It is the deadliest tornado in WV history
and the 15th deadliest tornado in US history: The Shinnston F4 Tornado of June 23, 1944. It was a part of a historic outbreak that hit portions of the Appalachian Mountains.
This summary looks at the devastating La Plata, MD tornado of April 28, 2002. We explore the damage details of this historic tornado along with path discrepancies and the rating controversy.
The SPC Database lists 3 tornadoes on October 22, 1972. We look at one of those in this summary. It was given a rating of F3. Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes believes the damage was more in the F2 range. That was just one discrepancy with this event.
On October 3, 1979, a significant tornado hit without warning in Hartford County, CT devastating the town of Windsor Locks. This was one of the most destructive twisters to ever hit the state of Connecticut.
As with some past events, I had to put on my Sherlock Holmes hat with this one and do some sleuthing to figure out what exactly happened. The SPC has one tornado listed on August 3, 1963 and this is it: An F3 with a path length of 0.1 miles in Allegheny County, PA. There are several discrepancies that expand across our different sources.
It is considered the most destructive tornado in Wyoming’s history. An F3 crossed through the northern parts of the Cheyenne housing and airport areas. Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes states this could have been a “minimal F4” tornado. And the NWS in Cheyenne originally believed that was an appropriate rating. Explore the history!
