Unlike hurricanes, which are ranked by measured wind speed (reconnaissance aircraft), tornadoes are rarely measured directly by instruments because they are small, fast-moving, and destroy most weather stations in their path.
A tornado’s rank isn't decided by a computer; it’s decided by a from the National Weather Service (NWS). tornado ranking system
The primary system used to rank tornadoes is the , which replaced the original Fujita (F) Scale in 2007 in the United States and 2013 in Canada. While other systems like the TORRO Scale exist, the EF Scale is the international standard for post-storm damage assessment. The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale Unlike hurricanes, which are ranked by measured wind
Ranges from P0 (
| EF Rating | % of all tornadoes | Characteristics | |-----------|--------------------|------------------| | EF0 | ~50% | Brief, narrow, low damage | | EF1 | ~35% | Common in supercells | | EF2 | ~10% | Significant damage | | EF3 | ~4% | Severe, dangerous | | EF4 | ~0.8% | Devastating (only ~50 per decade) | | EF5 | ~0.1% | Extremely rare (last confirmed: May 20, 2013 – Moore, OK) | While other systems like the TORRO Scale exist,