2016 Jiangsu tornado

{{Infobox weather event

| name = Funing tornado

| image = June 23, 2016, Eastern China thunderstorms.jpg

| caption = Visible satellite imagery of the thunderstorm complex over eastern China at 1:25 p.m. local time (05:25 UTC)—roughly an hour before the tornado struck Jiangsu

| formed = 23 June 2016 {{abbr|≈|approximately}} 2:30 p.m. (UTC+8:00)

}}{{Infobox weather event/Tornado

| fujita-scale = EF4

| winds = {{convert|166|-|200|mph|abbr=on|order=flip}}

}}{{Infobox weather event/Effects

| year = 2016

| damages = 760000000

| deaths = 98

| injuries = 846

| affected = Jiangsu (Funing and Sheyang Counties)

}}{{Infobox weather event/Footer

| season = tornado outbreaks of 2016

}}

On the afternoon of June 23, 2016, a severe thunderstorm produced an extremely large, deadly and violent tornado over the province of Jiangsu, located in the country of China. Striking areas northeast of Yancheng around 2:30 p.m. local time, the tornado killed 98 people and injured 846 others (152 critically). The China Meteorological Administration later ranked the tornado as an EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. Another tornado spawned by the same supercell killed one person in the Sheyang area.{{cite journal |last = Li |first = Jingyuan |author2 = F. Ping |author3 = S. Zhou |author4 = X. Shen |title = Numerical simulation of a strong tornado in eastern China with different microphysical schemes |journal = Atmos. Sci. Lett. |volume = 20 |issue = 2 |pages = e875 |date = 2019 |doi = 10.1002/asl.875 |bibcode = 2019AtScL..20E.875L |doi-access = free }}

The Jiangsu tornado is the widest tornado in China's history since records and documentation began in 1950.

Background

During the late spring and early summer, a semi-permanent frontal boundary—called the meiyu front—emerges across eastern China, Taiwan, and Japan. This feature leads to prolonged periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms which frequently cause damage. Rainfall along this boundary tends to be particularly heavy in post-El Niño summers, such as the summer of 2016. On June 23, 2016, a band of intense thunderstorms roughly {{convert|600|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} across developed along the meiyu front in eastern China. One particular storm complex over Jiangsu Province spanned {{convert|250|to|300|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} and produced a tornado near Yancheng around 2:30 p.m. local time (0630 UTC).{{cite web|author=Bob Henson|publisher=Weather Underground|date=June 23, 2016|accessdate=June 23, 2016|title=At Least 78 Deaths in China Tornado; Midwest Dodges Major Damage|url=https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3340}} The tornado was accompanied by a hailstorm.{{cite news|author=Steven Jiang|publisher=CNN|date=June 23, 2016|accessdate=June 23, 2016|title=Severe weather, including rare tornado, kills at least 78 in China|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/asia/china-tornado/}} Damage analysis found damage consistent with EF4 intensity, and the China Meteorological Administration rated the tornado as an EF4, with maximum sustained winds greater than 240 feet per second, or {{convert|165|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|title=Death toll from tornado in China rises to 99|url=http://www.worldbulletin.net/headlines/174267/death-toll-from-tornado-in-china-rises-to-99|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160627140830/http://www.worldbulletin.net/headlines/174267/death-toll-from-tornado-in-china-rises-to-99|url-status=usurped|archive-date=June 27, 2016|website=World Bulletin|accessdate=27 June 2016}}

Impact

{{Wikinews|:zh:中国江苏盐城遭龙卷风冰雹灾害袭击已致98人遇难|d1=Tornado Strikes Yancheng, Jiangsu, Causing 98 Deaths.}}

The enormous, violent wedge-shaped tornado carved a wide path of destruction through the Funing area of Yancheng in Jiangsu province, at one point reaching a peak width of 4.1 km wide (2.5 miles). The tornado first touched down in the village of Banhuzen, and then left behind catastrophic damage as it impacted areas in and around the villages of Laowangcun, Jiqiaocun, Dalaocun, Xuejiagang, Beichencun, and Lixingqiao, all located west of or along the southern fringes of downtown Funing. East of Funing, the tornado caused damage in the village of Wutanzhen before dissipating. Thousands of well-built masonry-construction homes were heavily damaged or destroyed along the path, with many completely leveled. Manufacturing plants, businesses, and rice mills suffered from similar destruction, and multiple large factory buildings were severely damaged at a Canadian Solar plant. Two large school buildings were heavily damaged as well, and multiple large, multi-ton metal shipping containers were lofted and thrown hundreds of yards by the tornado.{{cite news|author=Javier C. Hernández|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 23, 2016|accessdate=June 23, 2016|title=Tornado Kills at Least 78 in Eastern China|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/world/asia/tornado-yancheng-china.html}} Structural debris was scattered long distances throughout the damage path, many vehicles were tossed hundreds of yards and mangled; trees were completely denuded and debarked; and numerous metal power line pylons and truss towers were bent and crumpled to the ground.{{cite web |url=http://twister.caps.ou.edu/papers/MengEtal_WAF2018.pdf |title=The Deadliest Tornado (EF4) in the Past 40 Years in China |last=Meng |first=Zhiyong |date=June 2018 |website=twister.caps.ou.edu/ |publisher=Oklahoma University |access-date=April 27, 2021 }} Wind speeds of up to {{convert|125|km/h|mph|sp=us}} were measured at a weather station in Funing as the tornado passed near the area. First responders reported bodies strewn across devastated communities. Damages were calculated at nearly CN¥5 billion (US$760 million).{{cite news|url=http://www.yangtse.com/jiangsu/2017/06/23/1277925.html|title=盐城"6·23"特大龙卷风灾后重建：一切让老百姓说了算|language=Chinese|publisher=Yangtse Evening Post|date=June 23, 2017|accessdate=June 23, 2017}}

As the supercell continued past Funing, it produced another tornado of unknown intensity that destroyed several buildings and killed one person in the Sheyang area.{{cite web |url=http://twister.caps.ou.edu/papers/MengEtal_WAF2018.pdf |title=The Deadliest Tornado (EF4) in the Past 40 Years in China |last=Meng |first=Zhiyong |date=June 2018 |website=twister.caps.ou.edu/ |publisher=Oklahoma University |access-date=April 27, 2021 }}

=Response=

A total of 99 people were killed by the two tornadoes, and 846 others were injured,{{cite web|language=Chinese|publisher=Sina Corp|date=June 24, 2016|accessdate=June 24, 2016|title=江苏盐城龙卷风冰雹已造成98人死800人伤|url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/nd/2016-06-24/doc-ifxtmweh2444599.shtml}}{{cite web|last1=Kalra|first1=Shivika|title=99 killed, 846 injured in China tornado and hailstorm|date=26 June 2016 |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/china-tornado-hailstorm-99-killed-846-injured/1/701267.html|publisher=India Today|accessdate=June 26, 2016}} including 152 in critical condition. China's news service, Xinhua, called the event one of the deadliest disasters to hit Jiangsu in decades, and the deadliest tornado to hit China in half a century.{{cite web|title=China mounts rescue efforts as tornado toll hits 98|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/1018797/china-mounts-rescue-efforts-as-tornado-toll-hits-98|website=Bangkok Post|publisher=AFP|accessdate=24 June 2016}} Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang requested "all-out rescue efforts" to aid victims and survivors.{{cite news|publisher=BBC|date=June 23, 2016|accessdate=June 23, 2016|title=China weather: Tornado and hail kill scores in Jiangsu|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-36607600}} Hundreds of residents were left trapped in rubble.{{cite news|author=Merrit Kennedy|publisher=NPR|date=June 23, 2016|accessdate=June 23, 2016|title=Photos: 78 People Dead After Powerful Tornado Slams Into Eastern China|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/23/483247280/photos-78-people-dead-after-powerful-tornado-slams-into-eastern-china}} The event was declared a national-level disaster.{{cite news|author=Melanie Eversley|newspaper=USA Today|date=June 23, 2016|accessdate=June 23, 2016|title=Powerful tornado strikes China; At least 78 reportedly dead|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/06/23/powerful-tornado-east-china/86304626/}} Disaster response teams were deployed from Beijing that evening, providing 1,000 tents, 2,000 beds, and floodlights.

Confirmed tornadoes

{{Tornado Chart

|Total = 2

|FU = 1

|F0 = 0

|F1 = 0

|F2 = 0

|F3 = 0

|F4 = 1

|F5 = 0

|Enhanced=yes

}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"

|+ List of confirmed tornadoes – Thursday, June 23, 2016{{efn|All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.|group=note|name=Date/Time}}

! scope="col" style="width:3%; text-align:center;"|EF#

! scope="col" style="width:7%; text-align:center;" class="unsortable"|Location

! scope="col" style="width:6%; text-align:center;" class="unsortable"|County / Parish

! scope="col" style="width:5%; text-align:center;"|State

! scope="col" style="width:6%; text-align:center;"|Start Coord.

! scope="col" style="width:6%; text-align:center;"|Time (UTC)

! scope="col" style="width:6%; text-align:center;"|Path length

! scope="col" style="width:6%; text-align:center;"|Max width

! scope="col" class="unsortable" style="width:48%; text-align:center;"|Summary

bgcolor=#{{storm colour|cat4}} | EF4

|Banhuzen to E of Funing

|Funing, Sheyang

|Jiangsu

|N/A

|14:14–14:50

|{{convert|21.96|mi|km|abbr=on}}

|{{convert|4400|yd|m|abbr=on}}

|98 deaths – See above section on this tornado – 846 people were injured.{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Location-and-pathway-of-the-Funing-tornado-23-June-2016-A-Location-of-Funing-county_fig3_320313500|title = Figure 1. Location and pathway of the Funing tornado, 23 June 2016. (A).}}{{Cite journal |last=Zhiyong |first=Meng |last2=Lanqiang |first2=Bai |last3=Murong |first3=Zhang |last4=Zhifang |first4=Wu |last5=Zhaohui |first5=Li |last6=Meijuan |first6=Pu |last7=Yongguang |first7=Zheng |last8=Xiaohua |first8=Wang |last9=Dan |first9=Yao |last10=Ming |first10=Xue |last11=Kun |first11=Zhao |last12=Zhaoming |first12=Li |last13=Siqi |first13=Peng |last14=Liye |first14=Li |date=June 1, 2018 |title=The Deadliest Tornado (EF4) in the Past 40 Years in China |url=https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/wefo/33/3/waf-d-17-0085_1.xml |journal=American Meteorological Society}}

bgcolor=#{{storm colour|cat6}} | EFU

|Sheyang

|Jiangsu

|N/A

|15:10–15:30

|N/A

|1 death – Another tornado was spawned from the same supercell about twenty minutes after the first tornado, destroying several structures.