What is the difference between the Saffir-Simpson scale and the Fujita scale?

Answer 1

Answer

The original F-scale developed and introduced by Dr. T. Theodore Fujita was a damage scale for winds, including tornadoes, which was supposed to relate the degree of damage to the intensity of the wind. This scale was the result. The original F-scale should not be used anymore, because it has been replaced by an enhanced version. Tornado wind speeds are still largely unknown; and the wind speeds on the original F-scale have never been scientifically tested and proven. Different winds may be needed to cause the same damage depending on how well-built a structure is, wind direction, wind duration, battering by flying debris, and a bunch of other factors. Also, the process of rating the damage itself is largely a judgment call -- quite inconsistent and arbitrary (Doswell and Burgess, 1988). Even meteorologists and engineers highly experienced in damage survey techniques often came up with different F-scale ratings for the same damage. Even with all its flaws, the original F-scale was the only widely used tornado rating method for over three decades. The enhanced F-scale took effect 1 February 2007.

The Enhanced F-scale is a much more precise and robust way to assess tornado damage than the original. It classifies F0-F5 damage as calibrated by engineers and meteorologists across 28 different types of damage indicators (mainly various kinds of buildings, but also a few other structures as well as trees). The idea is that a "one size fits all" approach just doesn't work in rating tornado damage, and that a tornado scale needs to take into account the typical strengths and weaknesses of different types of construction. This is because the same wind does different things to different kinds of structures. In the Enhanced F-scale, there will be different, customized standards for assigning any given F rating to a well built, well anchored wood-frame house compared to a garage, school, skyscraper, unanchored house, barn, factory, utility pole or other type of structure. In a real-life tornado track, these ratings can be mapped together more smoothly to make a damage analysis. Of course, there still will be gaps and weaknesses on a track where there was little or nothing to damage, but such problems will be less common than under the original F-scale. As with the original F-scale, the enhanced version will rate the tornado as a whole based on most intense damage within the path. There are no plans to systematically re-evaluate historical tornadoes using the Enhanced F-scale. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/index.html To See the Complete Scale and comparison see this link. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/ef-scale.html To Learn More about Tornados see these links TORNADO INFORMATION

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/tstorms/tornado.htm

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/faq/faq_tor.php

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/tstorms/tstorms_intro.htm

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/tstorms/tornado.htm

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/faq/faq_tor.php

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tornado/wtfaq.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00758/en/disaster/tornado.html

http://www.hubbard.lib.oh.us/tornado/tornado_faqs.htm

http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/hazard/

Tornado Climatology

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/briefings/vol2_no3/new_findings.htmlTornados and El Nino / La Nina

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/schaefer/el_nino.htm

Answer 2

On February 1, 2007, the (regular) Fujita scale was decommissioned in favor of the more accurate Enhanced Fujita Scale, which replaces it. The EF Scale improved on the F-scale on many counts—it accounts for different degrees of damage that occur with different types of structures, both man-made and natural. It also provides much better estimates for wind speeds, and sets no upper limit on the wind speeds for the strongest level, EF5.

Answer 3

The Fujita scale is a means or rating tornadoes by assessing the severity of the damage done. The Saffir-Simpson scale is a system of rating hurricane strength by directly measuring wind speed.