Peels surface off some roofs; broken tree branches; shallow-rooted trees pushed over; sign boards damaged.
Most tornadoes (≈60% of US tornadoes) fall in this range.
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BETAEF0Light damage65–85 mph (3-second gust) EF1Moderate damage86–110 mph (3-second gust) EF2Considerable damage111–135 mph (3-second gust) EF3Severe damage136–165 mph (3-second gust) EF4Devastating damage166–200 mph (3-second gust) EF5Incredible damage>200 mph (3-second gust)
BETAThe Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale
How tornadoes are sized, the damage they cause, and how every rating is determined by surveyors after the storm.
The Enhanced Fujita scale has been the official US tornado rating system since February 2007, replacing the original Fujita (F) scale developed by Dr. Tetsuya Fujita in 1971. It runs from EF0 (weakest) to EF5 (strongest).
Crucially, the EF rating is not measured directly — wind speeds inside a tornado are almost never observed. Instead, the National Weather Service (NWS) sends survey teams to inspect damage on the ground and estimates the peak wind speed from what they see.
The six ratings
Roofs severely stripped; mobile homes overturned or badly damaged; loss of exterior doors; windows and other glass broken.
Equivalent to a strong hurricane gust.
Roofs torn off well-constructed houses; foundations of frame homes shifted; mobile homes completely destroyed; large trees snapped or uprooted; light-object missiles generated; cars lifted off the ground.
About 1 in 10 tornadoes reach EF2 or stronger.
Entire stories of well-constructed houses destroyed; severe damage to large buildings such as shopping malls; trains overturned; trees debarked; heavy cars lifted off the ground and thrown.
Considered a 'violent' tornado at the upper end.
Whole frame houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown some distance; cars thrown and small missiles generated.
Roughly 1% of tornadoes — extremely destructive.
Strong frame houses leveled off foundations and swept away; automobile-sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 m; high-rise buildings have significant structural deformation.
Fewer than 60 confirmed EF/F5 tornadoes in US recorded history (since 1950).
How the rating is determined
After a tornado, NWS meteorologists conduct a damage survey — often within hours — driving the path, photographing wreckage, and sometimes flying drones or aircraft. They compare what they find against a standardized list of 28 Damage Indicators (DIs) and Degrees of Damage (DOD) published with the EF scale.
Examples of Damage Indicators
- One- and two-family residences (most common DI)
- Mobile homes (single- and double-wide)
- Apartments, motels, and small retail buildings
- Schools, hospitals, and institutional buildings
- Strip malls, shopping centers, big-box retail
- Trees — both hardwood and softwood
- Service stations, towers, and free-standing poles
Each indicator has its own ladder of damage degrees. For a typical wood-frame house, the degrees range from threshold of visible damage (DOD 1, ~65 mph) up to destruction of engineered and well-built structures (DOD 10, ~200 mph). Surveyors pick the highest-rated damage along the path that they're confident reflects tornado wind — not flying debris or pre-existing weakness — and that wind estimate becomes the tornado's official EF rating.
Because the rating depends on what the tornado hit, a violent tornado that crosses only open fields can be rated lower than its true intensity. Conversely, the scale was specifically designed so that a well-built home is required for an EF4 or EF5 rating — a rare combination that explains why EF5s are so uncommon.
Preliminary vs. final ratings
Tornadoes shown on this map within the last few weeks may be marked as preliminary. Initial ratings can change — usually downward — as survey teams refine their conclusions and the data is reviewed by the NWS Storm Prediction Center before being added to the official record.
Surveyed tracks from the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit (DAT) show the actual path investigators walked, including curves and multiple touchdowns. The historic SPC database, by contrast, represents most paths as straight start-to-end lines.