Weather History

This Day In Weather History

In 2011, the catastrophic Joplin Tornado roared into history. The EF5 tornado killed 158, the seventh deadliest in United States history and the deadliest since the Southern Plains Tri-State Tornado of April 9th, 1947 that killed 181. The tornado's track was 22 miles long, reached one mile wide and lasted 38 minutes. The worst destruction was to Saint John's Medical Center, where 6 were killed, and to Joplin High School. Many houses were leveled or swept from their foundations. Damage estimates were around $2.8 billion. An estimated 1,000 were injured.

In 2004, the widest tornado to that date hit Hallam, Nebraska, 25 miles southwest of Lincoln. The giant F4 reached an astounding 2.5 MILES WIDE along a track that was 54 miles long. The tornado lasted one HOUR AND 20 MINUTES. Two schools were hit, buses were tossed, homes were leveled, and a freight train was thrown. Surprisingly there was only one fatality, but 37 were injured. It was the widest tornado on record until May 31st, 2013, when it was edged out by the giant 2.6 mile wide EF5 El Reno, Oklahoma Tornado.

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In 1987, tragedy struck Saragosa, Texas when a violent F4 tornado struck the small, far West Texas town. Of the 183 residents, 30 were killed and 121 were injured. The tornado's track was only 3 miles long but was nearly two thirds of a mile wide. Of the 30 fatalities, 22 occurred at a graduation ceremony for "Head Start" children. Damage totaled $1.3 million. Saragosa is located about 120 miles southwest of Midland.

In 1960, the most powerful earthquake in history erupted approximately 100 miles off the coast of Chile directly west of Valdivia. The ultra mega-thrust earthquake registered a moment magnitude of 9.5 but was preceded by very powerful earthquakes on the 21st that had magnitudes reaching as high as 7.9 that devastated Concepcion. The earthquake ruptured a 560 to 620 mile segment of the Nasca Plate which had subducted the South American Plate.

The catastrophic quake triggered tsunamis that traveled across the Pacific to Japan, the Philippines and Australia. The highest tsunami reached 82 feet that slammed into that part of the coast bounded by the ports of Lebu and Puerto Aisen. A 35-foot tsunami slammed into Hilo, Hawaii, 6,200 miles distant, some 15 hours later where 61 were killed and where the largest wave arrived in the middle of the night. It was the first tsunami for which warnings had been issued. Anywhere from 1,850 to 2,000 people were killed of which 1,655 were in Chile.
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