Strong Wind Indeed

Wunder Blog : Weather Underground

The May 22 EF-5 tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri has apparently set a new record for longest transport of debris by a tornado. According to MSNBC, a couple living in Royal Center, Indiana, in North Central Indiana, 525 miles from Joplin, found a receipt from the Joplin Tire store three days after the tornado hit Joplin. According to Ernest Agee, a Purdue University professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and tornado expert, "This paper traveled more than twice as far as the longest distance recorded for debris from a storm. The previous record was a cancelled check that traveled 210 miles after the 1915 tornado in Great Bend, Kansas. The distance paper travels is directly proportional to the intensity of the tornado. This paper's journey is a testament to the strength of the EF5 tornado that struck Joplin and what that city went through." Agee estimated that the receipt got sucked into the tornado and spat into the jet stream, where it traveled for 12.5 hours before settling to the ground.