On May 20, 2013, an EF-4 tornado a mile or more wide struck suburbs of Oklahoma City with devastating force, destroying two schools--Briarwood Elementary in Oklahoma City and Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore, South of Oklahoma City--in its wake. EF-4 is the second-strongest tornado in Enhanced Fujita scale with the wind of up to 200 miles per hour. The tornado made a direct hit on Moore, OK. The storm system was the product of rising temperature and humidity in Plains and Midwest, and followed almost the identical path of another killer tornado that had hit the town of Moore in May 1999. That tornado in May 1999 was an EF5 and with a wind of up to 300 miles per hour, and destroyed or damaged more than 8,000 homes and killed 41 people.
Informative Data about Tornado
* April 2011 has witnessed the record number of tornadoes ever
-- 497 of EF1 or stronger tornadoes
* June 2010 through May 2011 has marked the record 1-year streak in terms of number of tornadoes
-- 1050 EF1 or stronger tornadoes
* May 2011 through April 2013 has marked the record 2-year minimum in terms of number of tornadoes
-- 217 EF1 or stronger tornadoes
On May 21, 2013, scientists upgraded the May 20, 2013, tornado that had struck Moore, OK to EF-5. The tornado killed 24 people, including nine children who were students of Plaza Towers Elementary School.
On May 31, 2013, another deadly tornado struck Oklahoma City suburb of El Rino, killing 18 people, including three well-known storm-chasers. Tim Samaras, founder of TWISTEX--Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes Experiment--was on the path of the 2.6-mile wide, 295 miles per hour EF-5 tornado, and killed along with his son, Paul, and fellow storm-chaser Carl Young. As of June 14, 2013, total death toll from May 31, 2013, tornado rose to 22.
Informative Data about Tornado
* April 2011 has witnessed the record number of tornadoes ever
-- 497 of EF1 or stronger tornadoes
* June 2010 through May 2011 has marked the record 1-year streak in terms of number of tornadoes
-- 1050 EF1 or stronger tornadoes
* May 2011 through April 2013 has marked the record 2-year minimum in terms of number of tornadoes
-- 217 EF1 or stronger tornadoes
On May 21, 2013, scientists upgraded the May 20, 2013, tornado that had struck Moore, OK to EF-5. The tornado killed 24 people, including nine children who were students of Plaza Towers Elementary School.
On May 31, 2013, another deadly tornado struck Oklahoma City suburb of El Rino, killing 18 people, including three well-known storm-chasers. Tim Samaras, founder of TWISTEX--Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes Experiment--was on the path of the 2.6-mile wide, 295 miles per hour EF-5 tornado, and killed along with his son, Paul, and fellow storm-chaser Carl Young. As of June 14, 2013, total death toll from May 31, 2013, tornado rose to 22.
