Significant Tornado Events

[locomusic01]

I don't mean to completely hijack the thread, but I guess that's what I'm doing lol. Anywho, the discussion about very short-lived violent tornadoes a while back randomly popped back into my head and reminded me of the 5/8/64 Anchor Bay, MI F4. The path was only a few miles long (because it went out over the bay, but still) but it was rather intense. I've got like a billion photos from the event but here are some of the better ones.

The aerials are kinda hard to see unless you open up the full versions (edit - uploaded to a different host so hopefully they're better now):

 

[locomusic01]

And some ground-level shots - the amount of debarking/denuding definitely stands out:

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

And some ground-level shots - the amount of debarking/denuding definitely stands out:

I'd once more ask if any photos - alleged or real - existed of the funnel but then realized if they did you would have posted them. Eyewitness accounts describe a wedge, though.

 

[locomusic01]

I'd once more ask if any photos - alleged or real - existed of the funnel but then realized if they did you would have posted them. Eyewitness accounts describe a wedge, though.

It hit so abruptly that I'm not sure anyone would've had much time to grab a camera and take photos. It sounds like the cloud base was pretty low and visibility wasn't great, but it's possible there are some out there. It's crazy how often some random person will have tornado photos just thrown in their attic or whatever, never even realizing how many people would kill to see them.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

And some ground-level shots - the amount of debarking/denuding definitely stands out:

Fujita listed this tornado as an F5 in one of his historical tornado maps

 

[buckeye05]

I'm curious how you happened upon that old photo....on FB, Pinterest, or some other random source!

It was from a news article on a local Portland area news station website. I think it was an anniversary article about the Portland/Vancouver tornado.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

It was from a news article on a local Portland area news station website. I think it was an anniversary article about the Portland/Vancouver tornado.

Was it by itself in the article or was it part of a gallery?

 

[buckeye05]

Was it by itself in the article or was it part of a gallery?

It was just one single photo off to the side of the page. No gallery that I recall. The article was mostly just text summarizing what happened and some eyewitness accounts.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

It was just one single photo off to the side of the page. No gallery that I recall. The article was mostly just text summarizing what happened and some eyewitness accounts.

That raises this as a possibility then:

The tornado of April 5, 1972 - Clark County: A history

Discover Clark County's history as seen through the eyes of photographers, local museums and contributions from the community.

history.columbian.com

If it was, however, then the photo has since gone down. The photos seem to be at the bottom, not the side of the page, however.

 

[buckeye05]

That raises this as a possibility then:

The tornado of April 5, 1972 - Clark County: A history

Discover Clark County's history as seen through the eyes of photographers, local museums and contributions from the community.

history.columbian.com

If it was, however, then the photo has since gone down. The photos seem to be at the bottom, not the side of the page, however.

Hmmmmm. I don’t think that’s it, but at the same time, I can’t be 100% sure it’s not. Ugh I just wish I saved the pic. So frustrating.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

Looked everywhere, checked every article I could find. Nothing. The photo's undoubtedly gone now.

Sigh. Guess drawing it from memory like I suggested is the only way to get at least a rough approximation of what it looked like. On that topic, any other lost tornado photos you know of? Anderson Hills very nearly had a whole heap of footage lost but it recently popped back up again. Plus some Jarrell video.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Hmmmmm. I don’t think that’s it, but at the same time, I can’t be 100% sure it’s not. Ugh I just wish I saved the pic. So frustrating.

Went through the Wayback Machine on this page and a ton of damage photos showed up but none of the tornado itself. Wouldn't surprise me if some local news station has footage of it or the photo we're discussing locked away in their archives somewhere.

 

[Western_KS_Wx]

Hate to fast forward to modern day tornadoes but I recently came across some aerials from Moore ‘13 and thought they were too impressive not to share.







This photo literally looks like atomic bomb destruction.

 

[Western_KS_Wx]

Here’s some ground level shots from the area.







The Plaza Towers area:





In my opinion this is the most violent tornado damage to occur in a densely populated urban area and in some locations it’s on par with the most intense tornadoes of all time.

 

[buckeye05]

Here’s some ground level shots from the area.
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The Plaza Towers area:
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In my opinion this is the most violent tornado damage to occur in a densely populated urban area and in some locations it’s on par with the most intense tornadoes of all time.

I hold the exact same opinion. Moore 2013 produced undoubtedly the most violent urban/suburban tornado damage I have seen photographed. Joplin comes close, but never quite reached the level of almost incomprehensible violence seen in Moore.

 

[locomusic01]

In my opinion this is the most violent tornado damage to occur in a densely populated urban area and in some locations it’s on par with the most intense tornadoes of all time.

100% agree. The worst of the damage was damn near identical to Bridge Creek-Moore '99 (except considerably wider) and honestly not far off from Jarrell - two tornadoes that I'd confidently include on any "most violent" list. Obviously a bunch of other contenders as well, but it's undoubtedly in that tier.

It's kind of a testament to how violent Moore '13 was that it completely overshadowed the Shawnee EF4 on the previous day, which was rather impressive in its own right.

 

[locomusic01]

This is pretty random, but anybody wanna hazard a guess as to what the heck the writing says in this image?

It's a photo from the Herman, NE F4 the day after New Richmond (which I badly need a larger version of) and to me it looks like "Shay & Gassard's Corner" but I dunno what that refers to so I'm wondering if I'm just reading it wrong. On a related note, having read lots of little labels and notes and journal entries and whatnot like this, I think we can debunk the idea that people had much better handwriting back in the day lol. Sometimes the writing is practically unreadable and it drives me crazy.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

This is pretty random, but anybody wanna hazard a guess as to what the heck the writing says in this image?

It's a photo from the Herman, NE F4 the day after New Richmond (which I badly need a larger version of) and to me it looks like "Shay & Gassard's Corner" but I dunno what that refers to so I'm wondering if I'm just reading it wrong. On a related note, having read lots of little labels and notes and journal entries and whatnot like this, I think we can debunk the idea that people had much better handwriting back in the day lol. Sometimes the writing is practically unreadable and it drives me crazy.

My guess is the same as yours. That is unreadable handwriting.

 

[locomusic01]

My guess is the same as yours. That is unreadable handwriting.

Well, I still don't know what in the world the label's supposed to mean, but it probably would've helped if I'd checked my other pictures a little more closely. This one from a slightly higher + wider view has a recognizable landmark (one of only a couple buildings left standing in town) so at least that clears up the location.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Well, I still don't know what in the world the label's supposed to mean, but it probably would've helped if I'd checked my other pictures a little more closely. This one from a slightly higher + wider view has a recognizable landmark (one of only a couple buildings left standing in town) so at least that clears up the location.

Wow Herman was almost completely leveled. I can only see 3 standing buildings in that photo.