Synonyms
F-scale; Fujita Scale
Definition
Enhanced Fujita Tornado Scale: A system for classifying tornadoes intensity in the United States according to six categories from EF0 to EF5 based on the degree of damage to one or more of 28 damage indicators, such as various types of buildings, towers, and trees.
Dr. T. Theodore Fujita introduced the Fujita Scale, or F-scale, in 1971. Dr. Fujita (1920–1998) was a professor of meteorology at the University of Chicago. His goals were to categorize each tornado by its intensity and area as well as estimate a wind speed associated with the damage caused by the tornado. He surveyed every tornado from the Super Outbreak of April 3–4, 1974 and the F-scale became the official basis for rating tornadoes in the United States. The F-scale contained six categories from F0 to F5 and ranked tornadoes based on damages to homes and other buildings. A range of wind speeds was associated with each damage category.
In the late 1990s, engineers from Texas Tech...
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Bibliography
Doswell, C. A. III, Brooks, H. E., and Dotzek, N., 2009. On the implementation of the enhanced Fujita scale in the USA. Atmospheric Research, 93, 554–563.
LaDue, J., and Mahoney, E. A., 2006. Implementing the new enhanced Fujita scale within the NWS. In Proceedings of the 23rd Conference on Severe Local Storms, American Meteorological Society. Available at http://ams.confex.com/ams/23SLS/techprogram/paper_115420.htm
Texas Tech University, 2006. A recommendation for an enhanced Fujita scale (EF-scale). Lubbock: Wind Science and Engineering Center. Available at http://www.depts.ttu.edu/weweb/efscale.pdf
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Schmidlin, T.W. (2013). Fujita Tornado Scale. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_149
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