“It is what we use to determine the strength of the tornado. It was used from a specific time, the early 1970s, when it was invented by Dr. Ted Fujita,” Katalina shared. “It’s a scale from 0-5 based on the damage left behind and the wind speeds from a tornado. The F scale was from the 1970s when it was invented, and ran all the way to 2007 when they upgraded the scale to EF… The scale was groundbreaking at the time, but it was limited because it didn’t account for different construction types or building strength. So it didn’t matter what the structural integrity of the building was.”
“The goal was to match the wind speeds, the damage, and the population, the way the structures were made. It was just an easier way to classify it, because again, we live in a really good country as far as destruction and civilization go. We are very privileged here in America to have a lot of steel, iron stuff that they don’t have in other third-world countries across the seas,” Carter added.
“Let’s say you can have an F5 produced out in the planes, not hitting anything, untouched, unharmed, leaving everyone unharmed. They’re going to call it F5 because it was so big, it had all this cool stuff,” Carter explained. “In the EF scale, because there’s no population, no building structures, none of this, that and whatever, they’re gonna rate it slower, they’re gonna rate it lower.”
Even though the EF Scale replaced the F Scale in 2007, some meteorologists and records still use the old system.
“I talked to meteorologist Susana Harvard about it, because I was like, I don’t understand, like, ‘Why are they still using the F scale, if that retired in 2007,’ and she’s like, ‘Sometimes it’s just simpler to use that. They put F instead of EF,’ Katalina shared. “We upgraded, but we’re still using both of those things to grade these tornadoes and understand the damage that they’ve caused.”
“Did you know that in the Big Country, our strongest tornado that ever occurred is the Brown County tornado? Back in 1976, it was an F5. A website called tornado tracks to find the strongest tornado in each county. It was an F5; that’s what they rated it as. I guess that makes sense because it was back in 1976,” Katalina said. “That was actually around the time that the Fuji scale came out. But thankfully, there were no fatalities reported. There were 11 injuries, but the path was 10 and a half miles in length, and it was 440 yards in width.”
Katalina recalled seeing the devastation of an EF5 tornado firsthand in 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.
“I remember when it happened. My dad actually took us to Oklahoma to help with the cleanup,” Katalina recalled. “They brought us and they were like, ‘Hey, look, this is what happens, like destruction, and you can lose everything in an instant.’ You need to be grateful for everything that you have, because there are families going through this right now. He took us up to Moore just to show us and to help… I remember leaving, and I was like, Wow. I couldn’t imagine that happening to myself, because it happens to families every severe season. I remember going up there and helping and digging through all the debris, and it was pretty shocking.”
The most recent EF5 tornado occurred in Enderlin, North Dakota, on June 20, 2025.
“Estimated winds over 210 miles per hour. The path was about 12 miles long, and it was just over a mile wide. First EF5 since 2013, like we talked about. But again, there was incredible destruction. You’re talking about heavy machinery tossed, farm structures leveled, train cars derailed. All the stuff that you hear in textbooks pretty much happened here in Enderlin. But what also made this case very special is, again, it was upgraded. You don’t see that a lot,” Carter shared.
Switching gears, Carter and Katalina also discussed the recent devastation from Hurricane Melissa, which hit Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica.
“I actually spoke with a couple that’s from Burnett, Texas,” Katalina said. “They went on their honeymoon to Jamaica. They were aware that there was a system coming, but from what I had read myself, Melissa wasn’t supposed to become what it became. It was originally a tropical storm… They want to stay and help. They were not itching to get back home right away. They were like, if we’re here, we’re helping. That just proves that when these catastrophic events happen, people come together and they want to help each other. I think that’s like the most important, so seeing that is truly beautiful.”
Before wrapping up, Katalina shared a quick reminder:
“It’s time for daylight saving time to end. We’re falling back. So on November 2, at 2:00 a.m., we are changing our clocks back. So friendly reminder, don’t forget!”
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