A New Funnel Feature Released!

The Across The Sky Podcast!

Happy Monday Everyone! Have a few things to share this week!

  • Main writer/researcher Zach Reichle made his way to Smithville, MS a few weeks ago for a special ceremony for our good friend Johnny Parker. He and his family survived the EF5 that struck his town on April 27, 2011. The town honored Johnny with a street bearing his name. Zach has completed a special Funnel Feature about Johnny and the ceremony. Check it out!

Johnny Parker stands in front of a new street sign bearing his name at the Elm Street and (formerly) Monroe Street intersection. Photo taken by Zachary Reichle.

  • Zach and I are each working on two summary updates. What does this mean? We are looking at events we have narratives for on the website and enhancing them. Look for those releases this week!

  • I was VERY honored to be a part of the Across the Sky podcast hosted by Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia. It was a wonderful discussion about Tornado Talk and my heart to see more and more stories told. Give this episode a listen!

  • NEW “This Week In Tornado History” available! Per the Storm Prediction Center Database, there have been 6 F5/EF5 tornadoes observed since 1950 in the state of Iowa. The last one hit on May 25, 2008! Premium Summary about this event!

It continues to be a VERY active severe weather season! Are you prepared if a tornado warning is issue for your area? Keep your family safe with a NOAA Weather Radio!

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🌪️ This Week In Tornado History

May 20, 1957 - Ruskin Heights: This F5 is commonly known as the “Ruskin Heights Tornado” because of the tremendous damage inflicted there. It has also been called “The Kansas-Missouri Tornado” and “The Ottawa-Kansas City Tornado”. It developed southwest of Williamsburg, KS, traveled close to 70 miles and ended near Knobtown, MO. This tornado was the strongest of 35 that occurred on May 20, 1957.

Photo taken from the airport near Ottawa, Kansas. Photographer is facing north. Photo courtesy of Dr. Charles Doswell, CIMMS/University of Oklahoma. Photographed by Charles LeMaster.

May 21, 1918 - Lone Rock, IA-WI: An estimated F4 tornado (part of a tornado family), began SW of Elkport, IA. It crossed the Mississippi River just south of Glen Haven, WI. The worst damage was near Lone Rock, where farms were leveled. A total of 8 people were killed along the path.

May 22, 1981 - Binger, OK: This F4 moved 25 miles through Caddo and Canadian Counties, in OK. Per Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes, “this large and intense tornado lifted and carried cars, refrigerators, trucks, utility poles, and combines-turning them into projectiles.” There were no injuries or fatalities.

May 23, 1966 - Wolfe City, TX: Per The Storm Prediction Center, there were 24 tornadoes that occurred on May 23, 1966. The strongest was an F3 that quickly hit parts of northern Hunt County, TX and the Wolfe City area. There were actually 3 tornadoes in Hunt County close to the same time. Two struck in open county, one of which damaged a residence. The F3 hit the northern edge of Wolfe City destroying two homes and severely damaging 8 others.

Image from newspapers.com.

May 24, 2011 - Calumet-El Reno-Piedmont-Guthrie, OK: One of the most powerful tornadoes in known history occurred during the May 24, 2011 outbreak. This extraordinarily violent twister took nine lives over a 65-mile path. Yet, even with all the accompanying tragedy, this was also a nearly unrivaled success story in terms of public preparedness. The many damage feats caused and the behavior of this event are both historic. Click the title above to read the free overview of this event. Become a Patreon member to read even more detail about what happened!

A photo taken and provided by Jim LaDue, showing a mangled Chevrolet Avalanche that was thrown 780 yards near Piedmont.

May 25, 1896 - Oakwood, MI: This massive tornado was given an F5 rating. Per Thomas Grazulis, homes and farms were leveled in and near the towns of Ortonville, Oakwood, and Thomas. “Entire families were killed.” He denotes a total of 47 deaths and 100 injuries.

May 26, 1924 - Elkmont, AL: A very brief but tragic F3 tornado. One home was swept away. Per Thomas Grazulis, “a couple and six of there children were killed. Fragments of the bodies were hurled up to ¾ mile. Debris from the home, which was probably of poor construction, was scattered over three acres.”

Post of the Week

Main writer/researcher Nelson Tucker is currently in the plains spearheading the Observations of Tornadoes by UAV Systems (OTUS) Project! Using drones, their goal is to gather reliable measurements within and surrounding a tornado. The team captured a large twister NW of Custer City, OK on Sunday May 19!

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

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