Tornado Ranking System Jun 2026

Created in 1971 by (known affectionately as "Mr. Tornado"), the original Fujita Scale was a revolutionary way to categorize tornadoes. Before this, all tornadoes were essentially grouped together regardless of their intensity.

Entire stories of well-constructed houses are destroyed; trains can be overturned; trees begin to lose their bark. tornado ranking system

Tornadoes are ranked from to EF5 . Below are the official categories, wind speed estimates (3-second gust), and typical damage descriptions. Created in 1971 by (known affectionately as "Mr

Entire stories of well-constructed houses destroyed; severe damage to large buildings like shopping malls. EF4 166–200 mph Entire stories of well-constructed houses destroyed

It validates the necessity of storm shelters and basement reinforcements.

Because we cannot easily place sensors inside a vortex that travels at 200 mph, we use a "damage-based" ranking system. Here is a deep dive into how we rank these storms and why the system changed. The Origins: The Fujita Scale (F-Scale)