Changes in the F/EF Scale in the Modern Era

I just posted the following graphic on Facebook:

I was interested in seeing how tornado damage has changed in the modern era defined as 1990-2012, the years that Doppler radar has been used for warning on severe thunderstorms that can or have produced tornadoes.  It's interesting to see that the tornado damage of EF5 was used 18 times since 1990.  Now, I need to put a little asterisk here seeing that the National Weather Service has only used the Enhanced Fujita Scale since February 2007, with the damage from the Greensburg, KS tornado being the first EF5.  So, actually, out of those 18 F5/EF5 damage tornadoes, only 8 tornadoes carry the illustrious EF5 moniker, while the others were rated F5 damage.

Now, F5 and EF5 are supposed to be similar ratings in order to protect the climatological record.  The F-Scale is a 1/4-mile wind originally used by Fujita (1971), while the EF-Scale is a 3-sec wind.  If you want all the juicy details see the Storm Prediction site at spc.noaa.gov/efscale.  

The EF-Scale is to take into consideration structural integrity and lately there has been discussion whether the Joplin tornado was worthy of the EF5 designation, see Mike Smith's blog here.  The fact remains that the EF-Scale, like its father, the F-Scale is subjective and carries an error of +/-1.  In most areas, this may seem trivial, but scientifically can mean the difference in an accurate database.

Now, for comparison, let's look at how the F-Scale faired from 1972-1989, prior to Doppler radar being widely used:

Note that from the inception of the F-Scale, which was widely used to survey the Super Outbreak of April 3-4, 1974, really for the first time, 0.10% of all tornado damage was rated F5.  Compare that to the modern era of 0.06% being rated F5/EF5 and it is pretty comparable, and this dataset includes Super Outbreak II that occurred April 24-28, 2011.

Has it been since June 7 that I made an installment on the blog?  Well a lot has happened since June 7th!  

I was selected on July 2, 2007 as the new Meteorologist in Charge at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Indianapolis, IN!!  Wow! First of all, what an opportunity to run a Weather Forecast Office!  Secondly, what a chance to live closer to family!  Recall that I am originally from Ohio ( I have two sisters in Ohio as well as several cousins) and my wife is from Wisconsin (she has much of her family in Wisconsin and Minnesota).

It was and is hard to leave Oklahoma after 11 years.  Our oldest, Danny, is a freshman at the University of Oklahoma, and we miss him terribly!  But, we also developed some close friends. Hey, Averyts, we miss you so much!  I do miss working at SPC, but things happen to us that God intends, and like my Mother always said, "Things happen for the best."  Knowing that God had this opportunity open to me must mean she was right!

I have enjoyed the new job.  New challenges, like learning several new segments to the job, i.e. budgets, counseling, leadership, aviation forecasting, AWIPS, radar and all that is exciting!!!  Just not enough hours in a day, and I would love to learn it all at once!  Like in the movie The Matrix where they download a program to learn how to fly a chopper and bang! they magically can do so as if they had 1000 hours flying time!  Boy, would that be great! 

But, everyone is doing fine in Indiana.  We look forward to new friends and having an easier time to visiting friends and family!

Fear of Interviews...or Fear of Getting an Interview

I'm talking about JOB interviews. I ventured through Monster.com looking at questions for job interviews. The most fearful question?

What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? It's 50-50 here. Go blank and you're dead.

Most interesting question? How many times to the hands on a clock overlap? Is that in a 12 or 24 hour period?

Why am I looking up questions for a job interview? Well, it's because I am hoping for one. See in my line of work, you apply for a promotion, you hope to be high on a list...high enough to be interviewed for the position. It sounds simple and can be. Or your name can be passed among others to be praised or smeared with the hope of being ranked to be interviewed.

So, what are your strengths and your weaknesses? Maybe one strength is knowing how many times the hand of a clock overlap.