In 1990, the deadliest tornado to strike the Chicago Metro Area since April 21st, 1967 hit Plainfield, Illinois. This tornado tore a 16-mile long, one third mile wide track along the southwest suburbs of Chicago. The tornado started in Oswego, located 12 miles south of Aurora, then tore through Plainfield, ending in West Joliet. The F5 rated tornado destroyed seven subdivisions, three schools, among them Plainfield High School, shopping malls, several apartment complexes and overturned gravestones. People were thrown hundreds of yards to their deaths. A 20-ton tractor trailer was thrown just over half a mile, killing the driver, while other cars were thrown considerable distances.

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In 1988, severe thunderstorms tore through New York State and Vermont. A tornado struck Hector, New York, killing one person, while in Vermont, tennis ball sized hail pummeled the town of Brandon and 80 mph gusts whipped through Lyndonville.

In 1959, an Air Force pilot bailed out of his jet at an altitude of 46,000 feet into a violent thunderstorm, and lived to tell about it! What would normally have been about a 13-minute descent took around 45 minutes.