The United States’ 12-year streak without an EF-5 tornado has ended. On Monday (October 6), the National Weather Service (NWS) in Grand Forks confirmed that a violent twister that struck Enderlin, North Dakota, on June 20 reached winds of more than 210 mph, earning the highest possible rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
The massive tornado, more than a mile wide, killed three people and left behind catastrophic destruction.
Forensic wind evidence
According to the NWS, forensic damage analysis revealed unusually high wind speeds. The tornado tipped fully loaded grain hopper cars from a train and hurled an empty tanker car nearly 500 feet. In addition, trees were uprooted with their root balls and flung through the air, while others left standing were stripped of branches and bark, leaving only scarred trunks. A local farmstead was swept clean from its foundation, a hallmark of EF-5 strength.
Part of a violent outbreak
The Enderlin tornado was one of 25 twisters that touched down across North Dakota on June 20. The outbreak also produced a derecho and widespread damaging winds across much of the state, making it one of the most destructive weather events in the region in recent decades.
Breaking a record drought
Before this confirmation, the last EF-5 tornado in the US was the May 20, 2013 Moore, Oklahoma tornado, which devastated large parts of the city and killed 24 people. The 12-year gap that followed was the longest stretch without an EF-5 since records began in 1950.
