“My dad was just sucked out and ended up underneath a grain truck. He held on.” – Lorrece Usselman Werner talking about her father Pius, who took shelter in a creamery during the Fort Rice tornado. She was quoted in an article in the Bismarck Tribune.
The supercell that produced this tornado had already spawned an F2 in Harrison County, IN. The storm progressed across the Ohio River and another tornado formed, quickly strengthening. Most of the damage was F3 in Bullitt and Spencer Counties. There was at least one home surveyed by the NWS in Hillview that had F4 damage.
This tornado was one of at least 20 that occurred during the Central Texas Tornado Outbreak of May 27, 1997. This is the same outbreak that produced the Jarrell F5.
Per the Storm Prediction Center, 8 tornadoes occurred on May 25, 2016. Half of those were in Kansas from an isolated supercell. The strongest tornado was a long track EF-4. It began north of Niles, KS and traveled for close to 90 minutes finally dissipating just west of the Dickinson and Geary County line. The estimated peak winds = 180 mph.
Per The Storm Prediction Center, there were 24 tornadoes that occurred on May 23, 1966. The strongest was an F3 that quickly hit parts of northern Hunt County, TX and the Wolfe City area.
Each tornado event we cover is tragic. Someone has lost a family member or friend. Towns are devastated. Some never recover. There are also stories of heroism, community, and hope. Today’s event was one I hadn’t heard of before: The Saragosa, TX F4, May 22, 1987. As I began to read the devastating stories surrounding this event, my heart was immediately broken.
The month of May in 1957 was very active. Per the NWS Paducah, approximately 231 tornadoes were reported. The Storm Prediction Center shows 18 on May 21. One of the strongest was later rated F4. The town of Fremont, MO was devastated. Per Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes, “Only seven homes were left in tact in Fremont, with possibly F5 damage to homes, schools, and businesses on the east side of town.”
This F5 is commonly known as the “Ruskin Heights Tornado” because of the tremendous damage inflicted there. It has also been called “The Kansas-Missouri Tornado” and “The Ottawa-Kansas City Tornado”. It developed southwest of Williamsburg, KS, traveled close to 70 miles and ended near Knobtown, MO. This tornado was the strongest of 35 that occurred on May 20, 1957.
Two supercell thunderstorms produced 8 tornadoes in Central Oklahoma late afternoon and evening, May 19, 2013. The strongest was rated EF-4 and moved through parts of Cleveland and Pottawatomie Counties.
A destructive F4 tornado quickly hit Olney, TX on May 18, 1951. Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes believes, based on the damage, that this could have been rated F5.
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