Twin EF4 Tornadoes: Pilger

On June 16th, 2014, a supercell thunderstorm over Northeastern Nebraska produced 4 EF4 tornadoes, with instances of two on the ground at the same time. For storm chasers, it was a dream come true. For meteorologists, an event to study for the ages. And for residents of the towns of Pilger, Stanton, and Wakefield, a terrifying ordeal.

Post-release editors note: June 16th was a MONDAY, not a Saturday. Not sure how I pulled that one off… sorry for the confusion!! - Ethan

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#tornado #weather #stem #documentary #pilger #nebraska

[hotdog]

The town has grown much since the tornado, with many new businesses built, however, many old foundations lay as a grim reminder of what happened nearly a decade ago.

[poohssmartbrother]

I found Pecos Hank thanks to these two Tornadoes. His 2014 summary video features these two Nado's and its pairing music gives me goosebumps every time. One of these set the record for fastest moving tornado at 94mph. That lightning strike (you know which one) had to have such a massive charge given its relative location.

[girrganflirganchrgan]

I usually watch these on my TV when they come out. I checked out the view and subscriber count and was baffled to realize you only have about 7K subscribers. Keep it up man, you make good work, your videos are very entertaining.

[thomasfucillo]

If you go to Pilger on Google Maps, the overhead satellite view shows the current empty town with barren lots. The Streetview hasn’t been updated in a decade though, it shows the town before it was destroyed. You can tour around the Pilger that used to be.

It’s incredibly eerie.

[LostLag]

the small tornado rotating the main one hit a speed The pecos hank video of this thing is insane, great job gud video...

[robsmith]

Love the content! If you decide to do a video about the EF-4 Dayton, Ohio tornado of 2019. I have about 20 -25 minutes of video of it going through town from a distance that has not been seen by anyone. The video definitely needs edited and slowed down in places because of it being a nocturnal storm. We had 15 tornadoes within the area that night. Also extensive damage video, I spent the next 6 months afterwards helping people.

[LITTLE]

That day was a NIGHTMARE. I cannot imagine being in a situation where you would see TWO wedge tornadoes going on at once.

[Randmperson]

So beautiful but so devastating at the same time. Amazing video.

[AndrewPritchard]

Another great video, Ethan! This day always sort of haunts me. I was really fed up with how quiet 2014 had been, and basically went into "prove it" mode. I wasn't chasing anything until some trough actually panned out. Welp... I didn't even believe my eyes when I came inside from mowing the lawn and saw the two side by side intense couplets on radar. Then I saw Dick McGowan's upload of the twin wedges. Brutal day to sit out ultimately.

[Arisenlicious]

Your editing is just top tier! thank you for working so hard on this!

[oish]

buy yourself some lunch

love your videos man, the details you go into with not only the meteorological setups but also the damage these tornadoes do is super respectable — just curious, do you plan on doing one on the alonsa MB EF4? likely EF5 winds at one point or another within that tornado.. anyway keep it up, etc, yadda yadda 🙂

[Sophie_Miller_Wx]

2:00 As a storm chaser, it is weird to me when we witness a EF4+ tornado. On one hand, it is absolutely memorizing to witness such a violent force on earth. But on the other hand, when you see how much debris a violent tornado picks up, its very raw. I witnessed both the high end EF3 Ottumwa, Iowa tornado and the Keota EF4 tornado. To see a violent tornado is so raw I can't even describe it. I saw pieces of people's houses get lofted into the air. That messed with me for a bit.

[JarodIsCoolllll]

this dude is such a good editor, this skill has gained you an subscriber!

[samk]

Love the channel dude, the production value has definitely increased recently. Keep the videos coming.

[tannerlevasseur]

Dude, you're getting great at this stuff!! Your hard work is invaluable.

[mothmanifest]

I live in a different time zone and it was night when this was happening. I dreamed about 2 tornados, one big and one smaller, going over grassy lands together with some small hills, a rural area with homes far apart, and one home in particular on the side of the road with a sloping driveway that sticks out in my mind. It was so vivid and the next day I can’t remember where I was but I randomly caught a news blurb about this incident that had just happened. Exactly like my dream. Even the house was shown. Occasionally I get these kinds of premonitions.

[meteorologistlife]

Wow! You have gained a new subscriber! I just watched three of your videos and they were all great! The way you explained the setup behind the event would make one who don't understand the meteorology behind it gain some knowledge! Can't wait to see what you produce next and watch your channel grow! Keep up the great work!

[ArtemisiaDS]

Man that EF4 that hit Ellabell GA was devastating. I saw it touch down outside our neighborhood. Ive never seen a tornado before so I just assumed it was a cloud. Never in my life have I seen rain clouds that dark and moving at that speed. My friend's family lives about 5 minutes away from us, and in that 5 minutes it went from nothing, to a destructive EF4. I think it hit full intensity when it reached their neighborhood. They said they heard the sirens and then something that sounded like a freight train. Theyve also never seen a tornado before but they immediately knew what was about to happen. They all ran to the bathroom and by the time their father close the door, boom, the entire house gone up around them. What once was their home of 15 years completely flattened in seconds. The father was the first to wake up in the front yard and he immediately jumped up to check on everyone (Retired veteran). He thought his wife was dead because of her injuries. He was devastated but immediately shifted focus to check on the kids. One of them had a broken pelvis and a broken arm, the other with a couple puncture wounds and bruises. Fortunately, his wife was not dead just some serious injuries. After he checked on everyone he glanced down for a second and realized there was a bone sticking out of his leg. That just goes to show how amazing our bodies are. Their house wasnt the only one to suffer that fate. That neighborhood had maybe 150 houses and out of all of those, only 2 managed to survive by a hair. 2 houses, out of 150. Those 148 houses were completed flattened, just debris scattered across the yard. It then went on to destroy everything in the recreational park, traveled into black creek and destroyed a golf course, then moved into pembroke and destroyed a lumber yard, an entire town house subdivision, a jail, and trees and power lines. I remember after it cooled down we went to check on them because we could get in touch with them and we were horrified at the sight before us. The only explanation for how they survived what happened is a miracle. I refuse to believe that it was just chance. That was divine intervention. All of them are okay now and our little town has recovered but man I will never forget what I witnessed and I will always take tornado warnings seriously. Just to think how close we were to suffering that same fate. If youre interested In covering the events, I have some first hand photos and some videos of the damage I took. It was eerie. There was this feeling in the air that you cant describe in words. Absolutely terrible.

[JoeyKrastel]

The 'graphic' at 1:15-1:32 was my absolute favorite haha. Great video guys!

[FriendlyKat]

I’ve seen some of your other videos and have decided to sub! 7k subs is criminal when you put out content like this! Very good editing and commentary! Subbed!