Photo taken from the airport near Ottawa, Kansas. Photographer is facing north. Photo courtesy
Event Details
Photo taken from the airport near Ottawa, Kansas. Photographer is facing north. Photo courtesy of Dr. Charles Doswell, CIMMS/University of Oklahoma. Photographed by Charles LeMaster.
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.