The NWS is extremely stingy on issuing EF5 ratings. I know of several they rated a 4, that had evidence of EF5 violence. At minimum Mayfield will exhibits EF4 damage. But this has a 235 mile track to review & theres a good possibility it exhibited EF5 damage somewhere, quite possibly in Mayfield and other places.

When these warnings are issued, it’s absolutely life & death. Don’t ignore them, or hesitate.

This image is particularly disturbing: well-built modern home with walls lag bolted to foundation, completely swept off foundation. You can see the footer 2x4 for the wall still lag bolted to the foundation but the house is gone. Large strong trees completely de-limbed down to main trunk & de-barked. Wind-rowing of debris. This is either high end EF-4 damage or EF-5 damage. Given many of the downtown buildings in Mayfield were brick construction & still got pulverized, my personal belief is this was an EF-5.

Wind rowing of debris, and the shattered, debarked tree. Indicative of extreme violence.

You can see the footers attached to the foundation but nothing standing or intact and the debris moved off the slab.

This is absolutely horrific, but it demonstrates why we tell people to please seek shelter underground.

The whole town of Mayfield KY is just * gone *, replaced by a sea of destruction. 💔

It’s December 10th. Two weeks before Christmas, and now so many Americans have to cope with the destruction, the loss of life, the injuries in the aftermath of this. Please take time to pray for these people.

And it isn’t just Mayfield. Many many towns across America went through this last night. Their lives are shattered. They may have lost loved ones. They lost everything they’ve worked for & they may be hurt themselves. Two weeks before Christmas. Absolutely heart rending. My heart & prayers go out to everyone this impacted.

Tornadoes are not rated by wind speeds on radar but by debris on the ground used to judge windspeed at ground level. See the pictures above I commented on. But he’s right this is a good indicator of the strength/violence of a tornado. And this also had several other gate measurements of speeds exceeding 270 mph across its long life. This tornado was a legitimate killer tornado.