A meteorologist known as “Mr. Tornado”, Fujita came up with the measurement standard to classify the strength of tornadoes, and was the first to realize that strong, downward air blasts — microbursts — were the cause of some plane crashes.
That discovery, first applied to a 1975 plane crash in New York, led to Doppler radar being installed at major airports. Born and educated in Japan, he joined the University of Chicago in 1953, and most recently working in their Wind Research Laboratory. Fujita died November 19 at age 78.