Tetsuya Theodore Fujita

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Tetsuya Theodore Fujita

Tetsuya Theodore Fujita ( Japanese 藤田 哲 也 , Fujita Tetsuya ; born October 23, 1920 in Kitakyushu , † November 19, 1998 in Chicago ) was one of the most important storm researchers of the 20th century . He taught at the University of Chicago .

Major parts of the current meteorological knowledge of severe thunderstorms , tornadoes and tropical cyclones go back to him. He is also considered the discoverer of downbursts and is particularly known for the Fujita scale , which relates the damage of a tornado to its wind speed. With friends and also in the media this has given him the nickname “Mr. Tornado "introduced.

The "super tornado" of 1974

In April 1974, the United States saw the largest tornado outbreak on record ( Super Outbreak ). The " Xenia (Ohio) Tornado" and the "Monticello (Indiana) Tornado" are still notorious today. Fujita and his students evaluated aerial photographs and two video camera recordings, which were still very rare at the time, and were able to prove that large tornadoes are often "danced around" by smaller funnels - and that houses in the tornado do not explode from the internal pressure, which had to be opened until then the window is pointless and takes precious seconds to seek protection. The extremely long-running "Monticello tornado" brought Fujita to the theory of the "downburst" winds, which he was only able to prove years later.

The documentary series " Seconds Before Misfortune " created a memorial for Fujita and the events of 1974 in episode 43.

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personal data
SURNAME Fujita, Tetsuya Theodore
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 藤田 哲 也 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese storm explorer
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Kitakyushu
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1998
Place of death Chicago