The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale serves as the standard measure for classifying tornado intensity in the United States. This scale is divided into six categories, ranging from EF0 up to EF5, with EF5 representing the most extreme and violent storms. The rarity and destructive power of EF5 storms make them infrequent occurrences. Finding the exact date of the last confirmed event highlights a significant benchmark in meteorological history.
Understanding the Enhanced Fujita Rating System
The Enhanced Fujita Scale became fully operational in the United States on February 1, 2007. The National Weather Service uses this method to assign a severity rating to a tornado. It replaced the original Fujita Scale, which was found to overestimate the wind speeds necessary to cause damage. The EF Scale uses damage as a proxy to estimate wind speed, because direct measurement of a tornado’s highest wind gusts remains difficult.
The EF Scale incorporates 28 different damage indicators, such as building types and structures, along with eight degrees of damage for each indicator, allowing for detailed analysis. For a tornado to be classified as an EF5, the estimated three-second wind gusts must exceed 200 miles per hour. This revised system provides a more accurate correlation between observed damage and estimated wind speeds, factoring in variables like construction quality.
The Most Recent EF5 Tornado
The last confirmed EF5 tornado in the United States occurred on June 20, 2025, near Enderlin, North Dakota. This storm ended a significant twelve-year period without an EF5 classification, which had begun after the previous event in 2013. The tornado was part of a larger severe weather outbreak that swept across the northern Great Plains.
The final rating was upgraded to EF5 following a detailed post-event survey by the National Weather Service, estimating maximum wind speeds that exceeded 210 miles per hour. Although the tornado had a short lifespan of only 16 minutes, it carved a path of destruction over 12 miles long and reached a maximum width of over one mile. The event resulted in three fatalities and zero injuries, occurring in a rural area.
The extreme damage indicators observed were crucial to the final EF5 classification. Survey teams noted that the storm completely destroyed a farmstead, with the foundation of at least one building swept clean of debris. Further evidence included the tipping over of fully loaded grain train cars and the lifting and throwing of an empty tanker car approximately 450 feet off the tracks.
Rarity and Criteria for EF5 Classification
EF5 tornadoes are exceptionally rare events, primarily due to the stringent and specific damage required for classification. Since the implementation of the Enhanced Fujita Scale in 2007, only a handful of tornadoes have been officially rated EF5. The infrequency of these ratings is due to the fact that a tornado must strike a structure designed to a high standard to provide the necessary damage evidence.
The classification process relies on a post-event damage assessment. Meteorologists and engineers examine specific Damage Indicators (DIs) and their corresponding Degrees of Damage (DoD). To achieve an EF5 rating, the damage must be cataclysmic, often involving the complete destruction of well-built, frame homes where the debris is granulated and the slab foundation is swept clean. Other indicators include extreme ground scouring and the deformation of massive structures like steel-reinforced concrete buildings or large transmission towers.
Simply having high wind speeds is not enough; the winds must interact with a structure to produce the maximum degree of damage. Many strong tornadoes that pass through open country are rated lower because they do not encounter the necessary structures to confirm the most extreme level of destruction. This reliance on observable damage, rather than direct measurement of wind speed, explains why the EF5 rating is seldom assigned.