The Jarrell, Texas tornado of may 27th 1997 was a huge F5 tornado in Texas that was at one point 3/4 mile wide. For the first few minutes it was on the ground the tornado was thin, ropelike, and weak before it began to grow intensify at an explosive rate. The tornado killed 27 people and injured another 12. Damage totaled $40 million. The entire Double Creek Estates subdivision was destroyed, with a significant portion of it being completely blown away. Only the concrete slabs and minute pieces of debris were left behind from a number of homes. Homes, streets, driveways, and all vegetation including grass were stripped away, leaving behind a plain of mud. The homes of the Igo and Moerhing families were swept away, leaving no survivors. roads near Jarrell lost stretches of asphalt over 500 feet long. The Jarrell tornado was probably one of the most violent tornadoes of the 20th century.
Tornadoes do not have names, but they are often referred to by the places they hit. These are the F5 tornadoes known to have hit Texas: The Sherman tornado of May 15 1896 The Big Spring tornado of May 14, 1923 The Rocksprings tornado of April 12, 1927 The Clyde tornado of June 10, 1938 The Glazier/Higgins/Woodward tornado of April 9, 1942 The Waco tornado of May 11, 1953 The Wichita Falls tornado of April 3, 1964 The Lubbock tornado of May 11, 1970 The Valley Mills tornado of May 6, 1973 The Brownwood tornado of April 19, 1976 The Jarrell tornado of May 27, 1997
The last recorded tornado in Killeen, Texas, occurred on May 27, 1997. This tornado was rated as an F2 on the Fujita scale, causing damage in the area. Since then, there have been no reported tornadoes in Killeen.
The strongest category of tornado is F5 (EF5 as of 2007). The strongest winds ever recorded in a tornado were 301 mph +/- 20mph in the F5 tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City on May 3, 1999. However, other tornadoes, which never had their wind speed measured, may have been stronger.
That is diffcult to determine. The fastest winds evere recorded, 302 mph, were measured in the Oklahoma City tornado of May 3, 1999. However, only a few tornadoes ever have their winds measured, and most of those only have them measured during a small portion of their existence. So other tornadoes, which produced more extreme damage, were probably stronger. The most extreme damage on record came from the Jarrell, Texas tornado of May 27, 1997. This tornado completely scoured away a nieghborhood, blowing away not just houses but grass, streets, driveways, and up to 18 inches of soil. However the extreme degree of damage may have been partly due to its slow movement allowing it to ravage the same spot for a long time. Other noteworthy candidates that went beyond even what is typically observed in an F5 tornado include: The Sherman, Texas tornado of May 15, 1896 The Tri-State tornado of March 18, 1925 The Flint, Michigan tornado of June 8, 1953 The Smithville, Mississippi tornado of April 27, 2011
What happened was that 27 people died, 26 of whom were essentially shredded. A 58-home subdivision was essentially inhaled, leaving behind roughly 9 concrete slabs as the only evidence that any homes had been there. The media swarmed on the town, with local and national news crews parking their gigantic news trucks in people's lawns without obtaining permission. Media finally had to be cordoned off from a small church on the west end of town to prevent them from harassing survivors and/or family members hoping for word of their loved ones. The county coroner said he had been on battlefields during wars (unspecified) but had never in his life seen carnage like that left behind by this storm. Hides were blown off of cattle and other animals, grass blades were driven into the skin like nails on the pieces of those who were found, but some victims were identified only by finding a finger with an identifiable ring on it. As a print journalist put it to a councilman," You're not finding people, you're finding pieces of people," to which the councilman simply responded, "Exactly." One week later a second tornado vortex signature was determined to be headed south along the freeway toward Jarrell. Locals rushed to the highway overpass to wait out the storm, but little materialized from that scare.
The Jarrell, Texas tornado of 1997 injured 12 people and killed 27.
The last F5 tornado to hit Texas struck the town of Jarrell on May 27, 1997.
Jarrell is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States and is located about 12 miles north of Georgetown, Texas or about 38 miles north of Austin. On May 27, 1997, the town suffered from the destructive Jarrell Tornado, which destroyed the Double Creek Estates subdivision. The tornadoes in the storm were so intense that sod and asphalt road were literally peeled up from the ground.
Tornadoes do not have names, but they are often referred to by the places they hit. These are the F5 tornadoes known to have hit Texas: The Sherman tornado of May 15 1896 The Big Spring tornado of May 14, 1923 The Rocksprings tornado of April 12, 1927 The Clyde tornado of June 10, 1938 The Glazier/Higgins/Woodward tornado of April 9, 1942 The Waco tornado of May 11, 1953 The Wichita Falls tornado of April 3, 1964 The Lubbock tornado of May 11, 1970 The Valley Mills tornado of May 6, 1973 The Brownwood tornado of April 19, 1976 The Jarrell tornado of May 27, 1997
Not exactly lift, but exceptionally violent tornadoes have been known to scour asphalt from roads. Usually this only occurs in small segments, however, the Jarrell, Texas tornado of 1997 scoured away 500 foot segements of two roads.
We cannot define a top five strongest tornadoes in Texas. Since official documentation began in 1950 Texas has had six F5 tornadoes, and we generaly can't say if one F5 is stronger than another. Those six, in the order that they occurred are:The Waco tornado of May 11, 1953The Wichita Falls tornado of April 3, 1964The Lubbock tornado of May 11, 1970The Valley Mills tornado of May 6, 1973The Brownwood tornado of April 19, 1976The Jarrell tornado of May 27, 1997
It is difficult to say what tornado was the most violent because once they reach a certain level it is difficult to tell the difference.Candidates for this title, though, include: The Tri-State tornado of March 18, 1925 (tore across parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana) The Xenia, Ohio tornado of April 3, 1974 The Jarrell, Texas tornado o May 27, 1997 The Moore, Oklahoma tornado of May 3, 1999 (based on a rare wind measurement).
The strongest winds ever recorded in a tornado (302 mph +/- 20) occurred in the Moore, Oklahoma F5 tornado of May 3, 1999.However, actual wind measurements from tornadoes are rare, so other tornadoes may have been stronger, but never had their winds measured.Another good candidate for the strongest tornado in Tornado Alley is the Jarrell, Texas tornado of May 27, 1997, which produced the most extreme tornado damage ever documented.
The last recorded tornado in Killeen, Texas, occurred on May 27, 1997. This tornado was rated as an F2 on the Fujita scale, causing damage in the area. Since then, there have been no reported tornadoes in Killeen.
It is difficult to pick one that is actually the strongest. Tornado Alley has had a number of tornadoes rated F5 or EF5, but beyond that it is difficult to say whether one was stronger than another. The fastest winds directly measured in a tornado were 302 mph in the tornado that hit the Oklahoma City area on May 3, 1999. However, actual wind measurements from tornadoes are rare, so other tornadoes may have been stronger, including the Andover, Kansas tornado of April 26, 1991 and the Jarrell, Texas tornado of May 27, 1997.
The costliest tornado in U.S. history struck Joplin, Missouri in 2011 with damage totaling $2.8 billion. Perhaps the most complete destruction occurred in Jarrell, Texas in 1997. The tornado essentially erased on subdivision. Houses were wiped clean from their foundations and the debris shredded into small fragments. Trees and utility poles were snapped off at the base. Streets, driveways, and up to 18 inches of soil were scoured from the ground.
That is not exactly known as once you start dealing with F5/EF5 tornadoes it is hard to tell whether one was stronger than another as buildings are completely obliterated. Additionally, many tornadoes tear across open countryside where there are few or no damage indicators. Here are three possible Candidates for the most violent tornado on record: The Xenia, Ohio tornado of April 3, 1974. The Jarrell, Texas tornado of May 27, 1997. The Moore, Oklahoma tornado of May 3, 1999. Doppler radar measure winds of 302 mph +/- 20 in the Moore tornado, the fastest ever recorded. However, actual measurements are rare in tornadoes, so other tornadoes, such as those that hit Jarrell and Xenia, which had no such Dopplers present, may have been stronger.