Draft:Tornadoes by strength

{{main|List of tornadoes observed by mobile radars}}

During the F5 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado on May 3, 1999, in the southern Oklahoma City metro area, a Doppler on Wheels situated near the tornado measured winds of {{convert|301|+/-|20|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} momentarily in a small area inside the funnel approximately {{convert|100|m|ft|abbr=on}} above ground level.{{cite web |last=Wurman |first=Joshua |author-link=Joshua Wurman |year=2007 |title=Doppler On Wheels |url=http://www.cswr.org/dow/DOW.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719102124/http://www.cswr.org/dow/DOW.htm |archive-date=2011-07-19 |publisher=Center for Severe Weather Research}} The measured winds in this tornado have been updated to {{convert|321|mph|km/h}}{{cite web |date=23 June 2024 |title=Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets (FARM) statement concerning preliminary peak wind speed determinations based on Doppler On Wheels (DOW) data obtained in the Greenfield, Iowa tornado of 21 May 2024 |url=http://publish.illinois.edu/dowfacility-upgrade/files/2024/06/best-greenfield-windspeed-note-2024-0623bp2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240624040232/http://publish.illinois.edu/dowfacility-upgrade/files/2024/06/best-greenfield-windspeed-note-2024-0623bp2.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2024 |access-date=24 June 2024 |publisher=University of Illinois |location=Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area}}

On May 31, 2013, a tornado hit rural areas near El Reno, Oklahoma. The tornado was originally rated as an EF3 based on damage; however, after mobile radar data analysis was conducted, it was concluded to have been an EF5 due to a measured wind speed of greater than {{convert|296|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, second only to the Bridge Creek–Moore tornado. Revised RaXPol analysis found winds of {{convert|302|+/-|34|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} well above ground level and ≥{{convert|291|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} below {{convert|10|m|ft|abbr=on}} with some subvortices moving at {{convert|175|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.{{cite journal |author=Snyder, Jeff |author2=Bluestein, H. B. |date=2014 |title=Some Considerations for the Use of High-Resolution Mobile Radar Data in Tornado Intensity Determination |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1234617 |journal=Weather Forecast. |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=799–827 |bibcode=2014WtFor..29..799S |doi=10.1175/WAF-D-14-00026.1 |s2cid=122669043 |doi-access=free |access-date=2019-06-27 |archive-date=2020-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906161038/https://zenodo.org/record/1234617 |url-status=live }} These winds may possibly be as high or higher than the winds recorded on May 3, 1999. Despite the recorded windspeed, the El Reno tornado was later downgraded back to EF3 due to the fact that no EF5 damage was found, likely due to the lack of sufficient damage indicators in the largely-rural area west of Oklahoma City.{{cite news |last=Samenow |first=Jason |date=June 4, 2013 |title=Deadly El Reno, Okla. tornado was widest ever measured on Earth, had nearly 300 mph winds |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/06/04/deadly-el-reno-okla-tornado-was-widest-ever-measured-on-earth-had-nearly-300-mph-winds/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-date=May 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509032931/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/06/04/deadly-el-reno-okla-tornado-was-widest-ever-measured-on-earth-had-nearly-300-mph-winds/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Wright |first=Celine |date=June 4, 2013 |title=Discovery Channel to air special for fallen 'Storm Chasers' |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-discovery-channel-to-host-special-for-storm-chasers20130604,0,3911911.story |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 5, 2013 |archive-date=December 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225014237/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-discovery-channel-to-host-special-for-storm-chasers20130604,0,3911911.story |url-status=live }}

During the Greenfield, Iowa EF4 on May 21, 2024, Doppler on Wheels recorded wind speeds of {{Convert|263–271|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} in a very small swath inside the funnel approximately {{Convert|100-106|ft|m|abbr=on}} above radar level as the tornado went through town. After doing some mathematical and physics-based calculations, the researchers determined those measured winds were equivalent to {{Convert|309–318|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. The calculated minimum wind threshold as stated beats both the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado and the 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma tornado for minimum possible maximum windspeed; however, the highest confirmed peak windspeeds are lower than the 1999 tornado.{{cite web |last1=Wurman |first1=Joshua |author1-link=Joshua Wurman |last2=Kosiba |first2=Karen |date=22 June 2024 |title=As the 2024 #BEST field season ends, a glimpse into the data collection during the Greenfield, IA tornado. Peak wind speeds as high as 309-318 mph were calculated in a narrow region 100-160 feet ARL. These are among the highest wind speeds ever determined using DOW data. |url=https://x.com/dowfacility/status/1804575739330613507 |access-date=22 June 2024 |website=𝕏 (Formerly Twitter) |publisher=Doppler on Wheels |format=Post on 𝕏 |location=University of Illinois |archive-date=22 May 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240522183736/https://x.com/DOWFacility/status/1793317945294094337 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=23 June 2024 |title=Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets (FARM) statement concerning preliminary peak wind speed determinations based on Doppler On Wheels (DOW) data obtained in the Greenfield, Iowa tornado of 21 May 2024 |url=http://publish.illinois.edu/dowfacility-upgrade/files/2024/06/best-greenfield-windspeed-note-2024-0623bp2.pdf |website=Illinois edu |access-date=23 June 2024 |archive-date=24 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240624040232/http://publish.illinois.edu/dowfacility-upgrade/files/2024/06/best-greenfield-windspeed-note-2024-0623bp2.pdf |url-status=live }}

Winds were measured at {{convert|262|-|280|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} using portable Doppler weather radar in the Red Rock, Oklahoma, tornado during the April 26, 1991, tornado outbreak in north-central Oklahoma. Though these winds are possibly indicative of F5 intensity, this particular tornado's path never encountered any significant structures and caused minimal damage, so it was rated F4.{{cite journal |last=Bluestein |first=Howard B. |author-link=Howard B. Bluestein |author2=J.G. Ladue |author3=H. Stein |author4=D. Speheger |author5=W.P. Unruh |title=Doppler Radar Wind Spectra of Supercell Tornadoes |journal=Monthly Weather Review |volume=121 |issue=8 |pages=2200–22 |publisher=American Meteorological Society |date=August 1993 |doi=10.1175/1520-0493(1993)121<2200:DRWSOS>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode = 1993MWRv..121.2200B |doi-access=free }}

While never observed, these tornadoes are believed to have had winds of {{convert|300|mph|km/h}} or above, which would make them among the strongest tornadoes in history. There is a questionable analysis of the 1917 Mattoon/Charleston tornado{{efn|The paper states that the storm was a single tornado; later analysis suggests it was most likely a tornado family that traveled 287 miles across Missouri and Illinois.}} published in the Geographical Review in 1917 that stated the tornado had strong "inflowing wind, which probably exceeded {{cvt|400|mph|km/h}}".{{cite journal |journal=Geographical Review |volume=4 |doi=10.2307/207291 |date=August 1917 |author=J. P. Carey |title=The Central Illinois Tornado of May 26, 1917 |issue=2 |pages=122–130 |jstor=207291 |bibcode=1917GeoRv...4..122C }} A 1968 Weather Bureau review of the 1968 Hansell-Charles City tornado found intense ground scouring, and initial estimates for wind speeds reached {{convert|528|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}; these figures were revised down to {{convert|200–300|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web |last=US Department of Commerce |first=NOAA |title=Photos of the May 15, 1968 Northeast Iowa Tornadoes |url=https://www.weather.gov/arx/may151968photos |access-date=2024-08-01 |website=www.weather.gov |language=EN-US}}

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}