An EF-2 tornado produces wind speeds between 111 and 135 mph, placing it in the middle of the six-tier Enhanced Fujita Scale used to rate tornado intensity. It’s classified as a “significant” tornado, strong enough to tear roofs off well-built homes, shift houses off their foundations, and strip large trees down to bare trunks. While not the most powerful category, an EF-2 is far more destructive than the weak tornadoes that make up most of the annual count in the United States.
How the EF-2 Rating Works
The Enhanced Fujita Scale, adopted in 2007, rates tornadoes from EF-0 (the weakest, 65 to 85 mph) to EF-5 (the strongest, over 200 mph). Importantly, these ratings aren’t measured by sticking an instrument in the tornado’s path. Surveyors from the National Weather Service examine the damage afterward and work backward to estimate the wind speed that caused it. They look at 28 specific “damage indicators,” everything from the condition of residential roofs to how far debris traveled, and assign a rating based on the worst damage observed.
This means an EF-2 rating reflects what the tornado did to structures and the environment, not a direct wind measurement. A tornado that passes over open farmland with nothing to damage might be rated lower than its actual wind speed would suggest, simply because there’s no evidence to evaluate.
What Changed From the Original Scale
The Enhanced Fujita Scale replaced the original Fujita Scale because engineers discovered that the old system overestimated the wind speeds needed to cause certain levels of damage. Under the original scale, an F2 tornado was estimated at 113 to 157 mph. The updated EF-2 range of 111 to 135 mph reflects more accurate research into how buildings actually fail under wind loads. The damage described at the F2 level didn’t change much, but the wind speeds assigned to that damage came down significantly. This correction applied across the entire scale, with the biggest differences at the upper end.
Damage at the EF-2 Level
At 111 to 135 mph, winds exert roughly 40 pounds of force on every square foot of surface they hit. That’s enough to cause what meteorologists call “considerable” damage. For homes, this typically means entire roof sections lifted off, exterior walls collapsed, and mobile homes completely destroyed. Cars can be picked up and thrown short distances. Large signs and light poles are bent or snapped.
Trees take severe punishment at this level. Rather than simply losing branches or tipping over at the roots (which happens at lower wind speeds), trees in the path of an EF-2 tornado can be debarked and stripped down to branch stubs. What’s left standing often looks nothing like the original tree. This kind of damage to vegetation is one of the visual signatures that survey teams use to distinguish EF-2 damage from lower categories, especially in areas without many buildings.
How Common EF-2 Tornadoes Are
EF-2 tornadoes are uncommon relative to weaker tornadoes but far more common than the strongest ones. Of the roughly 78,500 rated tornadoes recorded in the U.S. between 1953 and 2022, about 11,200 were rated (E)F2. That works out to approximately 14% of all tornadoes, or an average of roughly 160 per year across the country.
For perspective, the weakest category (EF-0) accounts for nearly half of all tornadoes, and EF-1 tornadoes make up about a third. Combined, EF-0 and EF-1 represent over 80% of the total. Meanwhile, EF-4 and EF-5 tornadoes are exceedingly rare. Only 73 tornadoes rated (E)F5 were recorded in the entire 70-year dataset. So an EF-2 sits at a meaningful inflection point: strong enough to cause serious destruction, and frequent enough that thousands of communities have experienced one.
Interestingly, the annual count of EF-2 tornadoes has declined over the decades. In the early 1960s, roughly 200 to 250 were recorded per five-year period. By the 2010s and early 2020s, that number had dropped to around 500 to 600 per five-year window. Some of this decline likely reflects better survey techniques and more precise damage assessments rather than a true decrease in strong tornadoes.
EF-2 Tornadoes and Building Safety
A well-constructed permanent home can survive an EF-2 tornado, though it will likely sustain major roof and wall damage. The interior rooms on the lowest floor, especially bathrooms and closets near the center of the house, offer the best protection. Basements are better still. The structure may not be livable afterward, but the survival odds for people sheltering inside are vastly better than in weaker structures.
Mobile and manufactured homes are a different story entirely. Even an EF-1 tornado (one full category below EF-2) can completely destroy a mobile home. Residents of mobile homes account for about 54% of all tornado-related deaths that occur in homes, despite mobile homes making up a far smaller share of the housing stock. Living in a mobile home during a tornado makes you 15 to 20 times more likely to be killed compared to being in a permanent structure. For anyone in a mobile home when an EF-2 tornado threatens, the only real safety option is leaving before the storm arrives and reaching a sturdier building. The time to go is when a tornado watch is issued, not when the tornado is already visible.
How EF-2 Compares to Other Ratings
- EF-0 and EF-1 (65 to 110 mph): These cause broken branches, minor roof damage, and overturned sheds. Most homes remain structurally intact.
- EF-2 (111 to 135 mph): Roofs torn off frame houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or debarked. The jump from EF-1 to EF-2 represents a major increase in structural damage.
- EF-3 (136 to 165 mph): Entire stories of well-built homes can be destroyed, and heavy cars are thrown. The line between EF-2 and EF-3 often marks the difference between a home that can be repaired and one that’s a total loss.
- EF-4 and EF-5 (166 mph and above): Well-built homes are leveled or swept away entirely. These are the tornadoes that leave nothing but concrete slabs and bare ground.
Wind pressure increases with the square of wind speed, so the difference between categories is larger than the mph numbers alone suggest. A 135 mph wind pushes about 70% harder on a surface than a 110 mph wind does. That’s why the damage jump from EF-1 to EF-2 feels so dramatic even though the speed range only increases by about 25 mph.