The El Reno, Oklahoma F5 Tornado

The El Reno, Oklahoma F5 Tornado

On an average friday night in May of 2013, a storm formed over Central Oklahoma that would forever change the world of meteorology. With a width of 2.6 miles, and wind speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour, this tornado quickly became one for the record books.

This is the story of the El Reno Tornado, the largest and possibly most powerful in all of recorded history.

► Music Licensed From SoundStripe/Envato Elements

Subscribe to Most Dangerous to never miss an upload!

[englishrose]

The storm that took the lives of Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras and Carl Young :(
R.I.P to them and all the others who sadly lost their lives to this monster of a storm ❤️

[robertstewart]

This is my biggest grief with the EF scale. You could have a 400 mph storm...If it doesn't hit anything...it's rated an ef 0...I just don't get that. To me the storm should be rated by the intensity of its wind speed and how much damage it 'could do' if it hit something. Not on how much it actually destroys. But...I'm not a Meteorologist. So, pay me no mind.

[johnnyeproductions]

This tornado officially was downgraded to an EF3 as the ratings are determined due to the destruction & damage path. It was given an EF5 rating initially but they lowered it because it was mostly over fields and there was not F5 damage done to any structures or homes. Sadly, it took the lives of 8 people including several prominent storm chasers. RIP Twistex Team

[veritassyfer]

RIP to the legends of Team Twistex. I grew up watching their storm chasing documentaries. The fact they tried to down play this storm as F3 was boggling IMO. No way a storm that big, fast and powerful could be F3.

[michaeldipietro]

2.6 miles is the distance I travel, one way, to work.
I live in PA.
I really do not want to see something like this tornado barreling down on me.

[nebula_vr]

This was a monster. We had our whole house collapsed. I can’t remember if we lived in the outskirts of el Reno or near the regional park. I would never want to go through it again. I don’t exactly have a fear of tornadoes now, But I’m scared of a direct impact again. Also, Great Video!

[orange_cat]

I'm glad that monster landed in a rural area and didn't kill any more people than eight. That low of number is amazing for that area and a 2.6-mile-wide tornado. And thank God it didn't land in the nearby Oklahoma City and suburbs.

[icanhearcolors]

The winds of 302 miles per hour came from an "interior sub vortex" which is basically one that orbits around the perimeter of the main condensation funnel, or directly inside it. The interior sub vortex hit the Tornado Hunt Crew on highway 81, causing the main vehicle, a GMC Yukon to take off like an aircraft being hit head on by 200 mile per hour winds. At the same time to the north on Reuter/10th street, Storm Chasers Dan Robinson and the Twistex crew were racing east to get out in front of the storm to take pictures, or deploy their scientific probes in the path. Carl Young who was driving at the time remarked curiously, "Theres no rain around here..." all the rain had stopped just to the east of 81. The rain slowly started to come in, and where Tim Samaras said, "Actually, I think we're in a bad spot..." They tried to escape, but fell behind Dan as he broke away, free of the outer invisible edge of the tornado where winds exceeded 130 miles per hour. The Twistex crew eventually disappeared behind Dan as seen in his unreleased Rear Dashcam view. Highway patrol could hear Tim and Paul Samaras screaming, "F*ck, We're going to die! We're going to die!" The interior sub vortex stalled on top of their Chevy Cobalt for 20 seconds, tossing them to the intersection of radio and reuter roads.... *All 3 painfully perished...*

[holden]

That's some of the clearest footage I've seen of this tornado. It was so massive that it was difficult to capture within a single frame.

[danielwieten]

This tornado was categorized EF-5 initially, and lost its rating some months later when considering damages, bringing it down to an EF-3. The 1999 tornado did not hit 30 miles north of El Reno, it was in Bridge Creek/Moore, which is southeast. Also the EF scale puts EF-3 winds from 136-165 MPH, which is less than this tornado, but the scale is damage-based. All of this is generally known (in the severe weather community) and easily accessible information.

[metalsonicv.]

I have a funny feeling that we may see a tornado that size again, I would hope not but, the possibilities are endless.

[Shinuchiha_]

Rip to Tim.. the man was a living Colorado legend!! Loved watching him on Storm chasers.. my dad got to meet Tim at the Denver sports expo in January of 2012 😊 said he seemed like a very reputable guy!! You will be missed sir 😢🕊🌪

[PeytonHarmsen]

I was so confused when I saw this uploaded so recently. I was finally thinking that we got an EF5 tornado for the first time in 9 years and it just so happened to be in El Reno lol

[isetmfriendsofire]

Crazy that storms like this are even real. Absolutely wild.

[Rek_Rc]

Imagine two places not far apart in the same state, having in 1999 a tornado causing the highest wind speed ever recorded on earth, then in 2013 the largest tornado ever recorded on earth, which also had the second highest wind speed ever recorded on earth.

[Korijenkins]

The EF scale is comically dumb if a tornado with 300 mph winds is an EF3.

[phoenixrising]

Got stuck in a possible twister last week in nebraska, as a native of the west coast and only ever seeing them in media I would never wish that upon even my worst of enemies. I say possible because there was no confirmed touch down, basically my team driver(truck drivers) had just finished adjusting our weight to make it legal, the tornado warning popped up on her phone and we got a warning message about it on our work tablet as she was leaving the truck stop at around 9pm, she drove the truck across the street to another truck stop and parked it and in a frenzy woke me up, as I peaked my head out you could clearly see a thick black cloud move over head spinning counter clockwise followed by several minutes of heavy rain. Just in that instant knowing that a tornado could touch down anywhere around us was absolutely terrifying. My heart goes out to all the people who lost homes, and worse their loves, from these monsters of nature.

[bearzdlc]

tri state tornado to me is still the most infamous, i would lose my shit if someone happened to find old photos taken of the actual event, i recently found artist renderings of what it would have looked like in the distance in many places it hit and its truly terrifying

[Thecutegamer]

It was Friday, may 20,
2013 when the EL RENO tornado warning touched Oklahoma it took three lives : Tim samaras, Paul samaras and Carl young rip to those people

[storytimewithunclebill]

I was in the 1999 F5 tornado that hit Oklahoma City, Ok. I was at the Federal Transit Center FTC Oklahoma City, the federal prison transit center. It was pitch black outside and they called everyone to their cell. It missed us. I did get to see the destruction path on Conair as I was transferred to the prison that I would serve the next 3 years at. Tell the stories on my channel. The 2013 tornado was a monster and killed a lot of good chasers too. And it was just so big. Got a new subscriber. Was fun to watch. Great video