Portal:Tornadoes
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The Tornadoes Portal
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During the early evening of Friday, May 31, 2013, an extremely large and powerful tornado occurred over rural areas of Central Oklahoma. This rain-wrapped, multiple-vortex tornado was the widest tornado ever recorded and was part of a larger weather system that produced dozens of tornadoes over the preceding days. The tornado initially touched down at 6:03 p.m. Central Daylight Time (2303 UTC) about 8.3 miles (13.4 km) west-southwest of El Reno, rapidly growing in size and becoming more violent as it tracked through central portions of Canadian County. Remaining over mostly open terrain, the tornado did not impact many structures; however, measurements from mobile weather radars revealed extreme winds up to 135.0 m/s (302 mph; 486 km/h) within the vortex. These are among the highest observed wind speeds on Earth, just slightly lower than the wind speeds of the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado. As it crossed U.S. 81, it had grown to a record-breaking width of 2.6 miles (4.2 km), beating the previous width record set in 2004. Turning northeastward, the tornado soon weakened. Upon crossing Interstate 40, the tornado dissipated around 6:43 p.m. CDT (2343 UTC), after tracking for 16.2 miles (26.1 km), it avoided affecting the more densely populated areas near and within the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
The tornado killed four storm chasers (three professional and one amateur), the first known deaths in the history of storm chasing. Although the tornado remained over mostly open terrain, dozens of storm chasers unaware of its immense size and erratic movement were caught off-guard. Near U.S. 81, TWISTEX scientist and engineer Tim Samaras, along with his son Paul and research partner Carl Young, died in the tornado. Paul Samaras and Young were ejected from their Chevrolet Cobalt by the storm's sub-vortex, while Tim was still buckled in the passenger's seat. Local resident Richard Henderson, who decided to follow the storm, lost his life in that same area. He snapped a picture of the tornado from his cellular phone before it struck him. Other chasers, including Mike Bettes of The Weather Channel and Reed Timmer, were either injured or had their vehicles damaged. A Doppler on Wheels-based analysis of how the tornado impacted these teams revealed that they were hit by an intense internal sub-vortex. Overall, the tornado was responsible for eight fatalities and 151 injuries. Due to the ferocity and sheer size, as well as its irregular movement and the deaths linked with this tornado, it has become one of the most studied and infamous tornadoes ever. The National Weather Service referred to the tornado as "the most dangerous tornado in storm observing history." (Full article...)Selected tornado list -
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2024 tornado activity
A significant early spring tornado outbreak occurred throughout the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, with the most significant impacts occuring in Indiana and Ohio. More than two dozen tornadoes occurred, eight of them strong to intense. National Weather Service offices issued multiple 'Particularly Dangerous Situation' tornado warnings. Strong tornadoes produced major damage in the communities of Selma and Winchester in Indiana, and Fryburg and Lakeview in Ohio. One person died in Winchester, and three people were killed in Lakeview. Other significant tornadoes caused damage in Kansas, Arkansas, and Kentucky, with scattered weak tornadoes confirmed in several other states.
In addition to tornadoes, severe weather occurred across the West and East South Central U.S. Damaging winds and large hail was reported in Oklahoma, Missouri, and parts of the Deep South. Heavy rainfall and flash flooding was reported in Tennessee and Kentucky. (Full article...)Tornado anniversaries
May 7
- 1840 – the second-deadliest tornado in U.S. history destroyed the central and northern parts of Natchez, Mississippi and nearby areas, killing at least 317 people. Most of the deaths were in boats on the Mississippi River, which was experiencing high traffic at the time. The death toll may have been much higher, as there were unverified reports that hundreds of slaves were killed in Louisiana. The deaths of slaves in the pre-Civil War United States were not always counted.
- 1846 – A tornado devastated Grenada, Mississippi, killing at least 21 people. There were likely additional deaths later on as people succumbed to their injuries.
May 8
- 1882 – Deadly tornadoes touched down across Oklahoma and Arkansas. An F4 tornado destroyed much of McAlester, Oklahoma, killing 21 people. An F2 tornado destroyed much of a plantation near Silver, Arkansas, killing two people and hundreds of livestock. Another nine deaths were from other tornadoes.
- 1964 – A short-live but large and destructive F4 tornado struck the Anchor Bay area of Chester Township, Michigan, killing 11 people, injuring 224, and destroying 132 homes. Because of the high water table, few homes in the area had basements where people could take shelter, in spite of a 20-minute tornado warning.
- 1965 – An F4 destroyed 90% if Primrose, Nebraska, killing four people. The body of a truck was carried or rolled 2 miles (3.2 km). An F5 tornado completely swept away farms near Colome, South Dakota, resulting in one injury but no fatalities.
May 9
- 1876 – An F3 tornado moved through downtown Chicago and onto Lake Michigan, killing two people. A newspaper reporter wrote a detailed description of the tornado's multiple-vortex structure, including the presence of a downdraft at the center, a century before such mechanics were documented scientifically.
- 1927 – The third and most violent day of a three-day tornado outbreak resulted in 212 fatalities in the southern and Midwestern United States. An F4 tornado killed 98 people after destroying 31 blocks of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Other tornadoes had large death tolls in Strong, Arkansas, Nevada, Texas, and Garland, Texas.
Did you know…
- ...that the 2013 Moore tornado that struck Moore and Newcastle, Oklahoma, is the most recent EF5 tornado?
- ...that the 2021 South Moravia tornado, an IF4 tornado with winds between 207–260 mph (333–418 km/h), was the strongest tornado to hit the Czech Republic in modern history?
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High-end EF4 damage to a house in Bremen (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Trees that were completely debarked and denuded near Buckeye, Arkansas. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
A satellite view of the extratropical cyclone that was responsible for the tornado outbreak on December 11. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
Low-end EF4 damage to a business in downtown Cayce (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Major structural damage to a house near Hartford (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Derecho moving across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa (from December 2021 Midwest derecho and tornado outbreak) -
Aerial view of EF4 damage in Mayfield the day after the tornado (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Radar 3D volume scan of the supercell showing debris lofted over 30,000 feet (9.1 km) in the air as the tornado struck Mayfield (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
High-end EF3 damage to homes in the Creekwood subdivision in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Numerous fatalities occurred in this area. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
Debris and destroyed homes along Alexander Street in Dawson Springs (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
A liquor store that was destroyed in the western part of Bowling Green, Kentucky. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
A multi-ton freight car that was thrown from the tracks in Barnsley (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Radar collage of a supercell that spawned a tornado family during the outbreak (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
Widespread devastation in a residential area of Dawson Springs (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
EF3 damage to businesses in downtown Dresden, Tennessee. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
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Accompanying Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic coastal impacts was a moderate tornado outbreak spawned by the cyclone's outer bands. The event spanned August 26–31, 2005, with 57 tornadoes touching down across 8 states. One person died and numerous communities suffered damage of varying degrees from central Mississippi to Pennsylvania, with Georgia sustaining record monetary damage for the month of August. Due to extreme devastation in coastal areas of Louisiana and Mississippi, multiple tornadoes may have been overlooked—overshadowed by the effects of storm surge and large-scale wind—and thus the full extent of the hurricane's tornado outbreak is uncertain. Furthermore, an indeterminate number of waterspouts likely formed throughout the life cycle of Hurricane Katrina.
The outbreak began with an isolated F2 over the Florida Keys on August 26; no tornadoes were recorded the following day as the storm traversed the Gulf of Mexico. Four weak tornadoes were observed on August 28 as the hurricane approached land, each causing little damage. Coincident with Katrina's landfall, activity began in earnest on August 29 with numerous tornadoes touching down across Gulf Coast states. Georgia suffered the greatest impact on this day, with multiple F1 and F2 tornadoes causing significant damage; one person died in Carroll County, marking the first known instance of a tornado-related death in the state during August. A record 18 tornadoes touched down across Georgia on August 29, far exceeding the previous daily record of just 2 tornadoes for the month throughout the state. Activity diminished over the subsequent two days as the former hurricane moved northward. Several more tornadoes touched down across the Mid-Atlantic states before the cessation of the outbreak just after midnight local time on August 31. (Full article...)List of Featured articles and lists
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The scope of WikiProject Severe weather is to write articles about severe weather, namely thunderstorms and tornadoes. Their talk page is located here.
WikiProject Weather is the main hub for all articles that are weather-related. WikiProject Weather strives to improve articles in a variety of weather topics, including Tropical Cyclones, Severe Weather, General meteorology, Non-tropical Storms, Climate, Floods, Droughts and wildfires, Meteorological instruments and data, Meteorological Biographies, and Space Weather. If you would like to help, please visit the project talk page.
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WikiProject Tropical cyclones is a daughter project of WikiProject meteorology. The dozens of semi-active members and several full-time members focus on improving Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones.
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