1957-05-20 F5 Ruskin Heights (MO)

[PDailey]

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:
http://carolynglennbrewer.com/

Ruskin Heights Tornado Memorial:
http://ruskinheightstornado.arctecowl.com/

Stories from the Kansas side of the storm:
http://www.ohs57.com/id181.htm

The "first" tornado forecast:
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=22960

Ruskin Heights Tornado : 51 Years Later
http://jacobrussellsbarkingdog.blogspot.com/2008/05/ruskin-heights-tornado-51-years.html

After the Tornado Photos:
http://ruskinheightstornado.tripod.com/id18.html

53rd Anniversary of the Ruskin Heights Tornado:
http://meteorologicalmusings.blogspot.com/2010/05/53rd-anniversary-of-ruskin-heights.html

50 Year Anniversary of the Ruskin Heights Tornado:
http://bartonfamilyweb.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22

Ruskin Tornado Tales:
http://beforemay.tripod.com/ruskintornado/index.blog/1477474/memories-of-the-1957-ruskin-tornado/

Diary of a Disaster - The 1957 Ruskin Heights Tornado and 20th Anniversary of the Kansas City Disaster (Audio only - middle of the page):
http://library.umkc.edu/marr-collections/archival/bodine/audio

 

[Drew.Gardonia]

Thanks for the post.

I still enjoy it when my Grandmother tells me stories about this tornado and the events that transpired upon this day. Both of my Grandfathers used to tell me stories as well, but both have passed on. But my Dad's, Mom and Dad lived directly in the path of the storm at the time, yet miraculously their house was not taken. Grandpa was painting the kitchen yellow that day, and when he looked out the window and saw it coming he grabbed the family and high tailed it across the street to the neighbors basement (Grandpa didn't have a house with a basement) and rode it out. He never painted another room yellow the rest of his life I laughed every time he told that story.

My Mother's, Mom and Dad were not in the path of it, but still went to the basement anyways.

 

[Mike Smith]

My publisher constructed a Facebook page for the run-up to Christmas and placed the first chapter of Warnings, which is about the Ruskin Heights Tornado, online. You can read it here: http://www.facebook.com/notes/warnings/warnings-chapter-one/156234887753326

Mike

 

[PDailey]

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:
http://carolynglennbrewer.com/

Ruskin Heights Tornado Memorial:
http://ruskinheightstornado.arctecowl.com/

Stories from the Kansas side of the storm:
http://www.ohs57.com/id181.htm

The "first" tornado forecast:
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=22960

Ruskin Heights Tornado : 51 Years Later
http://jacobrussellsbarkingdog.blogspot.com/2008/05/ruskin-heights-tornado-51-years.html

After the Tornado Photos:
http://ruskinheightstornado.tripod.com/id18.html

53rd Anniversary of the Ruskin Heights Tornado:
http://meteorologicalmusings.blogspot.com/2010/05/53rd-anniversary-of-ruskin-heights.html

50 Year Anniversary of the Ruskin Heights Tornado:
http://bartonfamilyweb.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22

Ruskin Tornado Tales:
http://beforemay.tripod.com/ruskintornado/index.blog/1477474/memories-of-the-1957-ruskin-tornado/

Diary of a Disaster - The 1957 Ruskin Heights Tornado and 20th Anniversary of the Kansas City Disaster (Audio only - middle of the page):
http://library.umkc.edu/marr-collections/archival/bodine/audio

Re-Posted Damage Photos from Life by Grey Villet:

 

[PDailey]

Color photos:

 

[NancyM]

Thanks for posting the photos from "Life" & the color photos. I've never seen them before and they're quite compelling. We were about 10 miles north of the path of the tornado and I was just 5 years old, but I certainly remember that night, right down to the song playing on the juke box in the hamburger joint we were at with a huge storm raging outside.

 

[Mike Smith]

If you want to learn more about Ruskin Heights, my book covers it in detail. Title: ​Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather. http://www.amazon.com/Warnings-Story-Science-Tamed-Weather/dp/1608320340/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

[NancyM]

Thanks. That would be a nice addition to the Carolyn Brewer books that focus on the human side of the story, but not the more technical aspects of the tornado.

 

[Jeff Wright]

Some of the saddest photos I have seen.

 

[NancyM]

This links to a home video of the Ruskin Heights tornado damage. It's poor quality, but still worth a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NvNBTRJTSc

 

[NancyM]

Our house was about 10 miles north of the path of this tornado & we had some lightweight debris in our yard. I remember items of clothing. At the time, people thought a separate funnel had gone over other parts of Kansas City. A few years ago I was trawling the web trying to find info on this. I found this article (or one similar to it) discussing the fallout of debris:

http://parker.ou.edu/~jsnow/Research/Debris/SSpreprint1.html

and halfway down in the addendum (Kansas-Missouri tornado of May 20, 1957)a reference to the Ruskin Heights tornado documenting the "numerous reports of small debris falling out over the city at a distance of 10 or more miles north of the tornado's path":

http://parker.ou.edu/~jsnow/Research/Debris/Addendum.html

 

[Jonathan Finch]

I presented the meteorological setting for this tornado at a AMS meeting in KC a few years ago. Here is one of the figures I used.

http://bangladeshtornadoes.org/UScases/052057/0520571930zsf.gif

 

[NancyM]

Here is another home video of the Ruskin Heights tornado damage. Once again, it's poor quality, but I wanted to link to it for the record. The first one I linked to looks like it may have some of the same footage as this one.

 

[NancyM]

And yet another:

You get a much better idea of the scope and intensity of this tornado from the "Life" photos.

 

[Mike Johnston]

The Ruskin Heights tornado covered a lot of ground. Besides Ruskin Heights, there were deaths in Pleasant Hill, Hickman Mills, Martin City, Grandview and Knobtown.