On This Day: May 31

Tornado Talk Summary

46 tornadoes occurred on May 31, 1998; the deadliest was an F3 that tracked through Salisbury, and Pocahontas, in Somerset County, PA. One person was killed, and 15 others were injured as numerous homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. Two days later, on June 2, an F2 and an F4 tornado would cross the path of this one near Pocahontas. Read the full summary detailing this tornado and others from the outbreak here

Damage in Salisbury. From the book "Tornadoes! Not in the mountains of Somerset County!

SIGTOR Spotlight

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

May 31, 1935: Five people were killed and 22 injured by an estimated F4 tornado that hit Hitchcock, Red Willow and Frontier Counties in Nebraska. 22 homes were destroyed.

Twister From The 2000s

On this day in 2013, an EF3 tornado tracked for nearly 11 miles from rural northeastern St. Louis County, MO, through South Roxanna, IL. Several warehouse buildings were leveled. Source. 

A warehouse that was flattened. Photo via the Damage Assessment Toolkit (DAT).

Weather Rewind

Tornado and Other Weather Events From On This Day

On this day in 1889, “The Johnstown Flood,” occurred as heavy rain from training thunderstorms caused the South Fork Dam to collapse, sending a wall of water down the Conemaugh River into Johnstown, PA. 2,209 people were killed, and a large part of the town was leveled. Source

The John Schultz house at Johnstown, Pennsylvania after the flood. Skewered by a huge tree uprooted by the flood, the house floated down from its location on Union Street to the end of Main. Six people, including the owner Mr. Schultz, were inside the house when the flood-hit. All survived. Photo and caption via Wikimedia Commons.

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 1935: 7.7 magnitude earthquake destroys Quetta in Balochistan, British India (now Pakistan) killing an estimated 40,000 people. Check out more historical events at onthisday.com

Famous Birthday

Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930, in San Francisco, California. He is a motion-picture actor who emerged as one of the most popular Hollywood stars in the 1960s and went on to become a prolific and respected director-producer. Source:  Britannica

Film & TV

On this day in 1962: “Tell It To Groucho” last airs on CBS-TV. Get more daily history at onthisday.com

Music Trivia

On this day in 1980: Lipps Inc went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Funkytown’. The disco hit was also a No.1 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Australia and The Netherlands. It reached No. 2 in the UK. Get into the groove with more music trivia at thisdayinmusic.com

Photo of the Day

An extremely powerful tornado barely misses the city of El Reno, Oklahoma during the afternoon of May 31, 2013. The tornado, which reached a record-breaking 2.6 miles wide, killed 8 people and injured 26 others along a very erratic 16.2 mile path. 3 of the 8 fatalities were storm chasers Tim Samaras, Carl Young, and Paul Samaras. Many homes and several metal buildings were damaged or destroyed along the path of the tornado, which was rated EF-3. To date, it remains one of the most infamous tornadoes in Oklahoma history. Radar snapshot from GRAnalyst, courtesy of Gio Rizzotti.

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