Significant Tornado Events

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Yeah, Kellerville. I've seen that claim a bunch of times but I don't think it's ever been substantiated as far as I know. What a fascinating tornado, though. I would love to get my hands on the hundreds of aerial photos from the damage survey.

It's a shame that all the damage surveys from that outbreak were "accidentally" discarded.
Also, that car being lofted in Moore is even more impressive as there is a ton of houses in its way, the tornado had enough strength to loft it high enough over the houses so that it got as far it did.
It makes me wonder how far the BMV Smithville lofted a half mile into the town's water would have gotten if not for the water tower....

 

[locomusic01]

It's a shame that all the damage surveys from that outbreak were "accidentally" discarded.
Also, that car being lofted in Moore is even more impressive as there is a ton of houses in its way, the tornado had enough strength to loft it high enough over the houses so that it got as far it did.
It makes me wonder how far the BMV Smithville lofted a half mile into the town's water would have gotten if not for the water tower....

That's why I find the Tionesta tornado throwing Jack Pinson's truck ~0.8 mi so impressive. Really wish I had photos of it, but assuming the descriptions are accurate, it was basically hurled up over a low ridgeline (covered with fairly tall trees) and down the other side. It must have had quite an arc to avoid just slamming into the treeline near where he'd abandoned it.

 

[joshoctober16]

somthing i made years ago (base map stich , then recolored in) i lost my sync project , i lost the map thing i made on google earth , note this is very old but ya , may 3 1999
View attachment zjipuvayszq512.png

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

That's why I find the Tionesta tornado throwing Jack Pinson's truck ~0.8 mi so impressive. Really wish I had photos of it, but assuming the descriptions are accurate, it was basically hurled up over a low ridgeline (covered with fairly tall trees) and down the other side. It must have had quite an arc to avoid just slamming into the treeline near where he'd abandoned it.

It's a shame there aren't many photographs of the high-end vehicle damage from this day....I'd love to find a better picture of the pickup truck that Atlantic threw half a mile or so and more or less accordioned it.

 

[locomusic01]

It's a shame there aren't many photographs of the high-end vehicle damage from this day....I'd love to find a better picture of the pickup truck that Atlantic threw half a mile or so and more or less accordioned it.

I still randomly get emails like a few times a month about 5/31/85, so I'm holding out hope that someday I'll get some of the pictures I know are out there. Maybe next spring if I have time I'll take a trip out that way and see what I can dig up in person. A few people said they had photos but they would only share if I'd go meet up with them (why, I have no idea) so who knows. The library in Tionesta also apparently has a bunch of photos and possibly videos (got conflicting info on that) that are only accessible in person.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I still randomly get emails like a few times a month about 5/31/85, so I'm holding out hope that someday I'll get some of the pictures I know are out there. Maybe next spring if I have time I'll take a trip out that way and see what I can dig up in person. A few people said they had photos but they would only share if I'd go meet up with them (why, I have no idea) so who knows. The library in Tionesta also apparently has a bunch of photos and possibly videos (got conflicting info on that) that are only accessible in person.

Did anyone tape Atlantic, Albion, or Kane? Any videos of that floating around?
Also, any Moshannon photos yet or is that another lose end?

The more I read your article (only halfway through) on this event, the more clear it is that quite a few tornadoes were underrated this day (Beaver Falls, Saegertown and Barrie being the most obvious) and that this outbreak really is unique; nothing else like it in the record.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

Did anyone tape Atlantic, Albion, or Kane? Any videos of that floating around?
Also, any Moshannon photos yet or is that another lose end?

The more I read your article (only halfway through) on this event, the more clear it is that quite a few tornadoes were underrated this day (Beaver Falls, Saegertown and Barrie being the most obvious) and that this outbreak really is unique; nothing else like it in the record.

Someone did indeed tape Albion. Loco got in contact with him, but the dude didn't want to part with the tape, then when Loco recommended some ways he could go get it digitalized himself he just vanished.

Also a lady's grandparents allegedly took at least one photo of Moshannon but she never found/came through to sending it to Loco.

 

[locomusic01]

Yeah, that about covers it lol. There's also aerial survey video of at least three tornadoes (Johnstown, Tionesta, Atlantic) and possibly others, but no one seems to know who has them. If anyone still has them. I was told the library in Tionesta has a tape from that survey but then someone there told me they didn't think so - one of many reasons I'd like to visit myself.

Plus even some of the people who did end up sending me photos didn't send everything they had. I tried explaining the stuff I was most looking for but tbh I don't think a lot of people really understand. As we've talked about here before, what looks most impressive to the average person isn't necessarily what's actually most interesting.

 

[locomusic01]

Oof. I was doing some research on the 6/20/57 Fargo F5 to map out the path and I came across the backstory to this famous/awful photo:

Spoiler

I knew that the girl in the photo was 5-year-old Jeanette Munson, and I knew a little bit about the context, but I'd never read the whole story. Turns out that her father, Gerald Munson, was a part-time truck driver who was away in Bismarck at the time of the tornado. He'd heard about it on the news and knew that it was bad, but details were scarce and the phone lines were all jammed. After a sleepless night spent at a hotel, he woke up the next morning and opened the newspaper to see that photo - the lifeless body of his little daughter - taking up much of the page. Right next to it, he found two of her siblings also listed among the victims. It was only once he made it back to Fargo that he learned he'd actually lost six of his children. I mean.. I genuinely can't even begin to fathom experiencing something like that.

On a slightly lighter note, man that tornado just looked mean. Something really captivating about those old black & white photos, especially at close range.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

Slightly off topic - I've recently been really into discussing Super Tuesday (mainly if any footage/video exists of tornadoes that aren't either spinups, Atkins or Hickory Ridge) and kind of want to make a whole topic about it. Is that alright?

EDIT: I also don't know what to make of that last Fargo image. Is the tornado the whole white thing or is it all of the black in that image?

 

[locomusic01]

Slightly off topic - I've recently been really into discussing Super Tuesday (mainly if any footage/video exists of tornadoes that aren't either spinups, Atkins or Hickory Ridge) and kind of want to make a whole topic about it. Is that alright?

EDIT: I also don't know what to make of that last Fargo image. Is the tornado the whole white thing or is it all of the black in that image?

Yeah man, go for it. I've never gone too in-depth on Super Tuesday but I'd like to at some point.

And the last photo shows the western edge of the tornado (the dark mass) surrounded by a ton of debris. If you look along the bottom of the previous photo you'll see the same grove of trees just above the building. The tornado's moving roughly far left to near right.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

eah man, go for it. I've never gone too in-depth on Super Tuesday but I'd like to at some point.

It is done.

Discussion of February 5, 2008 Outbreak

Good afternoon, I haven't seen a lot of Super Tuesday discussion so I thought it'd be appropriate to make a thread for it. For starters in this video at 1:04 I found a bit where if you brighten it enough you can actually see the Jackson EF4 in the darkness: Does anyone else have anything...

talkweather.com

 

[Casuarina Head]

It is done.

Discussion of February 5, 2008 Outbreak

Good afternoon, I haven't seen a lot of Super Tuesday discussion so I thought it'd be appropriate to make a thread for it. For starters in this video at 1:04 I found a bit where if you brighten it enough you can actually see the Jackson EF4 in the darkness: Does anyone else have anything...

talkweather.com

Ironically, one of the EF4s from Super Tuesday impacted the same areas as the Smith Branch TN F4 on 5 Apr 1936, especially in the Cerro Gordo area.

 

[Casuarina Head]

Also, put some more damage shots from the Cygnet tornado in an album so I didn't clog up the thread too much:

That tree in the middle shows Andover-, Hackleburg-, or El Reno-type debarking. It certainly lends credence to the possibility that Cygnet was F5-worthy.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I found a few other tornadoes (the tracks are kinda obscured by the little diamond shapes because I forgot to turn some of the damage markers off - too lazy to redo it lol) but that's about it. There were a few incidences of damage in Kentucky, southern Indiana and western North Carolina that possibly could've been tornadic, but nothing conclusive enough to include them.

Edit: I always forget I can just link to the Google Maps version. Tornadoes are listed on the left (probably self-explanatory, but the +/- indicate I personally consider the tornado stronger/weaker than its official rating).

April 5-6, 1936 Tornado Outbreak - Google My Maps

April 5-6, 1936 Tornado Outbreak

www.google.com

Tupelo's path is not that far off from Smithville's actually. And the tornado after it path reminds me of one of the Tanner tornadoes from 1974 and Hackleburg or Guin, but shifted further north.

 

[locomusic01]

Tupelo's path is not that far off from Smithville's actually. And the tornado after it path reminds me of one of the Tanner tornadoes from 1974 and Hackleburg or Guin, but shifted further north.

Yeah, it seems like any time you look into a major tornado event in the Deep South, there's a pretty good chance it involves Limestone and/or Madison County getting wrecked at some point. Speaking of which, not 100% sure I'm remembering this correctly, but I believe those are two of only three counties in the country to have had four E/F5s within their borders (the other being Harvey County, KS, partly because of Hesston-Goessel).

Anyway, at some points the 4/5/36 tornado track is only a few miles north of the 1974 and 2011 paths. I kinda suspect it was quite a bit stronger (and maybe significantly larger) than the records indicate, but it's hard to say with any confidence given the lack of photos. I didn't find a ton of info either, but what I did find - and at least somewhat substantiate - was pretty impressive. Probably also the longest track of the outbreak at ~71 miles, even if you consider Tupelo + Red Bay a single tornado (which I think is likely, personally).

Edit: Dear god, I just realized how much I use dashes and parentheses. It's like a visual representation of my ADD lol

 

[locomusic01]

One other thing on 1936 while I'm thinking about it: it's a little obscure, but I'd like to do something on the 4/30/36 mini-outbreak along the IA/MN border sometime too. Officially only like a half-dozen tornadoes, but it included several intersecting paths and a pair of F4s for which there are some awfully impressive photos.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

One other thing on 1936 while I'm thinking about it: it's a little obscure, but I'd like to do something on the 4/30/36 mini-outbreak along the IA/MN border sometime too. Officially only like a half-dozen tornadoes, but it included several intersecting paths and a pair of F4s for which there are some awfully impressive photos.

Tornado photos or damage photos?

 

[locomusic01]

Tornado photos or damage photos?

Damage. I did come across a photo once that was claimed to be the Okoboji F4 but IIRC it ended up being another tornado that hit the area in the 60s. That was pretty disappointing.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Yeah, it seems like any time you look into a major tornado event in the Deep South, there's a pretty good chance it involves Limestone and/or Madison County getting wrecked at some point. Speaking of which, not 100% sure I'm remembering this correctly, but I believe those are two of only three counties in the country to have had four E/F5s within their borders (the other being Harvey County, KS, partly because of Hesston-Goessel).

Anyway, at some points the 4/5/36 tornado track is only a few miles north of the 1974 and 2011 paths. I kinda suspect it was quite a bit stronger (and maybe significantly larger) than the records indicate, but it's hard to say with any confidence given the lack of photos. I didn't find a ton of info either, but what I did find - and at least somewhat substantiate - was pretty impressive. Probably also the longest track of the outbreak at ~71 miles, even if you consider Tupelo + Red Bay a single tornado (which I think is likely, personally).

Edit: Dear god, I just realized how much I use dashes and parentheses. It's like a visual representation of my ADD lol

The thing I've noticed is that it's specifically the section of northwestern Alabama from Marion and Lamar Counties to Limestone and Madison Counties that seems to be a highway for long-tracked, rain-wrapped and fast moving F/EF4 to F/EF5 tornadoes. These tornadoes also have a tendency to cross into far southern Tennessee (Lincoln and Franklin County, specifically) before dissipating. It must be the perfect balance of geography, climate, local topography, dew points and atmospheric instability.