Topic: biggest tornado you have seen?

[Shawn]

What is the biggest tornado you have seen?

Myself, years ago, I saw an F-4 in Indiana and got the chance to get pretty close then debris started getting worse and we got out of there. It was one of the coolest things I have ever saw!

Yall?

[Curly]

I did see the tops of this tornado about 6 miles away. Does it count?
I was young, but still remember the day very well. This tornado is what got me interested in the weather.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2418.htm

[Shawn]

I would say   Thanks for the link to that, it was a very good read!

 

[antdoorsys]

I was in Dunlap Ind on the Palm Sunday Tornadoes in the 60's. We stopped for a bite to eat.we seen Tornado warnings on TV. I ran out and looked down the Hwy and saw a massive Twister. It was massive to me I was about 8 YO. Seen others tell ya later.
Best Regards

[NoQuitters]

I did see the tops of this tornado about 6 miles away. Does it count?
I was young, but still remember the day very well. This tornado is what got me interested in the weather.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2418.htm

That picture in the story is actually from the last tornado that hit Johnson county, specifically, Overland Park Kansas where I happen to live. Strange that they would use that pic.

More to the point, the F4 that hit Kansas City in 03 is the biggest I've seen. I was within a mile of it when it took the top 1/2 of my brother's house off by the Kansas Speedway. The aftermath that I saw still astounds me to this day.

[WeatherBeacon]

Well, I've seen a few, but they weren't very large. The last one I saw was in 2004 near Watertown, SD; I saw the whole thing from beginning to end, but I didn't have a camera.

We were also in the middle of the massive tornado outbreak in SD in 2003 ... the one that also spawned the F4 "Manchester tornado" which produced a record pressure drop and winds up to 260 mph. That was 19 miles from my hometown.

The outbreak ran from about 3:00pm to about 10:00pm. The newsies were saying that tornadoes were dropping so fast they couldn't keep up with them. They literally said, "If you are anywhere in southeastern SD, seek shelter immediately!" With 67 confirmed tornadoes in less than 8 hours, the outbreak tied the previous record of 67 tornadoes in a 24 hour period in a single state. Considering that the previous record was in Texas (substantially larger than southeastern SD) and during hurricane Beulah's landfall, I'd say the SD outbreak stands as record of its own. Normally I would have gone outside to try to spot tornadoes, but not that day. It was very frightening to say the least. We were glued to the TV.

   http://www.crh.noaa.gov/fsd/storms/tor062403/index.php

Kevin...

EDIT:  Added a missing word.

[Curly]

I did see the tops of this tornado about 6 miles away. Does it count?
I was young, but still remember the day very well. This tornado is what got me interested in the weather.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2418.htm

That picture in the story is actually from the last tornado that hit Johnson county, specifically, Overland Park Kansas where I happen to live. Strange that they would use that pic.

That picture from the story is the same picture that was used for Johnson County?
The picture in the story has the correct location and date stated by NOAA.
Maybe Johnson County wanted to play up the situation. ?

Here are some references;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Sunday_tornado_outbreak_of_1965
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ind/april111965.php
http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/events/1965palmsun_torn2.htm

[carterlake]

I didn't live around here when it happened, but many of the folks I work with remember it vividly...

http://www.omaha5675.org/

(The Google interactive map is really cool)

[NoQuitters]

That picture from the story is the same picture that was used for Johnson County?
The picture in the story has the correct location and date stated by NOAA.
Maybe Johnson County wanted to play up the situation. ?

Very possible. I'll try and find the page I saw it on again. If it's not the same it's very close.

[TriCountyWeather]

I wasn't around when this tornado hit, but it was a nice one that our town will always remember.

http://www.weatherenthusiast.com/wxpics/1979_0410/index.html

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/wxevents/19790410/wichitafalls.php


April 10, 1979   F-4   Wichita Falls, Tx

[blackjack52]

When we were stationed  in Denver I saw a funnel Aug04, but it never touched down.
Look at the center of the pic.


Last Feb, our 1st mnth in AL, we smelled the pine odor, typical of tress being snapped.

[capeweather]

This was last September (2007). I saw the tornado from my house but didn't take the pic. Pic taken about 1 mile from my home by a friend of mine. Notice the chairs and plywood flying through the air. Trucks were overturned, roofs ripped off, downed powerlines and lots of other minor damage but still a very powerful nado.