On This Day: May 2

Tornado Talk Summary

This tornado moved 20.6 miles through parts of Major and Garfield Counties on May 2, 1979. The max width was 880 yards. There were 25 injuries and 1 fatality reported. Read the full summary here

SIGTOR Spotlight

Highlighting a Tornado Before 1950
from Significant Tornadoes by Thomas Grazulis!

May 2, 1929: A tragic event occurred due to a tornado at Rye Cove, VA. Here is the account from Grazulis, “The primary damage was to the school, which sat on a knoll in the center of a valley. The funnel cloud was seen approaching the school, but the teachers and principal did not want to “start a panic,” so nothing was said, hoping it would miss the school. About 155 students were in attendance. Most were at recess outside the two-story building, when it was hit by the tornado. The building fell over, collapsed, and was scattered. Pieces were found up to two miles away, but the entire building was not actually blown apart. Twelve students and a teacher were crushed to death, another 42 were hospitalized.”

Twister From The 2000s

On this day in 2021, an EF2 tornado tracked for nearly 6 miles through Holmes and Caroll Counties in Mississippi. Extensive tree damage occurred, and at least one home was damaged.  Source. 

A tree that fell onto a house, photo via the Damage Assessment Toolkit (DAT).

Weather Rewind

Tornado and Other Weather Events From On This Day

On this day in 1983: An outbreak of 29 tornadoes ripped through parts of the Great Lakes, Northeast, and Ontario. 22 tornadoes occurred in the US, and 7 in Canada. The strongest tornado was an F4 in the Ontario town of Wyoming. Nine tornadoes in the US were rated F3. Source

Map of the tornadoes, via Tornado Archive.

Pieces of the Past

A Look Back Through The Ages!  On This Day In History! 

Sources:  onthisday.com, thisdayinmusic.com & Britannica

Historical Event

On this day in 2011: Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI’s most wanted man is killed by US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Check out more historical events at onthisday.com

Famous Birthday

David Beckham was born on  May 2, 1975, in Leytonstone, East London, England. He is an English football (soccer) player who gained international fame for his on-field play as well as for his highly publicized personal life. Source:  Britannica

Film & TV

On this day in 1941: FCC approves regular scheduled commercial TV broadcasts to begin July 1. Get more daily history at onthisday.com

Music Trivia

On this day in 2008: Chad Kroeger was banned from driving for a year after being convicted of drink-driving in the Canadian city of Vancouver. The 33-year-old Nickelback singer had almost twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system when he was stopped by police speeding in his Lamborghini. Get into the groove with more music trivia at thisdayinmusic.com

Radar of the Day

An extremely brief but destructive EF3 tornado tears through a subdivision of Liberty, Missouri, during the overnight hours of May 2, 2008. Though it was only on the ground for 0.97 miles, the tornado destroyed 4 homes and damaged 117 others. Despite striking at night, there were no injuries or fatalities. Radar snapshot from GRAnalyst, courtesy of Gio Rizzotti.

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