The extremely powerful winds of a tornado cause the most damage. Debris carried by the wind is also very damaging, but exactly how much of the damage is caused by debris or wind is unclear and likely varies considerably depending on the tornado and where it occurs. Debris is a more significant factor for a tornado that goes through a town than for one that only hits isolated farms.
It depends. A tornado can cause property damage in a matter of seconds, but in a large, slow moving tornado, structures can be exposed to damging winds for several minutes. A very violent tornado can completely obliterate a well built house in under 3 seconds.
The most powerful category of tornado is F5 on the Fujita scale or EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
The Fuijta Scale rates tornado from F0 to F5 based on the severity of the damage they cause. An F3 is a strong tornado that will cause severe and often irreparable damage to frame houses. A house that takes F3 damage will lose it roof and many, if not most of the walls will collapse. F3 tornadoes can obliterate trailers (though this is considered F2 damage), throw cars, and lift train cars. About 4% of tornadoes are rated F3.
The most common rating for a tornado is EF0, accounting for almost 60% of tornadoes in the U.S. The higher the rating, the less often it occurs.
An EF5 tornado has winds in excess of 200 mph.
The tornado that cause the most damage on record touched down on May 22, 2011. It struck Joplin, Missouri causing $2.8 billion in damage.
A strong enough tornado will cause damage to most things that happen to be in its path.
It depends. A tornado can cause property damage in a matter of seconds, but in a large, slow moving tornado, structures can be exposed to damging winds for several minutes. A very violent tornado can completely obliterate a well built house in under 3 seconds.
A rating of EF5 is reserved for the tornadoes that cause the greatest degree of damage.
Most damage in a tornado is caused by the extremely fast winds.
A space tornado can cause serious damage, usually 2-4 miles wide if it touches ground. But most of the time, it doesn't touches ground
The Joplin tornado of 2011 was a Multiple-vortex tornado. Inside the main circulation were smaller vortices that packed stronger winds than the rest of the tornado. These subvortices are what caused the most severe damage.
The tornadoes that cause the most severe damage are rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale
Yes, and they have happened. Though most only cause minor damage.
The most powerful category of tornado is F5 on the Fujita scale or EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
A F6 tornado does not exist on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which ranges from F0 to F5. The most powerful tornado category, an F5 tornado, has wind speeds exceeding 200 mph and can cause catastrophic damage.
The greatest amount of damage in a tornado is caused by extremely strong winds. Additional damage is from flying debris.