Rating Tornadoes Jun 2026

Rating tornadoes is essential for understanding their power, improving building codes, and issuing warnings. Today, the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale is the standard. It replaced the original Fujita (F) Scale in the U.S. (2007) and is used in other countries with minor adjustments.

The EF Scale is the best operational tool available, but it’s fundamentally a damage scale , not a pure wind scale. For scientists, radar-based wind estimation (e.g., mobile radar) offers a complementary view. For the public, remember: An EF4 that misses a town is “weaker” on paper but still deadly. rating tornadoes

✔ More realistic wind–damage relationship than the original F-scale ✔ Accounts for construction quality ✔ Standardized surveys (engineers + meteorologists) ✔ Helps link radar-estimated winds to actual ground damage Rating tornadoes is essential for understanding their power,