Significant Tornado Events

[TH2002]

Looks like there was 2 tornadoes that struck the town that day, or it was a multivortex event, not sure:

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View attachment 10085

What about the June 1907 Norton County KS tornadoes? Based on this photo of the Gentry residence I would assume at least one of the tornadoes that touched down that day was violent.

Some articles say there were no fatalities, others say there was one fatality. Do any of Grazulis' entries mention the Gentry residence specifically?

 

[TH2002]

What about the June 1907 Norton County KS tornadoes? Based on this photo of the Gentry residence I would assume at least one of the tornadoes that touched down that day was violent.

Some articles say there were no fatalities, others say there was one fatality. Do any of Grazulis' entries mention the Gentry residence specifically?

Also looking for Grazulis' entry on the 1914 Frederick KS tornado. I've read that the tornado pretty much destroyed the town, then a fire in 1934 destroyed the town again and the population has slowly declined ever since, but the town still exists.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

What about the June 1907 Norton County KS tornadoes? Based on this photo of the Gentry residence I would assume at least one of the tornadoes that touched down that day was violent.

Some articles say there were no fatalities, others say there was one fatality. Do any of Grazulis' entries mention the Gentry residence specifically?

What about the June 1907 Norton County KS tornadoes? Based on this photo of the Gentry residence I would assume at least one of the tornadoes that touched down that day was violent.

Some articles say there were no fatalities, others say there was one fatality. Do any of Grazulis' entries mention the Gentry residence specifically?

According to this article this event occurred in 1909....https://www.kshs.org/km/items/view/312939

Also, Grazulis has several tornadoes entries for June 22, 1907 in Kanas and all are rated F3, nothing I could find mentioning a "Gentry" residence specifically.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Also looking for Grazulis' entry on the 1914 Frederick KS tornado. I've read that the tornado pretty much destroyed the town, then a fire in 1934 destroyed the town again and the population has slowly declined ever since, but the town still exists.

Do you know the date on this one?

 

[TH2002]

Do you know the date on this one?

One source says March 28, 1914 but I haven't been able to confirm. There are several articles about the town of Frederick that mention the tornado happened in 1914, but don't give an exact date.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

One source says March 28, 1914 but I haven't been able to confirm. There are several articles about the town of Frederick that mention the tornado happened in 1914, but don't give an exact date.

So I came across this, and the photo is dated 1909.

Frederick, Kansas-Home of John Ontjes after Cyclone Mar. 1914 KS RPPC Postcard | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Frederick, Kansas-Home of John Ontjes after Cyclone Mar. 1914 KS RPPC Postcard at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

The adventure continues....

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

According to this article this event occurred in 1909....https://www.kshs.org/km/items/view/312939

Also, Grazulis has several tornadoes entries for June 22, 1907 in Kanas and all are rated F3, nothing I could find mentioning a "Gentry" residence specifically.

Did this 1907 event go through Larned as well?

 

[TH2002]

Did this 1907 event go through Larned as well?

Not as far as I know, and does Grazulis have any fatalities for June 22, 1907? Sources conflict.

So I came across this, and the photo is dated 1909.

Frederick, Kansas-Home of John Ontjes after Cyclone Mar. 1914 KS RPPC Postcard | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Frederick, Kansas-Home of John Ontjes after Cyclone Mar. 1914 KS RPPC Postcard at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

The adventure continues....

Funny as I was actually considering buying that but the seller's feedback is... iffy at best. Photo is dated March 28, 1914 according to the seller.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Not as far as I know, and does Grazulis have any fatalities for June 22, 1907? Sources conflict.


Funny as I was actually considering buying that but the seller's feedback is... iffy at best. Photo is dated March 28, 1914 according to the seller.

Alright I think I found the Grazulis entry on Frederick. The name "Frederick" is not mentioned but Rice County, KS is and that is where the community is located to this day.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

According to this article this event occurred in 1909....https://www.kshs.org/km/items/view/312939

Also, Grazulis has several tornadoes entries for June 22, 1907 in Kanas and all are rated F3, nothing I could find mentioning a "Gentry" residence specifically.

Alright I have found multiple entries for tornadoes in Kansas on June 22, 1907 but nothing specifically mentioning Norton County, KS. Nevertheless, I'll post the entries and see what happens:





Last entry started on one page and ended on another so I had to take 2 snapshots of it:

 

[TH2002]

Alright I have found multiple entries for tornadoes in Kansas on June 22, 1907 but nothing specifically mentioning Norton County, KS. Nevertheless, I'll post the entries and see what happens:

View attachment 10087
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Last entry started on one page and ended on another so I had to take 2 snapshots of it:

View attachment 10090View attachment 10091

Thanks for all your help. Do you have a physical copy of Significant Tornadoes or do you use a PDF?

One last tornado for tonight. Horton, Kansas was struck by a tornado in April 1911 (date uncertain but likely somewhere from April 11-13). What does Grazulis say about this tornado?

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Thanks for all your help. Do you have a physical copy of Significant Tornadoes or do you use a PDF?

One last tornado for tonight. Horton, Kansas was struck by a tornado in April 1911 (date uncertain but likely somewhere from April 11-13). What does Grazulis say about this tornado?

A PDF via Google Books.... check this link out:

Significant Tornadoes: A chronology of events

www.google.com

FYI it's the original edition so it only goes from 1880-1989

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

A PDF via Google Books.... check this link out:

Significant Tornadoes: A chronology of events

www.google.com

FYI it's the original edition so it only goes from 1880-1989

As for Horton, KS 1911, this has gotta be it:

 

[locomusic01]

One last tornado for tonight. Horton, Kansas was struck by a tornado in April 1911 (date uncertain but likely somewhere from April 11-13). What does Grazulis say about this tornado?

Horton, KS was 4/12/11:

It struck as part of a localized outbreak that also featured an F4 in Barnsdall, OK (known as Bigheart at the time):

There was also an F3 that cut through parts of OK, KS and MO, ending north of Joplin. A few people were injured on this property in Cherokee Co, KS:

There was also an F2 in Lawrence, KS:

And another F2 in Eskridge, KS:

 

[locomusic01]

One source says March 28, 1914 but I haven't been able to confirm. There are several articles about the town of Frederick that mention the tornado happened in 1914, but don't give an exact date.

Yes, 3/28/14.

 

[TH2002]

RPPC's are definitely an excellent source of rare tornado damage photos, some of which seemingly can't be found anywhere else. I actually just bought the one of the Robertson residence in Horton and am currently bidding on one from the Larned area

 

[locomusic01]

So, I've been writing the Beaver Falls section of my article and in going back through my research I was reminded of something I learned a couple of months ago. On a farm southwest of Zelienople, a metal pole barn was blown away and carried ~150 yards into an adjacent field. I didn't think much of it until the owner said the steel beams were well-anchored into concrete pilings. The tornado snapped some of the anchor bolts, but it also pulled some of the pilings out of the ground and
carried them right along with the rest of the structure.

There are some obvious questions - how "well-anchored"? how large were the pilings & how deep were they buried? etc. - but I'd say that's a bit more notable than the kind of pole barn that might collapse if you sneeze too hard, which is what I'd assumed at first. The property is also pretty close to one of the areas where the tornado may have been at/near peak intensity.

 

[buckeye05]

RPPC's are definitely an excellent source of rare tornado damage photos, some of which seemingly can't be found anywhere else. I actually just bought the one of the Robertson residence in Horton and am currently bidding on one from the Larned area

Pardon my ignorance, but what is an RPPC?

 

[locomusic01]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is an RPPC?

Real-photo postcard. Around the turn of the century, Kodak released a camera that was designed for postcard-sized film and started a service where they'd print photos on the back of standard postcards. It really caught on as an easy way to share photos through the mail, especially once they offered the ability to add messages to the cards, so a lot of the pictures we have from older events actually come from postcards.

(Incidentally, a consequence of this is that cards often contain only vague information since they were usually being sent to people who already understood the context. Kind of the early 20th century version of posting a damage photo on social media with a caption like "check out the damage to our house!" or whatever without identifying exactly when or where it was taken.)

 

[buckeye05]

So, I've been writing the Beaver Falls section of my article and in going back through my research I was reminded of something I learned a couple of months ago. On a farm southwest of Zelienople, a metal pole barn was blown away and carried ~150 yards into an adjacent field. I didn't think much of it until the owner said the steel beams were well-anchored into concrete pilings. The tornado snapped some of the anchor bolts, but it also pulled some of the pilings out of the ground and
carried them right along with the rest of the structure.

There are some obvious questions - how "well-anchored"? how large were the pilings & how deep were they buried? etc. - but I'd say that's a bit more notable than the kind of pole barn that might collapse if you sneeze too hard, which is what I'd assumed at first. The property is also pretty close to one of the areas where the tornado may have been at/near peak intensity.

Hard to say without photos. Buildings with a lot of surface area and a lack of interior walls, particularly lightweight metal ones, can kind of act like a sail and catch the wind, creating a very powerful upward "wrenching" force that will put enormous stress on whatever beams are supporting the structure, twisting, pulling, or buckling them in a way that looks very impressive. While the presence of snapped anchor bolts definitely raises and eyebrow, given the type of building type described, I wouldn't necessarily say that this is clear evidence of a violent-tier tornado. Not to say there was no evidence of F4 damage elsewhere along the Beaver Falls tornado's path, however.