• Welcome to TalkWeather!
    We see you lurking around TalkWeather! Take the extra step and join us today to view attachments, see less ads and maybe even join the discussion.
    CLICK TO JOIN TALKWEATHER

Tornado Anniversaries

The main July 19th event was in 2018, with intense tornadoes striking Marshalltown and Pella.






https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcSVZ2OhUGvyUoZZlzDoSjY7OWPCmeLtY
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FOVeMgxijto&pp=ygUUSnVseSAxOSAyMDE4IHRvcm5hZG8=
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2JkwIqbuWHg&pp=ygUUSnVseSAxOSAyMDE4IHRvcm5hZG8=
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dTz47aEDmkQ&pp=ygUUSnVseSAxOSAyMDE4IHRvcm5hZG8=
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IdYHPiK4okY&pp=ygUUSnVseSAxOSAyMDE4IHRvcm5hZG8=
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OGuXcQMp87o&pp=ygUUSnVseSAxOSAyMDE4IHRvcm5hZG8=

But, IMO, more important in the grand scheme of things: Twisters made its US debut one year ago today.

https://www.reddit.com/r/tornado/comments/1m49pre/1_year_of_twisters_review/
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKKn11w4a4w
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jgdh2KDgbh0

No map today because the Redditor didn't upload it.
 
July 21: Will have to edit this post in more detail at a later date. Notable events included the Teton-Yellowstone F4 of 1987...


...and a few F4s in Iowa and Minnesota.

Map:
 
7/26: the day of the Reserve, MT EF3 in 2010. A very good argument can be made for EF4 for this tornado, which was likely Montana's strongest. Sadly, there were 2 fatalities.



Further details:
Unrelated to the current discussion but I strongly suspect the 7/26/2010 Reserve tornado was worthy of an EF4 rating and the actual strongest tornado in Montana's recorded history. The state's only official F4 (Glendive 1961) is not listed as a significant tornado by Grazulis and from what I've heard was literally a brief touchdown in an empty field. The Reserve tornado on the other hand completely destroyed the Smith Ranch at its peak intensity, sweeping away every building on the property with the exception of one quonset hut that was flattened regardless. A two-story ranch house was swept clean, and two people were killed there despite sheltering in the home's basement. In addition, a pickup truck was thrown a quarter mile, a combine was rolled "several times" per the NWS survey and left a mangled mess, and grain bins full of grain were obliterated, including one that had its foundation cracked. Though the ranch home was not well anchored, the damage seems pretty consistent with other tornadoes rated low-end EF4 including Pocahontas 2011 and Keota 2023 (the homes impacted in those cases were also not well constructed, but the contextual damage was still used to rate those tornadoes as violent including a combine wrecked in a very similar fashion by the Pocahontas County EF4).

Footage of the thing:


Screenshot_2021-05-08_Microsoft_Word_-_Sheridan_County_Tornado_Event_Summary__Final__-_sheridan2010_.png

View attachment 23057
View attachment 23058
Screenshot_2021-05-08_Microsoft_Word_-_Sheridan_County_Tornado_Event_Summary__Final__-_sheridan2010_.png


For reference, the combine in Reserve:
Screenshot_2021-05-08_Microsoft_Word_-_Sheridan_County_Tornado_Event_Summary__Final__-_sheridan2010_.png


The combine in Pocahontas (unlike Reserve this is a plowed farm field):
TORD_Pic.JPG

I think Reserve would have almost certainly gotten an F5 rating had it occurred before 1970 or so. I don't think it's an EF5 candidate though. Couldn't find any notable ground scouring or a scar on satellite imagery, nor did it debark trees (though it was more than likely capable of producing at least partial debarking to hardwoods, but I don't know how many trees it encountered considering that area of Montana is extremely remote). The similarly violent 2011 Almena, KS tornado also should have been rated EF4 since it not only managed to do both but actually picked up and threw heavy farm implements a considerable distance (a quarter mile if I'm not mistaken?)
 
7/26: the day of the Reserve, MT EF3 in 2010. A very good argument can be made for EF4 for this tornado, which was likely Montana's strongest. Sadly, there were 2 fatalities.



Further details:

Thanks I posted this above @Lake Martin EF4
 
Back
Top