As i look at the damage in Mayfield & Dawson Springs, KY is how well the structures that were absolutely wiped off their foundations were built: some were undoubtedly old old brick construction buildings, especially in Mayfield, but many of the homes i see leveled in Dawson Springs appear to be new construction & built using modern more stringent building codes. If that’s the case this was at minimum a high end EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale. I wont rule out this one getting an EF-5 rating, but there is more than enough evidence to give this an EF-4 rating.
https://youtu.be/vzoSADijLCQ

Ground scouring is almost always associated with EF-5 tornadoes.

Something i want you all to think about: mayfield is 70 miles away from dawson springs….I think the damage in BOTH places is high end EF-4 & in some spots EF-5. This tornado MAINTAINED that intensity throughout MOST of its 235 mile track.

That is simply terrifying. Especially at night, in the dark, when many people were asleep & groggy when woken up by sirens & trying to react.

Before.

After.

We use the word ‘violent’ sometimes as trained weather spotters & chasers referring to the really dangerous tornadoes. Some people think that adjective is hyperbole. Those people have never lived through or visited the immediate aftermath of a ‘violent’ tornado: that’s what it is- violent. On par with the destruction left behind by a nuclear blast. Jeff Piotrowski is one of the best meteorologists out there & one of if not THE most experienced chaser around. This footage was filmed earlier today by him in Mayfield & shows clear evidence of EF-5 strength in Mayfield. Watch this video; it’ll explain why we use the word violent. Every thing about this video gives me flashbacks to the Greensburg, Kansas EF-5.

I’m happy to see people calling these assholes out. While people like myself, & thousands of others dropped everything to try to warn people & help people stay safe, The Weather Channel took the night off & ran documentaries & collected advertising revenues.

Tells you everything you need to know about who cares about your safety, & who’s just in it for a $.

Did you have fun playing in the snow last night in Minneapolis while people were being killed by violent tornadoes last night in the south? You were nowhere to be found when people really needed you.