Tornado Enhanced Fujita Scale Wind Speed Estimator
Look up EF tornado scale wind speeds, damage descriptions, and frequencies for any EF0 to EF5 tornado rating.
Calculate dynamic pressure and energy comparisons.
Tornado EF Scale Results
Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale Introduced in 2007 as an improvement over the original Fujita scale. The EF scale rates tornado intensity based on observed damage, then estimates wind speeds.
EF Scale Wind Speed Ranges
- EF0: 65–85 mph (105–137 km/h) — Light damage
- EF1: 86–110 mph (138–177 km/h) — Moderate damage
- EF2: 111–135 mph (178–217 km/h) — Considerable damage
- EF3: 136–165 mph (218–266 km/h) — Severe damage
- EF4: 166–200 mph (267–322 km/h) — Devastating damage
- EF5: >200 mph (>322 km/h) — Incredible damage
Dynamic Pressure The force a wind exerts on a surface: q = 0.5 × rho × v² Where rho = 1.225 kg/m³ (air density) and v = wind speed in m/s.
Frequency Distribution (USA)
- EF0: ~53% of all tornadoes
- EF1: ~32%
- EF2: ~11%
- EF3: ~3%
- EF4: ~1%
- EF5: <0.1% (extremely rare — about 1 per year on average)
Key Damage Indicators The EF scale uses 28 official Damage Indicators (houses, trees, poles, etc.) with degrees of damage to estimate wind speed — not anemometer readings inside a tornado.