Plainfield - The Unwarned F5 Tornado

August 28th 1990.
The sky grows dark over the small town of Plainfield Illinois, while thousands of residents carry on with their daily activities, completely unaware that just to their northwest one of the worst tornadoes in US history is racing directly towards them.

On August 28, 1990. A catastrophic F5 tornado would strike the town of Plainfield claiming the lives of 29 and hit without a Tornado Warning. In this video we will discuss the fascinating meteorology that caused this tornado, the people it impacted and the failures at the National Weather Service that allowed it to strike without warning. This is the true story of the 1990 Plainfield Tornado: The Unwarned F5.

F Scale explanations:
F0 Light Damage (40-72mph)
F1 Moderate Damage (73-112mph)
F2 Significant Damage (113-157mph)
F3 Severe Damage (158-206mph)
F4 Devastating Damage (207-260mph)
F5 Incredible Damage (261-318mph)

Want to support what I do? This is the best place to do so:

Sources:

All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. See Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015).

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS

[CeltonHenderson]

Thank you so much for watching. These videos take forever to make so it means the world to see everyone enjoying it. Be sure to let me know what I should cover next and if you had any personal experiences with this tornado. Also subscribe so you don’t miss the next one <3.

[bigtony]

As a child in the 90s, the 'green sky' was something we were taught to look out for after this event. thanks for posting

[katwright]

I was in this tornado. My aunt and cousins had to be dug out of their basement bc the house collapsed over them. Thankfully they were all okay. It literally felt like a freight train. It shook the ground like nothing I’ve ever felt.

[aubsmart]

I grew up in Joliet, and this was the most terrifying tornado of my entire life! It stopped right before our street. I will never forget the sound! It sounds like a massive freight train coming straight for you. Our neighbors lawn furniture was hovering in the air 2 to 3 feet off the ground when we ran to the basement. We had debris in our yard that came from miles away, and two by fours impaled into our house. Our friends in Plainfield only survived thanks to their basement stairs as the rest of the house was blown away. I’ve been terrified of tornadoes ever since.

[skrounst]

If I was a meteorologist and saw a CAPE value of 8000, I'd just go ahead and issue a tornado warning immediately.

[animalbites]

I was 2 years old when this happened so I have no memories of it. We lived in Rockdale at the time (Which was a little village inside Joliet) and my mom and grandparents would talk about this a lot. I remember my mom saying that the Plainfield Tornado was the tornado that made my mom want to be a storm chaser, but my dad and grandparents said "Absolutely not." She didn't chase them physically, but she studied them, learned about them and became the family weather informer. I remember she'd call me when I lived on my own yelling "GET IN THE BASEMENT!!" and THEN the sirens would go off. I miss my mom. I hope if she did get reincarnated, she'd be a great meteorologist in her next life. <3 Rest in Peace, mom.

[Lambosown]

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs as a 2000s kid. It is weird that even as a tornado fanatic, today is the first time I have ever heard of this incredibly deadly tornado that ravaged the suburbs?
Update: I had asked my parents and, inevitably, they remember the day clear as glass and have their own stories. I'm old enough to call it the Sears tower instead of the Willis tower, but not old enough for there to have been any mention of this tornado growing up.

[racingaerials]

WGN's Tom Skilling just retired this year. He was the chief meteorologist for Chicago's news station in 1990. I went to a conference where he was a speaker, and when this storm was brought up, he broke down. He still feels personally responsible for every life lost that day, and we all couldn't imagine how much this day weighed on him. A freak tornado, still the only F5 tornado recorded in the month of August.

[nurserock]

August 27th 1990 was my 13th birthday. The entire day was a hellish, relentless combination of hot+humid, which by all indications, gave no signs of letting up anytime soon. On August 28th, it was more of the same weather. My parents had taken the week off and we spent the day in our backyard pool, much as we had all week.
I'll never, EVER Dad pointing out the dark clouds as they approached and saying, "thank God, it's finally going to cool down."
We prepared for the storm by covering the pool, putting away patio furniture and carrying out other tasks that wouldn't matter in a few minutes. Then, all hell broke loose.

[YouLookinAtMe-Bro]

I remember this like it was yesterday...the scariest sky I've ever seen.
I was working alone for a construction company just east of Plainfield in Romeoville.
I was just wrapping up the job and the hail, wind, and rain was blowing my van around like a toy.
I had to pull over and take my chances of what may happen.
Within 5 minutes it was completely over and my way home was the same path as the monster.
I lived outside of Crest Hill at the time, and used to live in the apartments that were hit, about a year earlier.
I've never been so scared in my life, and haven't been since.
I'm now 61 and was 28 at the time.

[j.b.]

Excellent video!


Actress Melissa McCarthy is from Plainfield and survived this tornado. She was in town, home from college, was visiting a friend, they noticed the ominous sky all of a sudden and ran to the basement, emerged a minute later and the second story of the house was gone. She tells the story during her hot sauce interview on the “Hot Ones” YouTube show.

[bishop]

Joliet resident here:

I wasn’t born yet when this tornado hit, but seeing the path of the twister pass no more than 300 feet away from my current home gave me such an eerie feeling. When growing up with tornados, you know there’s always a risk. You just never imagine something like this happening.

[vnny]

This man really paid attention is science class. Props to this guy.

[dreamypencil]

My grandparent’s house was destroyed by the Plainfield tornado. My family attended St Mary Immaculate. Your video gave me goosebumps.


I was nine years old, and school had just started back up. The school bus dropped me off around 3 and sky was a sinister shade of green. My mother quickly ushered me and my sister inside before the sky opened and poured torrents of rain along with golf ball-sized hail. Me, being a stupid kid, ran outside so I could put some of the hail in the freezer. It was one hell of a storm and I think we may have lost power. We lived in Joliet at the time and were well out of the tornado’s path.


My dad worked at a manufacturing plant on Rt 59. You can see it on the map at timestamp 5:36. Upper right corner. He had just gotten to work when the power went out. He and a bunch of his coworkers watched this behemoth of a tornado plow right past the open dock door while hail and debris pounded against the metal building. They were out of the tornado’s path, but barely. He said the twister was massive.


My grandparents lived on the same block as St Mary’s. Timestamp 6:53. Their house was just outside the upper part of red ring, so the tornado grazed them. Their roof was ripped off, trees uprooted. Their neighbors two doors down lost their entire house. My grandfather said he heard a sound like an oncoming train and barely had time to run down into the basement before the twister hit.


My grandmother wasn’t as lucky. She was having her hair done at a strip mall that also housed the grocery store mentioned at 7:01. She and her stylist ran into the bathroom and knelt, clutching each other, and praying, as the building collapsed around them. They climbed out of the rubble with the help of first responders. For the rest of her life, she had panic attacks whenever there was a thunderstorm.


After the storm passed, my dad came home and told us the news. I’m a little fuzzy on what happened next, but I think dad made some calls, then left again to go help our grandparents.


I was very fortunate that my dad and my grandparents all survived the event. Scared everyone shitless. Some people lost friends. I will say the outpouring of support afterwards was very heartwarming. We got free food from the Red Cross when we were out there helping our grandparents bag up trash.


That said, your video is one of the best accounts of this I’ve seen. You’ve more than earned my subscription.

[dogsmalamutes]

I remember this day. I left work at 3:30 in Skokie and it was so unbearably hot and humid it felt like walking into a furnace. It was hard to breathe. I actually commented to my coworker that it felt like tornado weather. The next day I happened to be on the outskirts of the Plainfield area and observed the stripped trees and devastation. It was sobering. 💔

[ricknolan]

Lived in the apartment complex in Crest Hill years before around 1982-83. When I saw them flash pictures on the news afterward, my mind went right to a guy that lived above me on the second level. I had a basement apartment for that exact reason. I would have been at work in Romeoville that day but always wondered who survived since I worked with people from Plainfield and Joliet. Gives you perspective on life. Providence can go both ways.

[midnitediverb]

I am completely tripped out right now. This video popped up on my feed..

I was in that tornado when I was 11 in the Rockford / Marengo, Illinois area.

It was so crazy watching this I haven’t seen that footage for so long. Since I saw it with my own two eyes 😎

I watched a medium size tornado tear right through my backyard and flip my dad’s Dodge ram toss it into nothing… tore the tractor right out of our barn.

Awesome job on the video !

You can’t understand what it meant to me to see this again .

[styropyro]

excellent presentation of a notorious illinois F5!

[yanxiangfo]

Imagine just chilling in Plainfield and getting no warning about a devastating tornado, truly terrifying in prospective. Thanks to you Celton for uncovering this historic tornado.

[galahadkoa]

I grew up near where this tornado hit. I remember the sky turning green and then the wind picked up quite a bit with heavy rain. It went through fairly quickly, but we knew there was more to this storm due to damage and down trees even in the area where I lived. My older cousin lived next door and not too long after the storm went through he came over and said a tornado had gone through the Cedarwood Apartments and the authorities were looking for volunteers to help. He left to help with his brother. My mom, aunt, and I went driving around to see what happened (not a bright idea in hindsight). I remember we were going down one of the main roads through Joliet and signs were torn down, there was debris in the road, and parts of buildings blown off. I didnt realize how bad it was until I saw the Chicago Police drive by. At that point it sunk in how bad things had to be for Chicago emergency vehicles to drive 45 miles to come to where I live. There were emergency vehicles from literally everywhere you could think of. Roads were closed past a certain point so we never saw the exact spot where the tornado went through.