June 12th, 1942 Oklahoma City
Oklahoma | Tornadoes | 1942 THIRTY-ONE KILLED WHEN TORNADO STRIKES OKLAHOMA CITY. TWISTER STRIKES INTO SOUTHWEST CORNER OF CITY. LAYS WASTE AREA TWO BLOCKS SQUARE; MANY CRITICALLY INJURED; RELIEF...
View ArticlePomeroy, IA (07/06/1893)
Today is the 124th anniversary of, to me, one of the most violent tornadoes on record. A large, multi-vortex tornado entered Pomeroy, IA as a devestating F5 on July 6, 1893. Well built homes were swept...
View ArticleEye Witness Account of Hurricane Camille 1969
I didn't write this, but found it a fascinating read: Andrea Dona Nov 22, 2014 I was 7 years old and living in Long Beach Mississippi with my family when Hurricane Camille hit on August 17, 1969. On...
View Article1947-04-09 Woodward, Oklahoma
Once touted as the deadliest, most violent, longest tracked storm, the Woodward tornado has since been relegated to an honorable mention among the known F-5s. The 220 mile long damage path originating...
View ArticlePre-1950s tornado tracks
Does anyone know of a good source for pre-1950s tornado track maps or damage surveys? There is an abundance of online data for 1950s onward, but very little in the way of info for historical events...
View ArticleTri-State tornado damage still visible on Google Maps
I was reading again the path of the 1925 Tri-State tornado and it got me wondering if I could find damage that was still visible. I'm not from the mid-west, and some of these pics could be everyday...
View ArticleThe "Galloping Gertie" Bridge Collapse & The Armistice Day Blizzard November...
In my opinion this is one of the most amazing weather events of the 20th Century. On November 7th, 1940, a gale swept across Washington State near Tacoma. The newly built Tacoma Narrow Bridge had only...
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1880-04-18 - Marshfield, MO - 99 Killed
Very detailed account of the southwestern-central MO tornado outbreak of that day: http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/wrv/V8/N6/W84l.htm Two pretty decent photos of the damage in Marshfield:
View Article1965-04-11: Palm Sunday Outbreak
I was only 7 years old and living east of South Bend Ind. I can still recall the neighborhood out playing in the warm weather but all the parents looking at the sky. My mother was really wound up...
View ArticleRevolutionary War Supercell? August 21, 1776
I am reading “1776” by David McCullough. Weather played a pivotal role a number of times during the Revolutionary War, but I was particularly intrigued by this account of a storm over New York City on...
View Article1929-04-10 Sneed, AR
On April 10, 1929, a small but very intense tornado outbreak occurred across northeastern Arkansas. It began with a large F4 tornado which struck Guion, destroying all but four of the town's 150...
View Article1957-05-20 F5 Ruskin Heights (MO)
Kansas City / Pleasant Hill, MO National Weather Service Weater Forecast Office: http://test.crh.noaa.gov/eax/?n=ruskinheightstornado Caught in the Path: A Tornado's Fury, A Community's Rebirth:...
View Article1893-07-06 Pomeroy, Iowa
I've been researching historical events for a new blog post and I found this event pretty interesting. I also dug up some photos and I figured I'd share them. The Pomeroy tornado killed 71 people and...
View Article75th Anniversary of the Woodward Tornado
Today is the 75th anniversary of one of the most terrifying events in tornado history: the "Woodward" Tornado. I put Woodward in quotes because, while the initial Weather Bureau investigation said it...
View Article1898 Fort Smith Arkansas Tornado
On January 11, 1898, the storm formed southwest of Fort Smith Arkansas near ten P.M. but with no warning systems in place, it seemed as if a normal thunderstorm was coming. By 1152 P.M. the tornado had...
View Article1957-01-22 Gans, OK tornado
Special collections and archives at OSU was kind enough to allow me to come in today and read Raw Data Report : Gans, OK 1957 Tornado. This report contains data from a damage survey conducted by the...
View Article1953 Warner Robins tornado and a myth put to rest
One of the most dramatic pieces of tornado footage ever is the 12-second clip of a tornado tearing through an apartment complex in Warner Robins, Ga. on 4/30/1953. At the time it was only the third...
View Article1950 Fall Tornado
I have known about this tornado and it generally bugs me that it's forgotten, it was a Duo-County tornado, spanning from Lancaster to Berks County. It happened on November 4th for some reason, and it...
View Article1855-05-22 Des Plaines IL Tornado
Nice bit of research done here on a local tornado that happened prior to official weather maps and when local records were sparse. Using historical records the authors were able to correct the...
View ArticleWebsite With Synoptic Data for Major Historical Tornadoes
When I was reaching my book Warnings from 2005-2010 there was a website that had synoptic data and patterns for various historic tornadoes (e.g., Udall, Woodward, Ruskin Heights, etc.). I cannot seem...
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A New Look at the Udall Tornado
Turns out the Udall Tornado was not the last tornado that horrible night. I've produced a new map. Review of the Udall Tornado; Part II On May 25, 2022, I published Part I of a reexamination of the...
View ArticleToday is the 75th Anniversary of Fawbush & Miller's Tinker AFB Tornado Forecast
The events of 75 years ago today changed the course of the science of meteorology: It was the first successful tornado forecast (watch) of the modern era. I have a piece here: 75 Years Ago Today... If...
View Article1925-03-18 - Tri State Tornado - "Lost" photos found.
My local paper(The Southern Illinoisan) had an article this weekend commemorating the 85th anniversary of the Tri-State Tornado. A local family had a few "lost" photo's of the damage aftermath included...
View Article1967-04-30: Minnesota Black Sunday Tornado Outbreak
On Sunday, April 30, 1967, southern Minnesota was hit by 9 tornadoes: One F1, three F2s, two F3s and three F4s. Thirteen people died and 80 were injured. I was living in Waseca, Minnesota, at the time,...
View Article1966-10-14 Belmond, Iowa tornado
A late season tornado outbreak in Iowa included a killer F5 tornado that struck Belmond. Strong surface low, very steep mid level lapse rates, and moderate directional wind shear combined to produce at...
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