Significant Tornado Events

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Possibly, but even if it did, I am very confident it was the same tornado throughout all of Illinois. Still the damage intensity, swath and direction do line up which would be very coincidental imo. I managed to find complete aerial imagery in 1938 of Illinois and could still make out the scar of the tornado, if only i could find one for Missouri.

Yeah I was talking about the Missouri portion of the path, not Illinois.

 

[HAwkmoon]

Yeah I was talking about the Missouri portion of the path, not Illinois.

I know, its just most of the damage occurred in Illinois, I am still looking to see if I can find 1938 aerial imagery for Missouri like I did with Illinois.

 

[SHA]

I know, its just most of the damage occurred in Illinois, I am still looking to see if I can find 1938 aerial imagery for Missouri like I did with Illinois.

The area in the path of the tornado in Missouri was apparently clear cut around 1900 and was low-lying shrub in 1925 and in the 1938 aerial imagery so it would be interesting to see if you could extract a swath of some kind from it using modern image analysis.

Fujita at some point classified tornado families into three modes and I always thought the series mode where the tornado paths are aligned end to end was a possible mechanism that could have masked any obvious breaks, perhaps better than a merger would. It would be interesting to hear how likely that scenario would be.

 

[Ivanthetornadoenthusiast]

@locomusic01 how many April 3rd, 1974 photos that you have uploaded here?

 

[SpotlightForRareTornadoes]

The YouTubing Storm Chasers Who Were Almost Killed LIVE ~ The Case of H.R. Chris & Tanner Charles.







On April 4th, 2023, a high-end EF3 tornado touched down over rural areas near Lewistown, IL. Officially, nothing was historically notable according to the N.W.S. But for the storm-chasing community on YouTube, it was witnessing history almost repeating itself. Only this time, it was captured live on camera. Although they would both walk away from their totaled cars without a scratch, the horrifying videos released on Tanner's and Chris's YouTube channels cemented the 2023 Lewistown EF3 as the worst storm-chasing Incident since El Reno. This is the tale of the Lewistown accident.


In loving memory of Chris's 2011 Prius (2011-2023)

 

[andyhb]

Ok, I just have to laugh at "most dangerous tornado since El Reno".

Those two got themselves in that situation because they were being stupid, not because the tornado was anything particularly noteworthy in terms of volatility.

 

[warneagle]

Ok, I just have to laugh at "most dangerous tornado since El Reno".

Those two got themselves in that situation because they were being stupid, not because the tornado was anything particularly noteworthy in terms of volatility.

I was gonna say. At least the people who got caught by Rolling Fork can say they were chasing highway-speed wedges after dark in Mississippi (not a #lifechoice I would make but different strokes). If you get caught by a daytime tornado in rural Illinois you goofed.

 

[Sawmaster]

I'm fond of certain words and phrases the British use which have no direct equal on this side of the pond. These guys in the vid are "numpties"

 

[TH2002]

We already have an entire thread dedicated to this subject... but since it's been brought up here, might as well post what is my all-time favorite video of storm-chasing stupidity:

 

[HAwkmoon]

Has anyone got any images of vehicle damage from Bakersfield Valley?

 

[SpotlightForRareTornadoes]

Ok, I just have to laugh at "most dangerous tornado since El Reno".

Those two got themselves in that situation because they were being stupid, not because the tornado was anything particularly noteworthy in terms of volatility.

Tanner had been chasing for 15 years; it says so in the disclaimer at the beginning of the video. They were not being stupid on purpose

 

[andyhb]

Tanner had been chasing for 15 years; it says so in the disclaimer at the beginning of the video. They were not being stupid on purpose

Just because someone has been chasing for a long time doesn't mean they didn't do something stupid. Riske absolutely did.

 

[Aaron Rider]

I was gonna say. At least the people who got caught by Rolling Fork can say they were chasing highway-speed wedges after dark in Mississippi (not a #lifechoice I would make but different strokes). If you get caught by a daytime tornado in rural Illinois you goofed.

Any video of the Rolling Fork chase in question?

 

[locomusic01]

Has anyone got any images of vehicle damage from Bakersfield Valley?

I think these are all my Bakersfield Valley photos: https://talkweather.com/threads/significant-tornado-events.1276/page-250#post-62186

 

[locomusic01]

Does the book by Bob Johns titled "The 1925 Tri-state Tornado's devastation in Franklin, County, Hamilton County, and White County, Illinois" have any images of the damage in these rural areas? There seems to be a lack of documentation in this area specifically.

There are a handful of photos, some of which I don't think I've seen anywhere else. If I have time and can remember I'll take some screenshots later. Not as much as I was hoping when I bought it tbh, but nice to see some photos from some more poorly documented areas.

By the way, the link doesn't exist anymore

The Wayback Machine has it, but it looks like it didn't archive the video. No idea what photos may've been in it.

Any luck finding where these ones are, the first one looks like Griffin but the second one?

No, I don't have any documentation for them and haven't really had time to do a deep dive and see if I can glean any more info.

@locomusic01 how many April 3rd, 1974 photos that you have uploaded here?

Not entirely sure what you're asking. Is there something specific you're looking for?

 

[TH2002]

One scarcely mentioned tornado event is the May 31, 1998 Northeast outbreak. Despite it being the only issuance of a Northeastern high risk in the SPC's history and an incredible outbreak by the standards of the region, it has been virtually forgotten. 32 tornadoes ultimately swept through New York and Pennsylvania, killing one person and injuring 109 others. Of the 32 tornadoes, six were rated F3 - three each in New York and Pennsylvania. This post will take a brief look at all of the F3 tornadoes from the event:

Mechanicville, NY
68 people were injured by this tornado, the highest number of injuries from any tornado during this outbreak. Peak intensity was attained in the Viall Hill neighborhood of Mechanicville. Homes were destroyed with some being completely leveled, vehicles were tossed with some reportedly being carried hundreds of yards, trees were partially debarked, and debris from the area was found 12 miles away. While the damage was officially rated F3, it is probably more deserving of a low-end F4 rating than the state's only official F4 (July 10, 1989).

Morris-Milford, NY
Rated F3 solely based on tree damage. According to the survey report, 500 acres of trees near Dutch Hill Road and Lane Hill Road were completely flattened save for a few denuded tree trunks. Lane Hill Rd. was rendered impassable by downed trees that were "dumped on top of one another". Three people were injured.

Binghamton, NY
Tornado moved through the southern part of Binghamton at F2 intensity. Vehicles were rolled, a garbage dumpster was tossed over 100 yards, and mobile homes were destroyed. The WIVT television station was severely damaged: its 1000 ft. tall TV tower collapsed, and a VHS tape from the station was found one and a half miles away. Further east in the towns of Sanford and Deposit, the tornado reached F3 intensity as well-built homes were destroyed, some being left with only a few walls left standing. A total of 12 people were injured along the path.

 

[TH2002]

(Had to split this into two separate posts...)

Pecks Pond, PA
Thousands of trees were blown down along a 20-mile path, and a vacation home was completely leveled save for an interior wall and some bolted-down metal cabinets. Two people were injured.

Lyons, PA
Tornado devastated the small community of Lyons, affecting about 1/4 of the residents there. Well constructed homes lost roofs and exterior walls, while poorly constructed homes and mobile homes were completely destroyed. Seven people were injured.

Salisbury, PA
Tornado devastated the town of Salisbury, where one person was killed and 12 others injured. Dozens of homes and about 15 businesses in the heart of town were heavily damaged or destroyed. Many had their roofs completely torn off, and a few lost exterior walls as well. As the tornado exited Salisbury it destroyed a furniture factory, with some semi-trailers in the parking lot being tossed a considerable distance away. Further east in the town of Pocahontas, a poorly constructed home slid off its foundation and collapsed, and well-built homes lost roofs and exterior walls.
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[Ivanthetornadoenthusiast]

There are a handful of photos, some of which I don't think I've seen anywhere else. If I have time and can remember I'll take some screenshots later. Not as much as I was hoping when I bought it tbh, but nice to see some photos from some more poorly documented areas.


The Wayback Machine has it, but it looks like it didn't archive the video. No idea what photos may've been in it.


No, I don't have any documentation for them and haven't really had time to do a deep dive and see if I can glean any more info.


Not entirely sure what you're asking. Is there something specific you're looking for?

I'm curious about the photos from the violent tornadoes (such as Resaca, Murphy, Clinton County, Jasper and probably Hamburg) that occurred during the 1974 Super Outbreak

 

[TH2002]

Totally random, but I think I've solved the mystery of the elusive 2/8/1978 SoCal F3 tornado.

For one, the location visible on the Tornado Archive (from the NCEI database) is completely wrong. An error in the NCEI entry transposes the location to the middle of nowhere in the Colorado Desert, when the event actually occurred in Huntington Beach. There, the storm demolished a trailer park, resulting in six injuries and $3 million worth of damage. In 2005, the event was re-analyzed as an F2 tornado by a former NWS Los Angeles meteorologist.

Also, the date of February 8 comes from the fact that the tornado start times in the official NCEI entries are listed in the UTC time code. The tornado happened on February 9 local time.

 

[SpotlightForRareTornadoes]

Totally random, but I think I've solved the mystery of the elusive 2/8/1978 SoCal F3 tornado.

For one, the location visible on the Tornado Archive (from the NCEI database) is completely wrong. An error in the NCEI entry transposes the location to the middle of nowhere in the Colorado Desert, when the event actually occurred in Huntington Beach. There, the storm demolished a trailer park, resulting in six injuries and $3 million worth of damage. In 2005, the event was re-analyzed as an F2 tornado by a former NWS Los Angeles meteorologist.

Also, the date of February 8 comes from the fact that the tornado start times in the official NCEI entries are listed in the UTC time code. The tornado happened on February 9 local time.

I wish there were footage of it.