- 4,976
- 2,889
So we have tornadoes currently capping off at 73 mph in travel speed. There are currently two records that I've seen of higher forward speeds.
1. This video:
Conducted by famed storm chaser Pecos Hank alongside professors from the University of Oklahoma, Appalachian State University, and University of Wisconsin, one of the 2014 Pilger twin EF4 tornadoes had a forward speed (travel speed) of 94.6 miles per hour, equivalent to 43.094656 m/s, somewhat higher than our cutoff point for Subsonic at 34.3 m/s. This wasn't recognized by the NOAA despite the presence of actual university entities, however.
2. This mention from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_records#Highest_forward_speed
The highest reported tornado forward speed, which came from the December 2021 Midwest derecho and tornado outbreak, had a forward speed of 88.65 mph, or 39.630096 meters per second. Looking at the cited source, however, it seems someone on Wikipedia mistook wind gusts for forward speed: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=993708
So a tornado that moved 94.6 miles an hour was recorded on video by people who have been there when it was around and Wikipedia had a dubious 88.65 mph figure sitting in its article. It's looking like there are possible Subsonic tornadoes.
1. This video:
Conducted by famed storm chaser Pecos Hank alongside professors from the University of Oklahoma, Appalachian State University, and University of Wisconsin, one of the 2014 Pilger twin EF4 tornadoes had a forward speed (travel speed) of 94.6 miles per hour, equivalent to 43.094656 m/s, somewhat higher than our cutoff point for Subsonic at 34.3 m/s. This wasn't recognized by the NOAA despite the presence of actual university entities, however.
2. This mention from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_records#Highest_forward_speed
The highest reported tornado forward speed, which came from the December 2021 Midwest derecho and tornado outbreak, had a forward speed of 88.65 mph, or 39.630096 meters per second. Looking at the cited source, however, it seems someone on Wikipedia mistook wind gusts for forward speed: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=993708
So a tornado that moved 94.6 miles an hour was recorded on video by people who have been there when it was around and Wikipedia had a dubious 88.65 mph figure sitting in its article. It's looking like there are possible Subsonic tornadoes.
