Significant Tornado Events

[AJS]

Good, but sobering video on the 2005 Evansville tornado.

I am not even kidding, I legitimately have this video playing on my TV right now.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

Behold, the best damn tornado recreations I've ever seen:


He also has a behind the scenes video that shows how he made them:

 

[locomusic01]

I'll post some more 5/31/85 stuff later, but for now, a few photos from the East Kane area - more specifically S Settlement Rd. in Rocky Ridge. Sadly, this is the home in which the final two victims (Travis Johnson and Dawn Ardabell) were killed.

Also an aerial shot of the Tionesta Scenic Area, the place near the beginning of the path (very obvious in the satellite view) where a Forest Service official called it "the most complete destruction of forestland" he'd ever seen.

Quite possibly the area where the tornado was at its peak intensity, although it remained strong to violent throughout much of its path. You can see a narrower but similarly intense swath of forest damage east of town, beginning almost immediately after the tornado destroyed the property above.

 

[locomusic01]

Also some more photos from the Beaver Falls F3-that-was-probably-an-F4. These are from the Pattison St. Extension just southwest of Evans City, roughly halfway between where the famous van was thrown from I-79 and where the Seneca Lane trailer court was wiped out:

Not sure exactly where the tornado photo was taken:

If I had to guess I'd say this was probably after the tornado had passed Evans City since it looks visually smaller than in this shot of the tornado approaching town (although that doesn't necessarily mean much):

The tornado was gradually shrinking as it passed through the area, from ~500-600 yds west of Evans City to ~250 yds near Watters.

 

[locomusic01]

Some aerial shots from the Albion F4. First two are along Knapp Rd, where the first victims (Lydia Taylor and Debbie Sherman) were killed:

Not 100% sure where this is off-hand tbh:

And this is the streak of tree damage immediately after the failed occlusion W of Keepville Rd (just S of Albion):

Also a few photos from the Elimsport F3+ taken near the end of the path around Watsontown:

 

[CheeselandSkies]

Oh it is the 40th anniversary, isn't it?

The May 1987 issue of Reader's Digest featured an excerpt from the book "Tornado Watch #211" under the title "Day of the Killer Tornadoes" (a moniker I've also seen used for the '74 Super Outbreak). Since I would have been 16 months old at the time, I probably found it 7-8 years later in my maternal grandparents' collection of back issues.

 

[locomusic01]

Oh it is the 40th anniversary, isn't it?

The May 1987 issue of Reader's Digest featured an excerpt from the book "Tornado Watch #211" under the title "Day of the Killer Tornadoes" (a moniker I've also seen used for the '74 Super Outbreak). Since I would have been 16 months old at the time, I probably found it 7-8 years later in my maternal grandparents' collection of back issues.

View attachment 43507

This is probably heresy, but I was pretty disappointed in the book tbh. Maybe I had unrealistic expectations because I'd always heard about how amazing it was, but I quickly regretted spending so much money on it lol

 

[Ivanthetornadoenthusiast]

Some aerial shots from the Albion F4. First two are along Knapp Rd, where the first victims (Lydia Taylor and Debbie Sherman) were killed:

Not 100% sure where this is off-hand tbh:

And this is the streak of tree damage immediately after the failed occlusion W of Keepville Rd (just S of Albion):

Also a few photos from the Elimsport F3+ taken near the end of the path around Watsontown:

Any new medias from Tionesta F4 yet so far?

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I'll post some more 5/31/85 stuff later, but for now, a few photos from the East Kane area - more specifically S Settlement Rd. in Rocky Ridge. Sadly, this is the home in which the final two victims (Travis Johnson and Dawn Ardabell) were killed.

Also an aerial shot of the Tionesta Scenic Area, the place near the beginning of the path (very obvious in the satellite view) where a Forest Service official called it "the most complete destruction of forestland" he'd ever seen.

Quite possibly the area where the tornado was at its peak intensity, although it remained strong to violent throughout much of its path. You can see a narrower but similarly intense swath of forest damage east of town, beginning almost immediately after the tornado destroyed the property above.

Other forest damage pics from Kane via the TornadoTalk article:




Interesting detail: the article states that an estimated 90,000 trees were downed in this area; Grazulis mentions 90,000 trees being toppled by Moshannon State Forest but not Kane; I'm wondering if he mixed these up or a typo in the publication process.

 

[SpotlightForRareTornadoes]

Also from the 3/16/42 outbreak, the delightfully named Squeeze Bottom, TN F3:

Squeeze Bottom... What a funny name lol

 

[locomusic01]

Interesting detail: the article states that an estimated 90,000 trees were downed in this area; Grazulis mentions 90,000 trees being toppled by Moshannon State Forest but not Kane; I'm wondering if he mixed these up or a typo in the publication process.

I did the (very rough) math back when I was writing my article and IIRC 90,000 trees would be like.. less than a square mile of forest. I could be remembering that wrong, though. Anyway, the swath of extreme forest damage here was something like 3 miles long and at least half a mile wide on average (being extremely conservative), so 90k trees is totally reasonable IMO. I've seen a wide range of estimates for Moshannon (like, from less than 100k to multiple millions) and I have no idea if any of them are close to correct, but I'd wager it's closer to the high end.

(Preemptive edit: Also notable that this study pointed out the Tionesta Scenic Area was one of the densest mature forests studied on the East Coast, and also among the most severe windthrow events documented in a study. They found basically 2% of the existing forest biomass remained after the tornado.)

Any new medias from Tionesta F4 yet so far?

Not really besides these, which I think @Juliett Bravo Kilo has already posted a while ago?

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I did the (very rough) math back when I was writing my article and IIRC 90,000 trees would be like.. less than a square mile of forest. I could be remembering that wrong, though. Anyway, the swath of extreme forest damage here was something like 3 miles long and at least half a mile wide on average (being extremely conservative), so 90k trees is totally reasonable IMO. I've seen a wide range of estimates for Moshannon (like, from less than 100k to multiple millions) and I have no idea if any of them are close to correct, but I'd wager it's closer to the high end.

(Preemptive edit: Also notable that this study pointed out the Tionesta Scenic Area was one of the densest mature forests studied on the East Coast, and also among the most severe windthrow events documented in a study. They found basically 2% of the existing forest biomass remained after the tornado.)


Not really besides these, which I think @Juliett Bravo Kilo has already posted a while ago?

Found this in a PDF on Tionesta forest damage:



Lots of massive forest damage occurred on this day; this event astounds me every time I read up more on it. I don't doubt that Kane, Tionesta and Moshannon achieved F5 intensity at some point along their paths.

 

[locomusic01]

WTAE has a video up that includes some aerial clips from Wheatland:

40 years since Pennsylvania's deadliest tornado outbreak on May 31, 1985

21 tornadoes crossed the Keystone State, including the first and only F5. This WTAE archive video shows some of the widespread damage in Pennsylvania.

www.wtae.com

 

[locomusic01]

Some more random stuff - these are the Beaver Falls F3+ across the river from the Big Beaver Plaza:

The New Waterford, OH F3:

 

[locomusic01]

The Corry F4:

And a couple scans from the local paper:

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

Uh, @locomusic01, where did the New Richmond article go?

 

[locomusic01]

Uh, @locomusic01, where did the New Richmond article go?

Shoot, thanks for the heads up. I set it to private for a few minutes while I was experimenting with something and forgot to revert it back. Should be up again now.

 

[OH-IOan]

Tornado Archive's 2024 edition came out, finally!!

Speaking of which, what do we think is the most "forgotten" tornado of 2024? I'd have to go with the April 27 Sulphur EF3.

 

[Grand Poo Bah]

(Cross posting from the May 17-19 thread)

Took a few stills from some security cam footage of the London Tornado and enhanced them the best I could.

Then, I compiled all three images into one photo that shows the full structure of the tornado. Here's the beast.

I pulled the image from this clip (timestamped at 2:38). It might be one of the most unsettling tornado clips I've ever seen. Even if you never saw the tornado, the way the debris just starts falling out of the sky is so ominous. The debris may have been the only indication of what was coming, because I'm not sure the sirens were going off before it entered the town.

 

[A Guy]

I've had a go at the Yazoo City family's path from Landsat imagery taken within two weeks of the tornado and aerial imagery on Google earth taken in September 2010. Though I can't take credit for the earlier parts which were spotted by someone on Twitter.

There's a fundamental issue with trying to do this with satellite/aerial, which is if the tornado was too weak to cause significant tree damage, then it's very hard to tell where it went. In my completely anecdotal experience, given the right conditions (like forest) violent tornadoes tend to leave a visible track for a large proportion of their paths. But where this doesn't seem to be the case (which can raise questions about path continuity too) it's obviously a lot harder. I tend to be quite conservative, others are bolder. In this case my strategy was to look for patches of damaged trees or new clear cuts, forest damage can be discontinuous.

To the nearest 0.5 mile, with EF ratings from NWS Jackson's map:
1: Quebec-Eagle Bend, EF3, 18.5+ miles. I started at possible signs of ground disturbance close to the offical point and finished at the last visible signs at Eagle Bend. It enters a clear field so could easily have gone a couple of miles further.
2: Valley Park, EF2, 14.5+ miles. Started at the first sign of continuous damage. There was some disturbance further southwest nearer the previous tornado, but it seemed aligned exactly along a drainage so wasn't sure. There's an intense path up to the Little Sunflower River. Apparently it abruptly weakened there with no sign it crossed the river.
3: Yazoo City, EF4, <86.5 miles. The first tentative sign was on the west side of the Whittington Auxiliary Channel. I couldn't see anything in Sharkey County. Near Durant it narrowed and deviated around the town, and at about mile 57 there's a possible break, but the wide, straight track recommences in a clear field, so it's hard to tell (it would split 57/<29.5 miles if so). After Hesterville it weakened with the track being difficult to see until a transmission line clearing, when it restrengthens again. The obvious track stops at the Natchez Trace Parkway at mile 81. I included what I thought may have been isolated damage continuing a few miles further. But I saw no evidence connecting it to the next obvious path.
4: French Camp, 20 miles, EF3. Said path commences with a distinct northward displacement from the previous, near French Camp, and is visible to between Chester and Williams. This is where things begin to get weird. I can only see isolated patches of damage going to and past Williams and my path is very uncertain (the southward deviation especially). At this point the tornado officially went northwest into Oktibbeha County (yellow pin near centre). But inside Choctaw County, where a power and pipeline clearing cross at Glade Branch (lower left), obvious blowdown abruptly commences and turns WSW, where it disappears a bit further on, which I've put as the endpoint.
5: 1 mile, EF1. Meanwhile, a second blowdown is further north on a similar heading (lower centre) and continues under a mile to the county line, entering a clear area. I've checked and both these scars were apparent on LandSat taken after April 24, and not before. Finally, at the official endpoint (righthand pin) there is a small, rounded blowdown. But I don't see a reasonable way to connect it to the other paths, and it could conceivably be some kind of intense straight line wind damage.