2031 Birmingham, England tornado family (wsc)

The 2031 Birmingham, England tornado family consisted of the deadly and destructive Birmingham City F4 tornado, and 2 other additional tornadoes, which were rated as F0 and F1 on the Fujita-Pearson tornado damage scale. In total, £3.3 billion in damages was done, 149 people died, and 910 more were injured.

Synopsis
The morning of August 27th, 2031 was one of the most unpleasantly humid recorded in the West Midlands of England, UK. Dew points reached 22C, and a warm front began to collide with an anticyclonic area of high pressure, leading to atmospheric instability, which allowed for severe thunderstorms to be able to develop by 1pm. By 2:30pm, the Birmingham supercell had formed over the nearby Stourbridge, with instability values at 4700J/kg. Over the following few hours, 3 tornadoes touched down in Birmingham, which were rated F0, F1 and F4, causing havoc and disruption to any local populations impacted by the storms.

Maypole, Birmingham tornado
The first tornado of the family touched down a 4pm, in a field in Maypole. As the tornado tracked along the field, it slowly intensified, reaching its peak strength as an F1 as it struck some houses near to the High-street, peeling the roof tiles off the roofs. A car was also pushed off the High-street, narrowly missing another motorist. After this incident, the tornado weakened to F0 strength, snapping twigs off trees and smashing chimneys on nearby houses. The tornado lifted at 4:07pm, having caused £510,000 in damages, killed 1 person, and injured 5 others.

Kings Heath - New Street, Birmingham tornado
The strongest officially recorded tornado in the British Isles, this tornado narrowly missed an F5 rating on the Fujita - Pearson tornado damage scale. A funnel cloud was first seen near Druids Heath, Birmingham, at 4:33pm, which began to slowly descend to the ground. Touchdown occurred at 4:39pm, the tornado touched down at the bottom of the High-street, causing F1 damages at the start of the damage path, where a car was blown off the road, and crashed into a bus shelter at 4:40pm. As the tornado continued to move up the main High-street, it strengthened into an F2, ripping roofs off buildings, and developing a debris cloud. Any buildings hit had their windows smashed as the tornado passed those locations, and several people were injured by glass projectiles. Rapid intensification continued, and the tornado reached F3 status on the Kings Heath - Mosley borough line at 4:44pm, ripping entire walls off of their originating houses, whilst roofs were demolished off the buildings that took direct hits. At 4:50pm, the tornado reached the outer limits of the Birmingham City Centre, and the first areas of F4 damage were noted soon after this point was passed. A building was partially swept from its foundation, with the remaining pieces of the ruined building scattered close by. This was later judged to be down to a poor foundation quality. Cars in the areas close by were also thrown up to 12 metres from their points of origin. The tornado passed the Bull Ring Shopping Centre at 4:57pm, severely bending the metal support structures on the building, and smashing every window whilst it passed overhead. Possible F5 damage was also noted outside of the building, where a 2.5 tonne steel bull was ripped from the brick pavement outside, and thrown up to 600 metres from its point of origin, landing halfway down New Street, killing 1 person, and seriously injuring 2 more. Inside the Bull Ring itself, 312 people were injured, and 5 killed during the passage of the ferocious tornado. As the tornado approached New Street, it began to weaken, and by the time it arrived at New Street, it had been reduced to F2 strength, which puzzled scientists, because all of the conditions present were of usefulness to tornadogenesis (windshear an danother funnel being absorbed, in this case). Nonetheless, the storm carried on weakening as it tracked down New Street, causing F1 damage to buildings on the main Street, scattering bins, and generally causing a nuisance to local shoppers at the time of the tornadoes occurrence at 5:01pm. At 5:10pm, the tornado weakened to F0 strength, ripping away shop signs as it neared the Palisades Shopping Centre as it passed. The tornado finally lifted at 5:12pm, after causing 148 deaths, injuring hundreds more, and causing £3.2 billion in damages.

New Street, Birmingham tornado
At 4:55pm, just minutes before the Kings Heath - New Street tornado entered the area, another tornado touched down, near to the Bull Ring end of the Street. Apart from the snapping of trees, witness reports lacked to provide support of a very significant tornado. Also, the former F4 tornado entered the area at 5:01pm, before proper damage surveys could be assessed. Due to these reasons, the tornado later received an F0 rating, even though the recorded wind speeds reached 77mph, which is in the F1 range. The stronger tornado, now reduced to F2 strength, swept down the road minutes later, and managed to absorb this tornado. 1 death and 2 injuries were caused on New Street, but they were related to the F4 tornado, as a 2.5 tonne steel bull sculpture landed in the middle of New Street.

Possible tornado
A possible tornado touched down at 4:14pm, near to Northfield, Birmingham. However, it likely remained a funnel cloud, as the only ground damages seen by aerial surveys were grass being flattened by the storms winds.

Preperations
The Met Office had mentioned the possibility of tornadoes for the following day, due to the humidity and atmospheric instability forecast for the next day. The following afternoon, as the Birmingham supercell developed over Stourbridge, a tornado watch was issued for the West Midlands County. By 3:30pm, as a funnel cloud was spotted over Maypole by a trained storm spotter, a tornado warning was issued for Birmingham. By 4:30pm, the unstable anticyclonic system that had earlier collided with a warm front began a violent rotation, and a funnel, which later became the Kings Heath - New Street tornado, began to descend to the ground. The Met Office was briefed ont he developing weather situation, and the Birmingham City Metropolitan area was warned over the TVand radio of the imminent danger of a violent (F4+) tornado being likely to occur within a few minutes.

Impact
The Birmingham tornado family of August 27, 2031 was the deadliest, most costliest in British history, changing Birmingham forever. During the tornadoes, 149 people died, 910 were injured, and £3.3 billion in damages were caused, mostly by the F4 tornado that hit the Birmingham Bull Ring. After the catastrophic F4 tornado in Birmingham City Centre, a new law was passed, which stated that all new buildings must have an inbuilt storm cellar, and be able to withstand winds of at least 300mph.

Records
The outbreak was the costliest and deadliest to have ever occurred in British history, as well as producing the most violent tornado in British history, having being rated T9 (high end F4).

Rating disputes
The Kings Heath - New Street F4 tornado is listed as a possible F5 by many tornado experts, having ripped a 2.5 tonne steel bull sculpture from a brick pavement, and then thrown it at least 600 metres from where it originated outside of the Bull Ring Shopping Centre. The New Street F0 tornado is also disputed in its F0 ranking, due to F1 winds of 77mph being recorded by a professional storm chaser located in the area for the stronger former F4 tornado. However, since the stronger now F2 tornado reached the area only 6 minutes later, no aerial survey could be done, and so the tornado was rated F0, based on reports of only trees being snapped during the passage of the first tornado by witnesses.