Your all-time FAVORITE tornado video

[Dave Gallaher]

Excellent find there, Shane. That helicopter footage has such a dramatic view of what's on the ground--I hope that some of the better-funded research programs will eventually include copters.

However, I can see that windfields such as the one shown here are not as dynamic as in big supercell events where flying would be very risky.

Maybe Sean Casey can crank up a TIC...

Structure question: I can't tell from looking at the reflectivity on the video; are these the landspout-type tornadoes that seem to be fairly common in that area, or are they true supercell vortices?

 

[Shane Adams]

The meteorologist in the clip says they're detecting circulation via radar, but visually (and considering it's NE Colorado) they sure look like landspouts. One interesting thing of note though, if these are indeed landspout tornadoes, they sure seem to move rapidly and erratically; I always thought these type tornadoes usually moved slow or were stationary.

 

[JIM SELLARS]

I like the old filmstock.... the "Corn" storm...Warner Robbins Ga....Dallas 1957...Newer stuff Pampa...And the 05-03-99 satellite....Cool!!!...Timmer's Manitoba 2007 is SWEET too....TVC #1 has a lot of natural sound film stuff....I watch it during the 'OFF SEASON"....I haven't chased a storm in several years...(old and crippled) so any well shot video that tells the "STORY" of the storm is a plus to me...I guess that is why I like the older fixed camera shots...

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

#1: Andover, KS '91. Shot by ???. Filmed not by a stormchaser, but by a resident in the path of destruction, this one is the scariest and most "real" one of all. Distinguish his voice in the video from the later-added voice-over and you can hear the fear in it: "Look at the circular motion in the sky. It's really neat. It's just a const ... it's awfully still right now and its awfully warm." The short film ends as McConnell's sirens get wrecked, followed by a jerky Blair Witch-ish video loss and short soundburst of him running as his own city's sirens begin to wail. He lost his house but kept his and his family's lives by getting in the only room that survived. View it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx-Eos-DKeM

#2: Manchester '03, Samaras. Think Joel and Reed got close? Samaras deploys the first probe to get a full pass-over from a monster and survive without getting knocked over. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nKGOjNh_lI

#3: OKC '99, J&R. Of all their excellent videos, this is the one I learned the most from when I started studying seriously in June. To heck with the "rules of chasing" given in that otherwise excellent docu on CourtTV the other night: the first should be the Eleventh Commandment. "Thou Shalt Not Park Under an Overpass During a Tornado." Especially during the strongest one ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqRNZqRKVyo

#4: Hallam '04, Crowley and Teague. Early formation of the largest tornado on record. Even looks like a skull if you pause at 3:01: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7lLde3P4DA

#5: Red Rock '91. Shore. I didn't want to post the same storm or the same filmers more than once on this list, but this is just a gem. "We're actually out of danger, believe it or not! I'm gonna get back in the vehicle." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvMMcmtNUf8

#6: Ellis Co. '05. CycloneJim. I wonder who he was on the phone with at the beginning, neither of them knowing what was about to happen. This video showed me that a tornado need not necessarily touch the ground to be exciting ... or dangerous. Jim gets hit, providing some important zero-foot footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB3cX5WrKf4

#7: Falls '79. Unknown. The Terrible Tuesday tornado was the most costly in U.S. history before OKC '99, and missed my street by a football field (one of the satellites destroyed homes on the other side of our street, and mom still thinks it "skipped" us although I've tried explaining). Two miles wide. Anyone from the Falls who knows what Faith Village looked like afterward could put a rightful case for F5 status. Only known film of what remains our town's worst nightmare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr2nw9qXuG0

#8: Sweetwater '07. Billy Griffin. Perfect shot of this deadly 'pipe as it rolls pretty right next to the road. A long view that you can't take your eyes off of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnp0ZqENgU8

#9: Stoughton '05. ???. Homeowners view this tornado as it bears right down on them, full force, and takes out structures right outside their home. The commentary is hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzcOx40UYUw

#10: Great Bend '74. Bob Dundas. This edges Cordell and the handful of clockwise storms as the strangest storm I've seen on video. Short but to the point on what looks to be otherwise the world's sunniest summer day. It's extremely creepy, and I've certainly never seen anything like it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFxvmbbgg8M

 

[Stephen Levine]

There is a video called "Tornado..the Entity", that shows the Andover KS twister upclose and personal and over much of its life cycle from birth to eggbeater wedge out in the suburbs. In addition to utterly stunning footage, it pairs music up with this (as well as other twisters shown in the video). The music was exquisitely witten to capture the very essence of the energetic vibration of the tornado. Utterly eerie and breath taking, and with the music, it's almost enough to send shivers up the back.

In addition to this production, my favorites have already been mentioned in this post, all seen on The Tornado Projects video series: The Lazbuddie twisters - the video of which gets suddenly cut off and ends with screaming (you get to wondering if they were all killed and only the camera was found);
the Canadian F-4 shot from across the street where the father says to his child innocently (with his accent) "look...it's a funnel.." as multiple vortexes dance around the big one and the outer circulation is quite evident on the roof of houses right across the street.
Also the film where the fellow videoed it all from his back porch even getting struck by lightning, and the eerie heavy silence that builds into a raging storm. One of the special things about this video is the contrasts: deafening silence as a tornado passes just to his south and east (?) and hearing the radio of his neighbor even as this tornado passes closeby; then the camera turning to the west as gathering clouds and flashes of lightning herald the start of the next twister - again in ominous silence.
I would say another favorite would be the Katy TX tornado as shot from the viewers back yard as it approached their house.

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

There is a video called "Tornado..the Entity", that shows the Andover KS twister upclose and personal and over much of its life cycle from birth to eggbeater wedge out in the suburbs. In addition to utterly stunning footage, it pairs music up with this (as well as other twisters shown in the video). The music was exquisitely witten to capture the very essence of the energetic vibration of the tornado. Utterly eerie and breath taking, and with the music, it's almost enough to send shivers up the back.

That wouldn't be the five- or six- long minute cut they used to have on Youtube, would it? It used to be my favorite, but it got yanked.

It had, to the best of my memory: the initial development of the storm; the "toll booth crossing" on what I guess was I-35; a cut of the twister above a gas station; a cut of some older woman gardening (!?); a beautiful shot of the initial stage where the sunlight illuminated, in all-white, the ropelike structure as winds bent it Oz-style; a minute of the infamous base shot; the entire cut of the 45 second super-reel as it wedged over Andover; a shot of someone filming in their backyard the wedge as it nearly missed him, debris flying in the air and his swingset going like an army of ghosts on amphetamines was on it; and, finally, a shot of some unfortunate man who had run straight into the wedge while taping it, including an ongoing filming (from the inside) of the twister lifting his car and tossing it haplessly aside. The last seconds show the man pointing out where his car was picked up, and his injuries are briefly shown, as well. To heck with the Blair Witch Project of tornado videos; that one was The Navidson Record of tornado videos.

The music was by Moby, "God Moving Over the Face of Waters." If you've ever watched the movie Heat, the same song was used at the credits.

If you have a copy of this ...

In addition to this production, my favorites have already been mentioned in this post, all seen on The Tornado Projects video series: The Lazbuddie twisters - the video of which gets suddenly cut off and ends with screaming (you get to wondering if they were all killed and only the camera was found);
the Canadian F-4 shot from across the street where the father says to his child innocently (with his accent) "look...it's a funnel.." as multiple vortexes dance around the big one and the outer circulation is quite evident on the roof of houses right across the street.

I've never seen those nor heard about them. My interest is piqued. Was the Canadian F-4 the infamous Edmonton monster?

Also the film where the fellow videoed it all from his back porch even getting struck by lightning, and the eerie heavy silence that builds into a raging storm. One of the special things about this video is the contrasts: deafening silence as a tornado passes just to his south and east (?) and hearing the radio of his neighbor even as this tornado passes closeby; then the camera turning to the west as gathering clouds and flashes of lightning herald the start of the next twister - again in ominous silence.
I would say another favorite would be the Katy TX tornado as shot from the viewers back yard as it approached their house.

Crazy and insane, and thus a must-see.

Speaking of Katy, I also forgot Jarrell on my list, but the best film of that has been yanked from Youtube as well (it was a German broadcast, but you could still hear everyone under the translator's words). My brother saw that tornado when he and everyone else he worked with thought it would be brilliant to stand on the roof of their office and watch.

 

[Mark Blue]

Never heard of the guy, have you??

I forgot to mention the Hesston, Kansas,*sorry can't remember who shot it* multiple vortices becoming visible for that brief second after it hit that concrete/powdered substance factory. Really gives someone the true colors of a large damaging tornado.

I will second the March 13, 1990, Hesston, KS tornado. I remember my Synoptic Meteorology II professor talking about it a couple of days after it occurred. An F5 doesn't happen very often in March as far as I can remember. I'm not sure if there are any videos of it on the net, but there is this pic from a state patrolman:

http://www.newtonarc.net/weather/hesston.html

Mark

I did find this on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgbzKF_pSXo

 

[Scott Olson]

That farmer video (Columbus Nebraska) is pretty dang wild and ranks up with one of my favorite. I just find that scene amazing considering how quickly that storm goes up on the radar data (from nothing to wild tornado producing beast in <1hr). The amount of stretching, horizontal vorticity and everything about it looks so wild). I certainly can't disagree that Reed Timmers Manitoba video is great, not just the tornado but the structure on the storm, the intensity and the lightning and sounds. Some of the 5/3/99 stuff is also extremely omnious and intense. Andover is another video that just makes me wish I was there.

 

[afischer]

Tim Marshall's 06/08/95 huge TX stovepipe vid (I assume this was Kellerville TX?)... favorite hands down

others:
-Newcastle OK (Tim Marshall) 05/03/99
-Brady NE (Brian Stertz & Jeff Piotrowski) 05/17/00
-Columbus NE (crazy farmer) 06/23/98
-Hesston KS "cement plant" (???) 03/13/90
-Lake Wilson KS (by local fishermen?) 05/07/93
-Lazbuddie TX (???) 05/10/90

 

[Dave Gallaher]

http://www.newtonarc.net/weather/hesston.html

Question: I read the story on the page linked above, and it mentions a LEO on another storm whose car engine shut down "due to a sudden change in pressure." Has anyone ever heard of this happening in other cases?

 

[Paul Knightley]

McConnell AFB certainly is high up there on my list - it was one of the 1st "proper" tornado videos I'd seen, when it was aired on a show here in the UK in 1992. Prior to that I'd some grainy footage, but that initial view, with the sirens wailing, and then failing, is spine-tingling.

 

[Stephen Levine]

That wouldn't be the five- or six- long minute cut they used to have on Youtube, would it? It used to be my favorite, but it got yanked.

It had, to the best of my memory: the initial development of the storm; the "toll booth crossing" on what I guess was I-35; a cut of the twister above a gas station; a cut of some older woman gardening (!?); a beautiful shot of the initial stage where the sunlight illuminated, in all-white, the ropelike structure as winds bent it Oz-style; a minute of the infamous base shot; the entire cut of the 45 second super-reel as it wedged over Andover; a shot of someone filming in their backyard the wedge as it nearly missed him, debris flying in the air and his swingset going like an army of ghosts on amphetamines was on it; and, finally, a shot of some unfortunate man who had run straight into the wedge while taping it, including an ongoing filming (from the inside) of the twister lifting his car and tossing it haplessly aside. The last seconds show the man pointing out where his car was picked up, and his injuries are briefly shown, as well. To heck with the Blair Witch Project of tornado videos; that one was The Navidson Record of tornado videos.

The music was by Moby, "God Moving Over the Face of Waters." If you've ever watched the movie Heat, the same song was used at the credits.

If you have a copy of this ...



I've never seen those nor heard about them. My interest is piqued. Was the Canadian F-4 the infamous Edmonton monster?



Crazy and insane, and thus a must-see.

Actually, the video that you describe is different than what was shown on "Tornado, the Entity".
In this video, the action starts when the twister is just west of the AFB, and silhouetted against the setting sun. Then it pans to where it begins its upclose destruction, and shows it's entire pass through the base.
Then it skips to where the tornado is a huge black stovepipe/wedge hybrid eggbeating behind some three story country homes. There is no humans shown in the footage.
Have no copy of this video, as this one scene was all that captured my attention.
The film that you mentioned sounds utterly stunning.

And indeed the Canadian one I mentioned is the F-4 Edmonton twister.

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

Actually, the video that you describe is different than what was shown on "Tornado, the Entity".
In this video, the action starts when the twister is just west of the AFB, and silhouetted against the setting sun. Then it pans to where it begins its upclose destruction, and shows it's entire pass through the base.
Then it skips to where the tornado is a huge black stovepipe/wedge hybrid eggbeating behind some three story country homes. There is no humans shown in the footage.
Have no copy of this video, as this one scene was all that captured my attention.
The film that you mentioned sounds utterly stunning.

And indeed the Canadian one I mentioned is the F-4 Edmonton twister.

I've only seen photos of Edmonton. I had no idea video even existed.

Yeah, that video was the best. It was up for a long time, but in retrospect I guess the footage was taken from some (unknown) source. Moby's song itself doesn't seem to be a problem on Youtube but I guess that video was yanked for copyright on some of the footage itself. The guy who posted it didn't mention the source.

This whole "Crazy Farmer" thing ... I've never heard of it. That one certainly hasn't gone to stock or been approved of Youtube usage; I spent the past five minutes typing in every combo of the location and date, and even the term Crazy Farmer Tornado, and couldn't find anything more than Reed's encounter with the hilarious South Dakota farmer right after Manchester.

 

[Matt Schuch]

fav. videos: 4-26-91 andover tornado, 4-26-91 billings/redrock tornado, 5-3-93 hooker ok-stevens co. ks tornadoes, 6-8-95 pampa tx, 6-2-95? friona and dimmitt tornadoes, 5-29-04 kansas tornadoes, 4-22-04 wilber-daykin NE tornadoes (that 2.5 mile wide wedge). and many many more!

 

[Tyler_Costantini]

the May 3, 1999 video from the new helicopter of the OKC/ Moore, OK F-5 was some really good video!

May 4th 2003 Franklin, KS video from the jct of K-57 and US-69 was amazing! and just up the road 10miles or so from my home! And i can't remember who filmed it! it's 2:40am