5 Biggest Tornadoes in All History

5 Biggest Tornadoes in All History

► Music Licensed From SoundStripe/Envato Elements

0:38 Tri-State Tornado
3:05 Bridge Creek-Moore Tornado
5:12 Joplin Tornado
6:58 Hallam Tornado
9:24 El Reno Tornado (May 31st NOT March 31st)

Underworld is creating the best new educational videos about the lesser known stories from around the world. We post Top 5’s, Top 10’s, Caught on Camera and much more! Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to never miss an upload!

[jigwignibs]

God speed Tim. You died at El Reno but your contribution to meteorological studies will never be forgotten...

[dccaleb]

The 2013 El Reno tornado sped up, increased in size and changed direction all at once. It formed from 3 supercells that combined into one and had many sub-vortices with 300+mph winds swirling around inside a relatively calm primary funnel. In fact there were multiple chasers caught in the tornado that left unscathed only because they weren’t hit by one of the sub-vortices. A true weather anomaly.

[vissitorsteve]

When I was a kid, living in Kansas, tornadoes were what seemed like a regular occurrence. My family was poor, but just about a month beforehand, my folks rented a small farm house just outside of Dodge City. The following storm season we were surrounded one day, but 3 tornadoes at once. By the grace of God, the owners had built a fruit cellar not far from our house...just like the one in Wizard of Oz. Not to sound too cliched, but being down was literally like lying under the tracks of a locomotive passing overhead. When we finally climbed out everything was gone. No houses. No nothing...

[beckiekins]

The El Reno tornado was in May, not March. There were several satellite tornadoes around it as well. The NWS only rated it as an EF3 because the structural damage was equivalent to that. However, in rural areas it was absolutely an EF5. The Greensburg Kansas tornado is historic as well as it essentially wiped out the entire town.

[steakiscool]

"I'm sure we've all seen tornadoes online...but never in person"


Me, an Oklahoman:

[sarahs.]

Now we have a Quad State Tornado. I watched with horror as the tornado was down for over 4 hours. 12/10/2021 Prayers for all affected.

[sinnertrain]

The El Reno tornado occurred just about a week after the 2nd Moore EF5 in 2013. My wife and I discussed the 1999 Moore tornado when deciding whether I should take a job in OKC in 2008. We thought something like the 1999 Moore tornado couldn't possibly happen again. We were so wrong.

[theclandestinewitness]

I live close to Joplin, MO. That town is still trying to recover. It was a major blow to the whole area. Tornadoes are terrifying but also oddly beautiful. Like some elegant waltz you’re not able to look away from.

[halfdollar]

Here after the December 10-11 Tornados in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois and my state of Kentucky. This Tornado event will be one that will make future list because of its size, duration, distance traveled and states affected and the number of tornadoes in one weather event. The destruction in the area is unreal, as is many communities in the path of these storms.

[AOD-trnd]

The Jerrell tornado in south Texas was one of the most dangerous tornadoes ever to spawn but it just didn’t hit a major populated area. But it destroyed everything in its path. It ripped asphalt off the roads and pulled storm shelters out of the ground.

[kickinghorse]

My grandmother used to tell stories of the "tri-state" tornado. It had lifted a nearby barn of it's foundation and turned it around and set it back down near its original location.
I think she claimed it was still on its foundation, pointing in the opposite direction. Apparently, the farmer just fixed it up and kept using it where it sat.

[adamjohnson]

I remember the Joplin tornado. One of the most devastating ones to hit Missouri. Thousands of people afterwards volunteered to help clean up and rebuild Joplin

[leonardsusskindswar]

I want to give a little credit to Jeff Piotrowski for helping getting the sirens going in Joplin. He knew the tornado was rain wrapped and that not many people would be able to see it, so he stopped a cop and had them start the sirens. He and his wife actually almost got sucked up into it because it was so well hidden by the rain and clouds surrounding it.

[AshGD_GD]

i almost died in the joplin. that day was soo bad that they marked it as the costliest tornado

[christianclark]

I grew up in Memphis and remember hearing about the impact of the Joplin tornado the next day. The wildest thing I remember about it was that there was a girl in a car without a seatbelt on and she got sucked out of the window.

[wolf]

From some of the sources of info on Tornados, its stated the F6 tornado can not exist on earth because it would have to have wind speeds in excess of 318mph. The one in OK in 1999 has speed exceeding that, so it could be classified as the first F6. Granted it may have only been one for only a brief minute, however it does show it IS possible

[johnbeard]

The most terrifying tornado I've researched was definitely the "Jarrell Tornado." No, it wasn't the biggest, but it was the most violent from what I saw.

[Jmadreactions]

It's crazy that first Tornado is similar and took almost the exact same path as the one that hit Kentucky a couple days ago 😳

[seniordavidmanderson]

Hello, I am retired senior citizen and my nephew is a new meteorologist (congrats). We had family gathering last month and of course my first question to him, "which tornado was most powerful, " without hesitation he said, "Jarrell." Then he pulled out his laptop and proceeded to show me some Jarrell ground/aerial photos, and those vacant concrete slabs were visually shocking. He also said, "twisting speed was 300 mph but what made this tornado so extraordinary was it's slow movement intensifying it's destruction substantially." So here i am and what i researched myself in 30 days was mesmerizing yet eerie. First and foremost R.I.P. to those that perished and my condolences to all family members/friends.

27 deaths caused by the tornado occurred within one subdivision of Jarrell, a neighborhood of 38 well built houses called Double Creek Estates. Each residence was completely swept away and reduced to a concrete slab. The tornado produced some of the most extreme ground scouring ever documented as the earth at and around Double Creek was scoured out to depths of 18 inches reducing lush fields of grass to vast expanses of mud. The Jarrell tornado left an unbroken swath of barren earth vacant of fences, grass, trees, telephone poles, roads and homes that once dotted the landscape. Cars and heavy wreckers were granulated into small pieces and scattered across the earth never to be identified, think about that for a ..moment.

Regardless if tornado is moving at 80 mph or 8 mph, fact remains that so many meteorologist consider Double Creek storm to be the most catastrophic tornado in terms of intensity still today 2021. Suction vortices revolving around inside parent votrex probably peaked around 450 mph. I've seen photographs of Bridge Creek, Hackleburg-Phil Cambell, Bakersfield Valley, Smithville, Pomeroy, Udall, Brandenburg, Pampa, Parkersburg, Loyal Valley, Philadelphia-MS, Plainfield, Greensburg, Xenia, El Reno, Joplin and they don't compare to Jarrell's duration intensity, Nothing Does.

Timothy P. Marshall is a structural and forensic engineer as well as meteorologist. He has conducted more than 10, 000 damage surveys of tornadoes, hurricanes and hailstorms. He is best of the best and after surveying Jarrell he said, "Houses were obliterated. The destruction was so intense, it serves as a baseline for which other tornadoes are rated against."

I've learned and seen enough

What did i learn ?

That "Dead Man Walking" is an understatement

And my advice ?

If you see one,





RUN !!!!

[constantine]

I knew a woman who remembered the Tri State Twister. She lived around Lesterville, Missouri. I recently watched something about it and many scientist are saying that it may not have even been a tornado. It may have been a once in a thousand year event. Hard to believe it's not number one on EVERY list.