PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — After severe weather brought a radar confirmed tornado to the Tampa Bay area Wednesday, the National Weather Service will now start the survey process to see just how strong they were.
The two areas impacted most severely were Pinellas Park and a Polk County neighborhood just east of US Highway 98 North.
The intensity of a tornado can be determined only after the event, when survey teams from the National Weather Service can examine structural damage. After the survey is complete, the tornado is given this value from the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
The Fujita Scale was developed by Dr. T. Theodore Fujita and categorizes tornadoes on the basis of their intensity and area. The scale relates a tornado's damage to the fastest quarter-mile wind speed at the height of the damaged structure to determine its intensity.
The Enhanced Fujita Scale:
EF-0 Winds: 65-85 mph. Some damage to chimneys; branches have broken off trees; shallow-rooted trees pushed over; damaged signboards.
EF-1 Winds: 86-110 mph. Surfaces peeled off roofs; mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned; moving autos pushed off roads.
EF-2 Winds: 111-135 mph. Considerable damage. Roofs are torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars pushed over; large trees snapped or uprooted; light object missiles generated.
EF-3 Winds: 136-165 mph. Roof and some walls torn off well-constructed houses; trains overturned; most trees in forests uprooted Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown off some distance; cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF-4 Winds: 166-200 mph. Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown off some distance; cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF-5 Winds: 200+ mph. Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distances to disintegrate; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 meters; trees debarked; steel-reinforced concrete structures badly damaged.
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