A Look Back at the First EF5!

April 29, 2024

Happy Monday Tornado Historians!

It has been an extremely active severe weather period with multiple rounds of storms producing significant tornadoes through the Plains. It will take many days for the NWS offices to complete their surveys but as of the writing of this newsletter, there have been a few given a preliminary rating of EF3. More surveying will need to be done to see if any ratings would go higher. Tragically, at least five people have been killed so far. The pattern appears to stay active this week and there are indications it could be a busy May!

Tornado Talk Update:

  • I have been doing some traveling in Indiana, gathering information for more tornadoes from the April 3, 1974 Super Outbreak. When all is said and done, I will have gathered research for 6 more twisters from 1974.

  • My Aunt has been hanging out with me on this journey and we made our way to Hamburg. 90% of the town was damaged/destroyed by an F4 in 1974. A gas station there was wiped away and never rebuilt but the sign remained standing and is still there today!

  • Zach drove to Smithville, MS to support our friend Johnny Parker who, along with his family, survived the EF5 that struck the town on April 27, 2011. The town named a street after Johnny and the ceremony was held on Saturday! Zach will be putting together a special Funnel Feature to talk about the ceremony.

No new video this week. We are pulling from the Podcast Archives and look back at the first tornado given a rating of EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale: The Greensburg, KS Tornado from May 4, 2007! We have a summary as well!

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🌪️ This Week In Tornado History

April 29, 2017 - Canton, TX: On this day in 2017, an EF4 tornado tracked for 21 miles through Henderson and Van Zandt Counties in Texas. Two people were killed, and 25 were injured as several homes were leveled near Eustace and Canton.

April 30, 1909 - Felton-Rockmart-Cartersville, GA: An F3 tornado moved 30 miles through portions of Haralson, Polk, Paulding, and Bartow Counties in Georgia. Seven people were killed in homes in Felton. Five others died south and east of Rockmart. South of Cartersville, another person was killed in a home. 40 were injured along the path.

May 1, 2018 - Tescott, KS: On this day in 2018, a strong tornado developed in far northern Saline County and tracked NE through SW Ottawa County. Multiple buildings received EF2 damage, with the worst damage occurring near the end of the tornado’s path where low-end EF3 damage was found.

May 2, 2008 - Liberty, MO: An extremely brief but destructive EF3 tornado tears through a subdivision of Liberty, Missouri, during the overnight hours of May 2, 2008. Though it was only on the ground for 0.97 miles, the tornado destroyed 4 homes and damaged 117 others. Despite striking at night, there were no injuries or fatalities.

May 3, 1948 - McKinney, TX: An F3 tornado moved 7 miles through parts of Collin County, TX. It moved through portions of McKinney. “The swath through the south side of that town was 600 yards wide and two miles long.” 600 buildings were heavily damaged. “The most spectacular damage was at the textile mills, where the upper floors were either sheared off or collapsed, exposing the interior to rain. Damage at the mills totaled near $1,000,000.” Three were killed in residential areas. Source: Thomas Grazulis.

May 4, 1950 - Zook-Great Bend, KS: Per the Storm Prediction Center, 7 tornadoes occurred on May 4, 1950. The strongest was this F4 that tracked over 30 miles through parts of Pawnee and Barton Counties in KS. The max width was 150 yards. There were 30 injuries reported.

Image from newspapers.com.

May 5, 1834 - The Lunenburg-Nottoway-Dinwiddie-Prince George Tornado In Virginia: A deadly family of tornadoes carved a 70-80 mile path through Lunenburg, Nottoway, Dinwiddie, and Prince George Counties in Virginia on May 5, 1834. Through analysis of newspaper reports, ancestry records, and information from historical societies, we have documented the details of this significant event in Virginia history to the best of our ability.

Here is one of the plat maps we used. From the Library of Virginia, A correct map of Dinwiddie County: containing 317200 acres / by Isham E. Hargrave.

Photo of the Week

There were several images we could have picked for this week as there were some amazing shots of tornadoes from the outbreak. But this image from James Wilson in Lincoln, NE on Friday is one of the most jaw-dropping ones.

Many thanks to all of you for subscribing to our newsletter! - Jen Narramore, Owner Tornado Talk

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