Not sure if this is the right sub to ask this, but here we go.

I don’t really know a lot about tornadoes, other than I live right in the middle of Tornado Alley. I’ve been around a lot of them in my 30 years here. Where my Okies at?

The question I’m posing is, why can’t we just use air to disrupt them? Like an aerosol bomb, or some other kind of modified thermobaric weapon that wouldn’t harm anything.

This scale is a new proposal to replace the Enhanced Fujita scale. This scale represents the intensity not danger level of a tornado. We've decided to measure it by three variables, those being, Wind Speed, Ground Speed (forward speed), and Width. We've decided that the slower the ground speed, the more intense the tornado is, although this variable only affects 40% of the outcome, and decreases the higher the forward speed. (0 is most intense, and 120 is least). This scale is named the Walthicius scale, as a combination of two last names.

Walthicius Intensity Scale Summary

The Walthicius Intensity Scale is a 1 to 10 rating system that measures the raw intensity of a tornado, independent of the danger it poses to people or structures. This scale rates tornadoes based on three primary factors:

1. Wind Speed (km/h) - Higher wind speeds increase the tornado’s intensity score, as faster winds generate more destructive power.
2. Ground Speed (km/h) - The speed at which the tornado moves across the ground, with slower ground speeds correlating to a higher intensity. This is because slower-moving tornadoes can cause more damage by lingering longer over an area. To capture this:
   • Ground speed is weighted exponentially: slower ground speeds (closer to 0 km/h) have a disproportionately higher impact on the intensity score, while faster ground speeds (approaching the maximum of 120 km/h) contribute very little to the final intensity score.
3. Width (km) - The width of the tornado’s path, with wider tornadoes considered more intense because they affect a larger area.

Formula

The Walthicius Intensity Score is calculated by combining the three factors into a single score, with adjustments to ensure each factor contributes proportionally:

Intensity Score=f(Wind Speed,Ground Speed,Width)\text{Intensity Score} = f(\text{Wind Speed}, \text{Ground Speed}, \text{Width})Intensity Score=f(Wind Speed,Ground Speed,Width)

where:

• Wind Speed and Width are scaled linearly relative to the maximum observed values (e.g., 530 km/h for wind speed, 5 km for width).
• Ground Speed is scaled using an exponential decay, where speeds closer to 0 increase intensity significantly more than those closer to 120 km/h.

The final Intensity Score is normalized to fit within the 1 to 10 scale, with 10 representing the most intense possible tornado based on observed data.

Example

• A tornado with high wind speed, low ground speed, and a large width will score near the upper end (close to 10) on the scale, indicating extreme intensity.
• A tornado with moderate wind speed, high ground speed, and small width will score lower, indicating lower intensity.
• Walthicius Intensity Scale Summary

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-W-Rq6hpypktDDpXEzBLApnyQ5WrnpmSnNtVYUyYJjI/view

Another storm.

Does anyone have any high res tornado photos? Every picture out there seems to be low resolution, filled with jpeg artifacts - examples:

South of Parker, Colorado, 2009. Photo by Zachary Caron: https://i.imgur.com/StnhjwY.jpeg

https://vintagenewsdaily.com/a-young-girl-posing-in-front-of-a-tornado-in-nebraska-1989/

If you have any, please submit - ideally to something like lensdump.com instead of reddit which will compress and add more artifacts :)

Here are some historical tornado photos I found in exchange:

https://lensdump.com/i/nZMZXF

https://lensdump.com/i/nZMrr3

https://lensdump.com/i/nZMt40

https://lensdump.com/i/nZMTiq

I, personally, have never seen a supercell thunderstorm. At least I think so. The picture attached was taken a couple minutes ago, and I suspect this is a supercell. So, tornado experts, please tell me, is this a supercell?

Reynolds County— Sam Flowers

Annapolis— Merrill Stewart, unidentified niece of Carl Brown

Leadanna— Osero Kelley, unidentified husband of Clara Brown née Lewis’s cousin

Near Lixville— John Fulton, Perry Fellows, Harley Fellows, Amanda Hanners, Trula Henry, Irene Clements, Grant Miller, unidentified schoolgirl, unidentified schoolchild

Near Biehle— August Lappe, Joseph Blechle

Brazeau— Crittenden Bull

Near Frohna— Martha Kaempfe, Louise Stueve

Ridge— unidentified schoolchild