2013 El Reno tornado
Intensity
### Intensity

[thumb\|right\|Video of several sub\-vortices within the tornado.](/wiki/File:May_31%2C_2013_EF5_El_Reno%2C_OK_Tornado_showing_multiple_sub_vortices.ogv "May 31, 2013 EF5 El Reno, OK Tornado showing multiple sub vortices.ogv")
The intensity of the tornado has been a subject of internal debate within the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration](/wiki/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration"). The agency uses the [Enhanced Fujita Scale](/wiki/Enhanced_Fujita_Scale "Enhanced Fujita Scale") to rate and assess tornado intensity based on the damage left behind. This excludes the use of supplementary measurements, such as those from mobile [radar](/wiki/Weather_radar "Weather radar"), in concluding a tornado's intensity. Initially receiving an official EF3 rating based on damage, the El Reno tornado was subsequently upgraded to a radar\-estimated EF5 rating, the highest on the scale, based on data from a mobile radar. The [University of Oklahoma](/wiki/University_of_Oklahoma "University of Oklahoma")'s [RaXPol](/wiki/RaXPol "RaXPol") mobile Doppler weather radar, positioned at a nearby overpass, measured winds preliminarily analyzed as in excess of . These winds are considered the second\-highest ever measured worldwide, just shy of the  recorded during the [1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado](/wiki/1999_Bridge_Creek%E2%80%93Moore_tornado "1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado").

Revised RaXPol analysis found winds of  well above ground level and ≥ below , with some subvortices moving at . The strongest winds occurred in small [subvortices](/wiki/Multiple-vortex_tornado "Multiple-vortex tornado") along the south side of the main vortex. The two most intense vortices occurred north and east of the intersection of 10th Street and Radio Road, about  southeast of El Reno. The main funnel is believed to have had radar\-estimated EF4 winds, with wind speeds around . Radar\-estimated EF5 winds were only found aloft and in the smaller vortices that revolved around this funnel at . A revised analysis in 2015 revealed a peak wind of . In March 2024, NOAA and OU published a new analysis, which estimated that winds may have reached up to anywhere between .

Rick Smith, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Norman, stated that this tornado was among a "super\-rare" category within the EF5 rating. Smith also stated that it was fortunate the tornado did not track into more densely populated areas, particularly those within the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, "this would have been … I don't even want to imagine what it would have been." William Hooke, a senior policy fellow at the [American Meteorological Society](/wiki/American_Meteorological_Society "American Meteorological Society") stated that, "\[Oklahoma City] dodged a bullet...You lay that path over Oklahoma City, and you have devastation of biblical proportions."

On August 30, the National Weather Service office in Norman once again revised the intensity of the El Reno tornado. Keli Pirtle, a Public Affairs worker at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stated that, "despite the radar\-measured wind speeds, the survey team did not find damage that would support a rating higher than EF3\. While the wind measurements from the mobile radars are considered reliable, NWS policy for determining EF\-ratings is based on surveys of ground damage." The lack of EF5 damage was likely a result of the rural nature of the area, as the sub\-vortices that contained the EF5 wind speeds did not impact any structures.


What is the intensity scale used to rate tornadoes?