Joplin High School
After three years in temporary campuses as a result of the 2011 tornado, Joplin High School opened at 2104 Indiana Ave. on September 2, 2014. The new facility combines a college, career and technology focused education along with Franklin Technology Center. The formal ribbon cutting ceremony was held on October 3, 2014. Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan attended the ceremony and spoke to the crowd. A ribbon representing the destructive path of the 2011 tornado was a part of the ceremony. Joplin High School Student Council President Sadie Wallner cut the ribbon.
Tornadoes in the United States
On May 3, 1999, a storm produced a violent tornado in the vicinity of Oklahoma City and was a part of the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak, which also brought many violent storms to the states of Kansas, Arkansas, and Tennessee. In total, the storm produced 66 tornadoes over four states. The strong F5 storm took place near the town of Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, located in Grady County. During the storm, a group of students in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma had chased the storm on a Doppler on Wheels (or DOW), which scans storms while attached to a car. Doppler on Wheels data from the nearby storm revealed winds of , which was over the wind speed in the F5 classification of that time. Though the wind speed was over the F5 maximum, the tornado was not named the first ever F6 storm, as there was no F6 classification. Other scientists reviewed the DOW data taken by the students, and concluded that the estimated wind speed may have been inaccurate, but still over . Also, the wind speed recorded was taken from over above ground level. The National Weather Service also did a damage check, and found that the damage was that of an average F5 tornado.