EF5 tornado in North Dakota the country's first in over a decade
18 hours ago
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- A rare EF5 tornado struck eastern North Dakota in June, killing three people and marking the first EF5 tornado in the U.S. in over a decade.
- The tornado was upgraded to EF5 status after further investigation revealed winds exceeding 210 mph and severe damage, including tossing a train car 500 feet.
- EF5 tornadoes are the highest on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with only 60 recorded since 1950.
- The tornado initially rated as EF3 (160 mph) but was reclassified due to extreme destruction, including flattening a farmstead and uprooting large trees.
- The last EF5 tornado in the U.S. occurred in Moore, Oklahoma, in 2013, killing 24 people and injuring over 200.
- A recent study suggests the rarity of EF5 tornadoes may be due to an imbalanced damage rating scale rather than weaker tornadoes.
- The study proposed lowering the EF5 wind threshold to 190 mph to align with historical frequency.
- The debate over EF5 classification will continue, but the recent North Dakota tornado has reset the EF5 occurrence clock.