T. Theodore Fujita: His contribution to tornado knowledge through damage documentation and the Fujita scale

The Fujita scale and extensive documentation of tornado damage are two of T . Theodore Fujita's most important legacies. The Fujita scale is the primac y instrument for indirect estimates of tornado wind speed intensity used to day. This paper reviews the development and application of the Fujjta scale and points out the advantages and shortcomings of the scale, which Fujita clearly recognized. With regard to damage documentation, Fujita and his colleagues flew over mo re than 300 tornado damage swaths from 1965 to 1991. He had an uncanny abil ity to sort out damage indicators on the ground and come up with plausible flow patterns. He also had a unique ability to present his analysis in a cl ear, concise graphical form. The author collaborated with Fujita by means o f ground surveys and engineering analyses while under contract with the Uni ted States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Lessons learned from the Grand Is land, Nebraska; Grand Gulf, Mississippi; and Bossier City, Louisiana; torna does are described in the paper. The combination of ground and air surveys by an engineer and a meteorologist proved to be an effective team. It was a great pleasure to work with Ted Fujita, and the author doubts if anyone wi ll ever have the enthusiasm and intuition of Fujita over his long career.