Enhanced Fujita Scale - National Weather Service

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    Enhanced Fujita Scale Weather.gov > Tallahassee, FL > Enhanced Fujita Scale
    Enhanced Fujita Scale
    EF-scale Class Wind speed Description
    mph km/h
    EF-0 weak 65-85 105-137 Gale
    EF-1 weak 86-110 138-177 Moderate
    EF-2 strong 111-135 178-217 Significant
    EF-3 strong 136-165 218-266 Severe
    EF-4 violent 166-200 267-322 Devastating
    EF-5 violent > 200 > 322 Incredible

    The Fujita (F) Scale was originally developed by Dr. Tetsuya Theodore Fujita to estimate tornado wind speeds based on damage left behind by a tornado. An Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale, developed by a forum of nationally renowned meteorologists and wind engineers, makes improvements to the original F scale. This EF Scale has replaced the original F scale, which has been used to assign tornado ratings since 1971.

    The original F scale had limitations, such as a lack of damage indicators, no account for construction quality and variability, and no definitive correlation between damage and wind speed. These limitations may have led to some tornadoes being rated in an inconsistent manner and, in some cases, an overestimate of tornado wind speeds.

    The EF Scale takes into account more variables than the original F Scale did when assigning a wind speed rating to a tornado. The EF Scale incorporates 28 damage indicators (DIs) such as building type, structures, and trees. For each damage indicator, there are 8 degrees of damage (DOD) ranging from the beginning of visible damage to complete destruction of the damage indicator. The original F Scale did not take these details into account.

    For example, with the EF Scale, an EF3 tornado will have estimated wind speeds between 136 and 165 mph (218 and 266 kph), whereas with the original F Scale, an F3 tornado has winds estimated between 162-209 mph (254-332 kph). The wind speeds necessary to cause "F3" damage are not as high as once thought and this may have led to an overestimation of some tornado wind speeds.

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