40 Years Ago Today - The Worst Tornado Outbreak In USA

[SEAZSky]

Read all about it:

http://tinyurl.com/6fc8m


Stan (SEAZSky)

[azskyman]

Stan,

I was witness to, and have 8mm movies of (now on video) the tornado that hit Crystal Lake, Illinois, on this date 40 years ago.

I remember seeing the trailing CB as vividly as though it were yesterday.

Immediately after seeing the storm, I said to my dad (I was 18 then), let's grab the camera and follow it!

We did, and we have about 4 minutes of footage from inside Crystal Lake before the sun went down that day...somehow we made it around police barricades which were just being set up when we arrived.

We surely would have helped if we had seen anyone injured...but we did get some terrific raw film footage of the immediate aftermath.

[Skywatch_NC]

I would include the March 18, 1925 Tri-State Tornado and April 3, 1974 Super Outbreak, etc., with the April 11, 1965 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak as some of the worst tornadic events ever.

Eric

[Shoshana]

NOAA is of the opinion that the April 3-4, 1974, super tornado outbreak was the worst outbreak.

It was interesting to read about the one 40 years ago - I honestly don't recall ever hearing about it before. I've heard about the 1974 ones, the TriState and the ones here in Texas but had no idea about this one 40 years ago.

Thank you for the info...

'shana

[ChiTownMC]

From Tom Skilling:

[azskyman]

Thanks ChiTown. I suspect Tom Skilling personally remembers that day too!

[Aslkahuna]

The outbreak had its beginnings the day before In MO where we also had tornadoes. I remember seeing large fractured chunks of ice falling from the sky in Warrensburg as hail was blown out of the very black tornadic CB to the west. The first line of storms of the Palm Sunday outbreak rorared through Warrensburg around Midnight Saturday night with at least one tornado south of town. The cells were moving at about 60kt to the NE.

Steve

[SEAZSky]

Hi Steve -

I sent you a PM just now.......

Regards,

Stan (SEAZSky)

[stormy1959]

April 21, 1967. ....a time many of us still remember.

The time of the tornado that struck Belvidere was instrumental in the high injury and death count. At 3:50 pm a violent tornado struck as children were boarding buses at Belvidere High School. Buses were overturned, 24 people were killed and 410 injured. 127 homes were destroyed with another 379 damaged. As the storm continued into McHenry county, another tornado touched down and headed toward Woodstock. The Belvidere-Woodstock tornadoes covered 25 miles.

At about 5 p.m., tornadoes struck Fox River Grove, Barrington Hills and Lake Zurich, producing a path of destruction nine miles long. The tornado killed one person and injured nearly 100. It destroyed 140 homes and damaged another 463.

Just before 5:30, the most devastating tornado of the afternoon touched down near Palos Hills. It continued through Oak Lawn, Hometown, Evergreen Park and the south side of Chicago; a 16-mile-long path, killing 33 people and injuring 500. It destroyed 152 homes and damaged more than 900.

A funnel cloud was observed passing over Romeoville and Lemont. It touched down east of Lagrange Road near 88th Avenue and 105th Street. It passed over the Tri-State Tollway then destroyed a drive-in theater. Many deaths and injuries occurred when the tornado hit a busy intersection at Southwest Highway and 95th Street during rush hour.

The tornado took several more lives when it hit a mobile home park and a skating rink near Cicero Avenue and Southwest Highway. It finally diminished in intensity as it moved through Evergreen Park and the south side of Chicago. It moved out over Lake Michigan near 79th Street.

Other tornadoes struck near Elgin, Geneva, and from Addison to Schiller Park.

The Chicago area tornadoes were part of a large tornado outbreak which also affected parts of northern Illinois, northern Missouri, southeast Iowa and southern lower Michigan. There were 19 tornadoes in Illinois.

The intense storm system moving through the Midwest on that day produced tornadoes with winds speeds reaching between 207-260 mph and destruction and damages near $50 million but even worse it took the lives of 58 of our neighbors and friends. Many which could have been saved with more awareness and preparation in times of disaster.

Information obtained from the National Weather Service of Chicago Illinois

[azskyman]

Stormy...I was in Belvidere that day. Witnessed the tornado, the destruction, and the deaths and injuries firsthand.

In fact, that event more than any other is why I am at Storm2k today!

That's just one of many good things that came out of that stormy day!

[CaptinCrunch]

The famous Elkhart, Ind., "double tornado" that hit the Sunnyside subdivision, which killed 36 people. Other eyewitnesses said it actually hit the Midway trailer park.