem to track somewhere along that line, slowly running out of gas (usually) the farther east they get. Not as generally active as the true "tornado alley", but still, some very notorious outbreaks.
Spot on, again, Davidals. That is, the swath called "Dixie Alley" across the southeastern part of the country (from East Texas along the Gulf and up a bit into the Carolina's). In fact, in terms of per-capita deaths and injuries, this one might be the worst of all.
The most frequent and violent tornadoes occur in the South Central and Central United states, but those in the southeast are notorious for casualties. Reason being, as I have heard it explained, they often occur at night (due to high humidity levels even then).
Reason being, as I have heard it explained, they often occur at night (due to high humidity levels even then).
That could be a very likely reason. Also, I know most of ours seem to be rain-wrapped so you can't see them.
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