I grew up on the western edge of Tornado Alley, but luckily never experienced one. I do remember some green thunderstorms and nights in the basement waiting for storms to pass.
I happened to be in the Texas Hill Country a day or two before the tornado outbreak in 1997. I remember hearing that the Jarrell F5 tore asphalt off the roads. The Wikipedia page details a lot more weird and tragic results.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Central_Texas_tornado_outbreak
MAY 22, 2011 JOPLIN, MISSOURI DEVASTATING EF-5 TORNADO:
Main steel roof support trusses were rolled like paper, and main support beams twisted or curved. Portions of trees that remained standing were debarked and denuded. In a parking lot west of the Home Depot, the asphalt was torn from its base with the chunks tossed eastward across the street. Also,
asphalt was ripped up from the Walmart parking lot. Wind rowing or debris packing of heavy building and other materials were evident in several areas along the most destructive portions of the track. There were also some interesting features such as a wooden chair with four legs embedded into an exterior wood and stucco wall, and a rubber hose impaled through a tree.
April 25–28, 2011 Tornado outbreak - Philadelphia, Mississippi Tornado
This EF-5 tornado touched down near the city of
Philadelphia, Mississippi. The tornado touched down at 2:30 p.m. CDT and traveled a path of 29 miles through
Neshoba,
Kemper,
Winston, and
Noxubee counties, resulting in three fatalities and significant high end destruction. In parts of northeast Neshoba and northwest Kemper counties, there was very high end tree damage with extreme denuding and debarking of trees, which were torn from the ground and thrown. Nearby, a large area of ground was scoured out to a depth of two feet in places, and
asphalt was scoured off pavement. This was the first tornado to cause F5 or EF5 damage in
Mississippi since the
Candlestick Park tornado of March 3, 1966. Additionally, this marks the first time since statistics have been kept that two EF5 tornadoes have been recorded on the same day in Mississippi, with the tornado in
Smithville, Mississippi also rated as an EF5. The last confirmed EF5 tornado was the
Parkersburg, Iowa tornado on May 25, 2008.
Neshoba/Kemper/Winston/Noxubee Counties, MS
Mississippi Tornado Outbreak Of April 25-27-2011
Courtesy: National Weather Service Jackson, Mississippi
Tornado Event Summary:This tornado caused a path of extensive damage in northeast Neshoba, extreme northwest Kemper, extreme southeast Winston, and southwest Noxubee counties. The most intense damage occurred in a several mile area from extreme northeast Neshoba county into extreme southeast Winston county. Much of the damage in the core of the tornado in this area was rated as high end EF-3 to EF-5. The three fatalities occurred in northwest Kemper County when a strapped down doublewide mobile home was thrown a distance of approximately 300 yards into a treeline, and then obliterated with the debris and framing scattered many hundreds of yards down the path. There was no indication of ground impacts between the original site of the mobile home and where it ended up to indicate that the mobile home bounced extensively as it travelled. Two traditional frame brick homes in southeast Winston county were completely leveled with only a few small parts of interior walls standing. New vehicles were thrown or rolled hundreds of yards before being wrapped into trees and left almost beyond recognition.
In parts of northeast Neshoba and northwest Kemper counties, there was very high end tree damage with extensive denuding and debarking of trees, along with areas where the ground was scoured out to a depth of two feet in places, and asphalt was scoured off pavement. This marks the first EF5 tornado in Mississippi since the Candlestick Park tornado on May 3, 1966. Additionally, this marks the first time since statistics have been kept that two EF5 tornadoes have been recorded on the same day in Mississippi, with the tornado in Smithville also rated as an EF5.
Jarrell, Texas Tornado Damage - May 27, 1997
Jarrell, Texas Tornado in 1997, Jarrell Texas (40 miles north of Austin and about 100 miles north of San Antonio) had an F5 tornado that
pulled up the asphalt and grass in its path.
Natchitoches, La. weather data from National Weather Service cooperative weather observer
natchitocheslaweatherclimate.blogspot.com
