Disagreements on the intensity of tornadoes

Following the creation of the Fujita scale in 1971, the National Weather Service office in Boston, Massachusetts rated the damage caused by the tornado F4, with winds between 207–260 miles per hour (333–418 km/h).

[12] Following the creation of the Fujita scale in 1971, the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth, Texas, rated the worst of the damage F3, with winds of 158–206 miles per hour (254–332 km/h).

Following the creation of the Fujita scale in 1971, the National Weather Service office in Northern Indiana rated the worst of the damage near Lebanon and Sheridan F4, stating the tornado "may have been an F5".

In Gosser Ridge, "questionable F5" damage occurred, which led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to rate the tornado F5 on the Fujita scale.

[32] On June 1, 1990, a large, violent, multi-vortex tornado struck rural parts of Pecos County, Texas, including the ranching community of Bakersfield Valley.

The extraordinary damage and high recorded wind speeds leads researchers and storm chasers alike to attest that the Kellerville tornado had attained F5 strength.

Damage to houses initially rated F5 were lowered when engineer Timothy Marshall surveyed and determined these homes were not properly anchored, causing them to be swept off their foundations by lesser winds.

[50][51] In 2008 at the American Meteorological Society's 24th Conference on Severe Local Storms, Patrick J. McCarthy, along with D. Carlsen and J. Slipec, submitted a paper for and hosted a presentation on the Elie tornado.

A man and his truck driving on Highway 45 were picked up by the tornado, tumbling through the air for around 90 seconds before impacting the ground 1.7 miles (2.7 km) away on Chapel Grove Road, unfortunately killing him.

[citation needed] Due to a lack of manpower in more rural regions after the outbreak, survey teams were unable to reach the damage in the community of Chapel Grove, and only an EF3 rating could be given.

The National Weather Service offices in Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama, rated the worst of the damage caused by the tornado EF5 with winds estimated to be at least 210 miles per hour (340 km/h).

The researchers also noted that in Hackleburg, the National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama, used "the tossing of vehicles 150–200 yards (140–180 m) and the wind rowing of debris" as contextual reasons to apply the EF5 rating.

[59] On April 27, 2011, amid the 2011 Super Outbreak, a violent multi-vortex tornado destroyed portions of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama, as well as smaller communities and rural areas between the two cities.

[63] The structures that were swept away by this tornado were either improperly anchored, lacked interior walls, or were surrounded by contextual damage not consistent with winds exceeding 200 mph (320 km/h), and as a result an EF5 rating could not be applied.

[69] In that area, numerous one- and two-story homes were leveled to their foundation with debris scattered, cars were thrown large distances, and some sidewalk pavement was pulled up out of the ground by the tornado.

Other factors included was the deflection, deformed and tossing of reinforced concrete porches and slabs, and the fact the St. John’s hospital building structure and foundation were compromised and will need to be torn down, were probably caused by winds speed at or exceeding 200 mph.

"In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers published a study disputing the tornado's initial EF5 rating, based on surveying damage on over 150 structures within a six-mile segment of the storm's path.

Bill Colbourne, a member of the engineering team that surveyed the damage, declared that "a relatively large number of buildings could have survived in Joplin if they had been built to sustain hurricane winds."

Every building at Celestial Acres was either leveled or swept away at EF4 intensity, the ground on the property was scoured to bare soil, debris from structures was granulated, and vehicles were thrown and stripped down to their frames.

[93] As the tornado entered western Moore, an anchor-bolted home that was reduced to a bare slab in this area was initially rated EF5 by the NWS Norman, but was later downgraded to EF4 as closer inspection of the foundation revealed that the anchor bolts were missing their nuts and washers.

[94] On May 20, 2023, mechanical engineer Ethan Moriarty analyzed the tornado's damage; specifically, the steel propane tank thrown from the Orr Family Farm that flew over the Briarwood Elementary School, landing on a nearby house.

The University of Oklahoma's RaXPol mobile Doppler weather radar, positioned at a nearby overpass, measured winds preliminarily analyzed as in excess of 296 mph (476 km/h).

Keli Pirtle, a Public Affairs worker at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stated that, "despite the radar-measured wind speeds, the survey team did not find damage that would support a rating higher than EF3.

However, meteorologist, structural and forensic engineer Timothy P. Marshall noted in his survey of the damage that the rating assigned was "lower bound", and despite the presence of construction flaws, this doesn't rule out "the possibility that EF5 winds could have occurred.

However, an inspection of the context surrounding the house revealed that small trees in a ditch near the home were still standing, and that the residence had possibly been pummeled by heavy debris from downtown Vilonia, exacerbating the level of destruction.

The National Weather Service office in Jackson, Mississippi rated the tornado EF4 with winds of at least 190 miles per hour (310 km/h), based on a well-anchored wooden cabin that was obliterated and swept clean, with the metal roof being completely stripped away.

[119] On June 24, 2021, a rare, violent, and deadly long-tracked tornado struck several villages in the Hodonín and Břeclav districts of the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic.

In Moravská Nová Ves and Mikulčice, hundreds of buildings were severely damaged or destroyed, including a few well-built brick and masonry homes that were completely leveled.

And, the best answer to that is what didn't give it the 200 mark...The Green Apple Florist, essentially a single family home that was modified to built to be a floral shop and it is slabbed to the ground and swept clean.

Destroying more homes and continuing past the highway intersection, the tornado gutted and flattened a new Dollar General, snapping multiple ballards and pulling out support beams that were anchored into the concrete foundation and twisting them.