The Fujita Scale

weather · tornadoes · science

Named after Ted Fujita. The scale was created by meteorologist Ted Fujita, who studied tornado damage to understand how strong these dangerous storms really were.

Damage tells the story. Instead of measuring wind speed directly, scientists use the Fujita scale to rate tornadoes by looking at what the storm destroyed, from broken trees to damaged buildings.

Now it's enhanced. The original Fujita scale was replaced by the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF-Scale) in 2007 because scientists found better ways to measure tornado strength more accurately.

Detectives investigate. After a tornado hits, meteorologists and engineers visit the area to survey damage, study ground patterns, and gather information to officially rate the tornado's intensity.

Spreading across borders. Canada started using the Enhanced Fujita scale in 2013 to rate their tornadoes the same way the United States does.