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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 150 m/s (340 mph; 540 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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Tornado anniversaries
June 3
- 1860 - A long-track tornado traveled across eastern Iowa and western Illinois, killing 92 people. The greatest loss was in Camanche, Iowa, where at least 41 people died and every building was severely damaged or destroyed.
- 1980 – one of the costliest tornado events in U.S. history, a series of six tornadoes, forming a complex tornado family, moved across Grand Island, Nebraska, killing five people and causing $300 million in damage, equivalent to $1,109 million in 2023. Most of the deaths and damage wee from a single F4 tornado that followed a curving path along the south side of the city. This event was the inspiration for the 1996 movie Night of the Twisters.
- 2009 – An F3 tornado touched down in Russia in the town of Krasnozavodsk, killing one person and injuring 185.
June 4
- 1877 – An F4 tornado devastated Mount Carmel, Illinois, killing at least 16 people and injuring 100. A total of 20 businesses and 100 homes were destroyed; some were swept away.
- 1958 – A major tornado outbreak hit the Upper Midwest. Three violent tornadoes from a single supercell killed 28 people in northwestern Wisconsin. The first of these, a fast-moving F5 tornado, struck the north side of Menomonie and devastated parts of Colfax, killing 21 people and injuring 110. After Colfax tornado dissipated, an F4 tornado struck Chippewa Falls, killing three people and injuring 56. Yet another F4 tornado, the last member of the tornado family, killed four more people south of Boyd and passed south of Stanley and Owen.
June 5
- 1908 – An outbreak produced multiple violent tornadoes near the Kansas/Nebraska state line, killing 20 people. An F5 tornado killed 12 people as it traveled from near Deshler, Nebraska, across the eastern part of Carleton to near Geneva. Several farms were so completely destroyed that there was little evidence that they had even existed. Five people died in one family.
- 1916 – A tornado outbreak killed at least 99 people across the Central United States, with most of the deaths in Arkansas. An F4 tornado or tornado family killed at least 25 people on a path from near Barney to near Almond, Arkansas, including at least 18 in the devastation of Heber Springs. An F3 tornado destroyed a small community near Judsonia, Arkansas, killing nine people, including five children in one family. Another F3 tornado killed seven people, all in one house, near Sikeston, Missouri.
- 1917 – A tornado outbreak resulted in at least 49 deaths across the Midwestern United States. An F4 tornado killed 20 people in Cooper and Boone Counties, Missouri, including 7 in Centralia. Another F4 tornado killed nine people as it obliterated farms near Topeka, Kansas. An F3 tornado killed nine people as it passed between Norwood and Mountain Grove, Missouri.
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?
General images -
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A multi-ton freight car that was thrown from the tracks in Barnsley (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Low-end EF4 damage to a business in downtown Cayce (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Debris and destroyed homes along Alexander Street in Dawson Springs (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
High-end EF4 damage to a house in Bremen (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Aerial view of EF4 damage in Mayfield the day after the tornado (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Trees that were completely debarked and denuded near Buckeye, Arkansas. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
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) -
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) -
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) -
Major structural damage to a house near Hartford (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
EF3 damage to businesses in downtown Dresden, Tennessee. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
A liquor store that was destroyed in the western part of Bowling Green, Kentucky. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
Derecho moving across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa (from December 2021 Midwest derecho and tornado outbreak)
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Although historically the U.S. state of Connecticut is not typically known to fall casualty to tornadoes, more than 100 of these powerful storms have affected the state in modern history, resulting in at least 48 deaths, 780 injuries, and more than $500 million in damage. This list of tornadoes in the state is likely incomplete, as official records date back only to 1950 for tornadoes in the United States.
As with most of the northeastern United States, the number of tornadoes peaks in the summer months, normally in July or August. Hartford County has had the most tornadoes in the state, although since 1950 Litchfield County has reported the most tornadoes. Several areas have been struck more than once, and Waterbury has been struck by no less than four tornadoes since 1955. (Full article...)List of Featured articles and lists
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