Reuters AlertNet Lite - New U.S. tornado scale ready for February launch

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New U.S. tornado scale ready for February launch

17 Jan 2007 23:55:59 GMT
Source: Reuters

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A new U.S. scale to more accurately assess tornado damage is set to come into affect on Feb. 1, adding a list of 28 damage indicators such as building and tree types to the way destruction is measured.

"The 28 damage indicators ... give us a more accurate reading as far as damage is concerned," said Daniel McCarthy, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Storm Prediction Center.

The current system, known as the Fujita Scale, rates tornado damage on a basic scale of zero to five.

Tornadoes will still be rated from zero to five under the new Enhanced Fujita, or EF, scale but the indicators -- which are essentially the objects that have been damaged -- will be used to help determine in which category to place a twister.

Assessing the damage enables scientists to determine its wind speed or strength.

"The original scale had no accounting for construction type or weak structures such as mobile homes," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the National Weather Service.

The new system applies 8 levels of damage to one of the 28 "indicators". The list includes small barns, mobile homes, townhouses, small retail buildings and small office buildings.

To assess damage to trees it looks at whether or not a tree was a hard wood or soft wood.

The insurance industry -- which has a vested interest in more accurate assessments of tornado damage -- was involved in the development of the new scale.

Plans to bring the new system into effect in February this year were announced a year ago and officials on Wednesday at the American Meteorological Society's annual meeting confirmed that everything was on track.

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Last updated:Wed Jan 17 23:57:16 2007