Thread by @accuweather

Tetsuya ‘Ted’ Fujita was born on Oct. 23, 1920, in Kitakyushu City, Japan. Fujita became fascinated by weather at an early age and eventually moved to the United States to further his research. bit.ly/2ZdJswX

Fujita is credited with several monumental meteorological advancements while working as a researcher and professor at the University of Chicago: bit.ly/2ZdJswX

In 1971, Fujita unveiled a six-point rating system for categorizing tornado damage. This would become known as the Fujita Scale and helped him earn the nickname "Mr. Tornado." The scale would be used to analyze the historic super tornado outbreak of April 1974:

Fujita was described as an ‘incredibly meticulous’ individual who applied a forensic approach to meteorology. This would come in handy when it came to the discovery of a new meteorological phenomenon. bit.ly/2ZdJswX

Fujita helped investigate the cause of a plane crash in New York City in June 1975. He believed the plane had been struck by a weather phenomenon known as a microburst, a meteorological concept not broadly accepted at the time. bit.ly/2ZdJswX

Fujita led a team to publicly identify microbursts, which are columns of sinking air in a thunderstorm less than 2.5 miles in diameter that produce damage similar to tornadoes. The first documented microburst was eventually observed on radar by Fujita about three years later.

The discovery and acceptance of microbursts would dramatically improve flight safety. Fujita’s breakthrough helped decrease the number of aviation accidents and saved scores of lives. bit.ly/2ZdJswX

Fujita worked at the University of Chicago for his entire career. An obituary published by the University of Chicago said that Fujita continued his work despite being bedridden. He died on Nov. 19, 1998, at the age of 78. bit.ly/2ZdJswX