May 30-31, 1998 Tornado Outbreak - The ONLY Northeastern High Risk

Check out Bill's storm chasing blog! - stormbruiser.com/chase/1998/0...
Today we look at the only northeastern high risk ever issued in the US, and the surrounding severe weather outbreak of late May 1998.
Sources and additional information:
Mechanicville Tornado by NWS ALY: www.weather.gov/media/aly/Pas...
ArcGIS Story by NWS:
noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Map...
Paper by Alexander, Wurman on Spencer Tornado (2 parts):
journals.ametsoc.org/view/jou...
journals.ametsoc.org/view/jou...
NWS Damage Summary by Roger Edwards:
www.stormeyes.org/tornado/spe...
Older SPC summary of Great Lakes Derecho:
www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDere...
NWS ALY / University at Albany paper on Mechanicville Tornado:
journals.ametsoc.org/view/jou...
Will add others below as I continue to find more.
May 30-31, 1998 Tornado Outbreak - The ONLY Northeastern High Risk

[@animesmartass732]

"What the hell happened in Upstate New York?" That is something all of us who live there ask every day.

[@brianmaricle9646]

I don't think they like to talk about upstate New York we do have tornadoes here though remember when we had around June of 92 that was classified is downdrafts and microburst even though it created 20 Mile stretch of damage from the city of Cortland New York where cause damage to three big businesses winds blew half the wall out on the Rubbermaid and a couple of other businesses lost parts of the roofs walls took down various trees in the city skipped across route 81 and over the hills where took down hundreds of other trees maybe thousands on a 20-mile path all the way to Cincinnatus New York also in I think around 2010 that was an f2 tornado towards Watertown New York that picked up a house and set it down on a house across the street killing three people

[@lucaskoring4500]

Upstate new york is beautiful, also quite funky at times but it's the best part of new york

[@nicksmith8166]

@@brianmaricle9646I remember that storm. It was Labor Day. I live in Auburn myself.

[@pieboy107]

I love this! Yes we do ask this every day 🤣🤣🤣

[@BIGHUHA15]

it happens down here in the city worse

[@NHLchaos]

This storm system also dropped an F3 tornado that hit Lyons, PA which is only a few miles south of the college town of Kutztown. 20 years later when I was a student at Kutztown University, I had the opportunity to have social gatherings with other students at a house in Lyons that they were renting for the school year. Turns out it was one of the houses that was severely damaged by that F3 tornado, and you could clearly see which parts of the house were from before and after the tornado.

[@3D-Ducks]

I was born in march of 98 and lived in kutztown at the time. My parents would talk often about how bad it was

[@Yeaggghurte]

20 years later on the highway right next to kutztown I drove through a supercell and possibly a tornado and almost died during a rare outbreak in 2021

[@ChonB]

I was 7 at the time and lived in Shamrock about 10 minutes from Lyons, and remember that night very well. My dad was a lineman for Met Ed and got the call to go to Lyons, and after that night I didn't see him for almost 3 weeks as they were trying to rebuild everything. Somewhere my parents have a whole photo album of pictures he took of the destruction. In this video there's like a 2 second video clip of the church in Lyons right when he talks about Salisbury and the girl getting killed.

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

I remember a tornado warning on TV for Pottsville.

[@keithm1689]

I was 9 years old and lived a few miles outside of Lyons. I still remember that evening like it happened yesterday.

[@seancollins7447]

April 2012 Dallas tornado outbreak would be a fascinating topic for a video as it resulted in zero deaths despite being in a heavily populated area and causing a billion dollars in damage.

[@signinfor348]

yes!!!! i was there. or garland 2015 tornado

[@dazedandconfucioused992]

I was there as well at the Prestonwood Country Club in Plano. There was a water spout in the community lake and we corralled all of the employees and the few members there down to the women's locker room that is underground. It was scary as hell for a bit.

[@ChrisJones-lw8ss]

I was in Arlington at the time.

[@RailsofForney]

I live in the Dallas area and I remember that, including an F4 that completely destroyed Rockwall.

[@RailsofForney]

@@signinfor348 Yes

[@salt9485]

I love the videos man it perfectly balances being serious and being funny it doesn't feel like you're being bombarded with info but you still feel informed by the end you made my Friday :)

[@weatherboxstudios]

That's my only goal! thank you :)

[@elliemathews6884]

Live in central NY. We had several tornados in one day. Never seen the sky that green in my entire life.

[@jamesmcmahonii8433]

This was nuts. I was at Price Chopper in Saratoga. My best friend and I walked outside, and all of the overhead panels got sucked up as it went down ballston ave. The trees on rt 50 were blown clear down by SPAC. Mechanicville was destroyed. It went through Saratoga first as an F1 and turned into an F3 in no time. The storms were unbelievable that day. A light pole was hit behind me by lightning as I was getting our mail. Never run so fast in my life.

[@jakethreesixty]

I had no idea it started in Saratoga, my family shopped at that same Price Chopper at the time 😳

[@corenko]

Insane production bro

[@mariagilligan7133]

Love your videos

[@cbhiii]

Same. High quality stuff. Love the time and detail put into them.

[@brendabaxter4045]

@@cbhiii Yes, he seems like a very good journalist, or reporter.

[@avmii]

I actually experienced a microburst recently. the rain was sideways but blowing in weird directions and then later we find out it took out a whole bridge (it was a covered one with windows so it just created a whole wind tunnel) and it ran up a gorge and if it had been any closer to us it would’ve taken our barn out. kind of an exciting yet terrifying thing to think about

[@flyflydonkey]

Have driven "through" Spencer, SD several times and we'd always stop to look at the town's Welcome to Spencer sign, about the only structure left standing in a green open field. Was always told about this storm as a kid growing up in Sioux Falls, crazy to see it from this angle.

[@Noordledoordle]

I recall driving through there maybe a few weeks after the event. Was weird to see empty fields and some plowed debris piles where a town should have been.

[@davashorb6116]

The NWS really has made impressive strides in improving the clarity of its warning statements. Thanks, NWS!

[@DAatDA]

I lived in Mechanicville NY in 1998 and watched the tornado pass my parents house before destroying homes on Viall Ave. I can't explain how confusing it was to see that destructive of a tornado in upstate NY. The overwhelming feeling was shock and confusion for months afterward.

[@weatherboxstudios]

I just visited that area for the first time a few weeks ago, and the city layout of Amsterdam and Northville come to mind. I could not imagine a tornado causing F3 damage up there, and it seems like the damage attracted tons of people from outside areas to see it

[@ryanmcgarry-winne5015]

Do you remember the Labor Day storms that year? I was a first semester freshman at SUNY Morrisville, and remember every single detail about that night

[@dkt1976dt]

I lost my home in that Tornado, I'll never forget May 31st 1998 it was a Sunday.

[@DAatDA]

@@dkt1976dt in Mechanicville or another town?

[@dkt1976dt]

@@DAatDA Mechanicville

[@325xitgrocgetter]

1998 was also the year of the 1998 Comfrey-St. Peter tornado outbreak which impacted Southern MN in late March.

[@drippingdead11]

I drove into that storm by Montgomery MN. The biggest tornado had just cycled. But I saw a gain bin roll across the road about a mile east of Le Center. Couldn't see the tornado at all

[@zidesce7961]

May 31 1985 SHOULD have been a high risk day, but they under-did that one by a mile.

[@HurricaneHomer9]

Your production and professionalism increases with every video. Keep up the amazing work, it truly shows!

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thank you again for the feedback!

[@Bitzy]

Touching on the warning system, I’m from Cedar Rapids IA in one of the hardest hit neighborhoods of the 2020 Iowa derecho, and it was the exact bulletin you showed that made me think “hmm, the sirens are going off, these are some pretty harsh words, we should probably go to the basement this time.” Our neighborhood proceeded to lose 80% of its trees, and our largest tree split in half down the middle and very nearly crushed the ground floor of our house! I’m certain the wording of that bulletin saved lives that day!

[@HeyItsJonny]

Maybe they should put harsh language in the bulletins for areas about to get fubar

[@OneBrokenEgg]

Same here, Bitzy. Lost power for 10 days and lost WiFi for almost a month.

[@MoldySpace]

Having been near the peak wind location of the Iowa derecho, one other thing that really imparted the severeness to us was that they sounded the sirens. 4 times. The most I've ever heard in one day

[@kotorlady13]

Funnel-y enough is a fantastic unintended pun for a severe weather channel

[@amandacostandine6026]

I remember that derecho and that summer in particular we had 2-3 derechos that month and FEMA had to come in. I was outside when the first Derecho on a Friday afternoon that May, I was 12. I didn't know Derechos existed, I only knew about tornados and storms. The May 30-31st one I was sleeping over at my grandmas near the west end of St. Paul MN, I was already traumatized by the one prior, when this one hit I remember grabbing the doorframe in her middle hallway watching the wind go, seeing the transformer blow, hearing glass breaking, neighbors roof fly by. The area got declared a disaster area. My grandmas old victorian home still stands and was largely untouched.

[@stevarino1989]

I actually remember this weekend vividly, living in WNY. Friday the 29th we got a severe thunderstorm that was super windy and rainy and I remember being in my 3rd grade classroom trying to focus on my teacher and not the storm. Then the next day was sunny and blue skies. Then the next day was laden with more severe thunderstorms. I wonder if the ones on Sunday the 31st were related to the tornadoes.

[@OhLookItsJonBoy]

I was 10 when the Mechanicville, NY hit. I wasn't affected by it but saw storm that produced it. I'll never forget it. The sky was unreal.

[@jeremyclark8428]

I was 17 when that hit in Mechanicsville and went to the Saratoga boces with a few students that were affected from that tornado

[@LeighPhillips78]

I am kicking myself because I don't remember. I had just completed my freshmen year in Albany and went home to work at Lake George for the summer, but my college roommate and bff at the time lived in Mechanicville! I swear I must remember this. Coming from upstate NY, I spent my whole life wanting to see a tornado. Now, I'm married to someone from Oklahoma who had tornados seemingly every day of the week and this was the one time upstate had one--no way could I have slept on this. I need to track my roomie down because she might have lost her roof...she was so laid back about disaster that she probably told me about it on the phone while she got a manicure in Saratoga because her town/home was in shambles.

[@LeighPhillips78]

​@@jeremyclark8428 I know the Saratoga Boces very well. The excitement of finding other upstaters that were alive during this once in a generation occurrence of upstate tornadic activity is strangely unifying.

[@jeremyclark8428]

@@LeighPhillips78 I had Mr Kauffman and Mr Shaw for heavy equipment and Mr Kauffman set the fire alarm off with the 1974 Mack Truck and I wish you all the best brother

[@hayden7525]

Recently discovered this channel, and now i can't stop watching theae videos

[@jacobthayer236]

Wow I'm super impressed with how well this is put together. I look forward to more! - The Weekend Chaser

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thank you!

[@jacobthayer236]

@@weatherboxstudios no thank you!

[@nicksmith8166]

I live in the Finger Lakes of NY and I remember all the storms and how bad they were. No tornadoes near me but I remember the weather pretty vividly. So much intense lightning and the storms just seemed to not end. I was loving it.

[@larindakeller400]

I love the Finger Lakes! Living there is much calmer than I'm used to in Oklahoma

[@katesherwood9425]

I hope you get more subscribers and keep making these! They really stand out among other weather content for how informative they are, and how often you go into lesser-known weather events/phenomena. I always look forward to watching when I see one of your videos pop up on my page.

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thanks Kate!

[@samanthal9114]

This was one of the first weather events I heard about when I moved to upstate NY from Scotland. One of my coworkers said it was legit one of the most terrifying weather events to ever happen here.

[@addrock123]

My friend’s roof got torn off in south shaftsbury VT (just north of north bennington) in the ‘98 tornado. I remember being woken from a nap after school by a friends parent to take shelter. I will never forget how green the sky was and how much lightning there was.

[@RevanCakes]

I’ve been watching off and on for a few months but I’m always impressed at your knowledge and quality. Thank you and keep it up!

[@desirosethorne4429]

I love how you mention Ryan Hall. Dude is amazing. Awesome video!

[@IzzyBeth45856]

I love and really appreciate how you link things in your description! I love videos like this! It's very documentary style almost, and call me a nerd, I'm a sucker for learning! "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it" was a phrase my history teacher said all the time and it really stuck with me. Learning more about weather, how to prepare, what different phrases mean... I think everyone should know. I'm not saying everyone should be meteorologists or storm chasers, but really truly understanding the terms used by the weather channel and what to look out for in the event that they don't notice are life changing. Your channel is so important, and I'm so happy I found it! I've watched several videos and I think I'm just going to have a video marathon at this point. 😅

[@Felamine]

I lived in Cleveland at the time and I remember this outbreak for the fact that I got a weather radio for my 13th birthday a few days before. It went off CONSTANTLY on the 31st, starting around 9am when we got the tail end of the derecho, then in the late afternoon/early evening when the second round of storms hit, including a brief tornado warning issued for the eastern half of Cuyahoga County. Thankfully the rest of 1998 for us was pretty slow as far as severe weather went.

[@linkfan570]

Love that KZbin recommended you to me! Your info is organized super well, and you have great production quality. Keep it up!

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thank you!

[@noopbloop5051]

The May 31, 1998 outbreak is the benchmark for severe wx in the northeast for my generation and was the event that got me into severe wx. Started with fear for a while, but couldn't shake the fascination after those insane storms. So much lightning for hours where I was in Mass.

[@superbluhedgehog1]

For me, it was the September 7, 1998 Labor Day Derecho. If my memory of 9-year-old me serves, we were headed home from the State Fair and we were seeing some flashes off in the far distance once we got to Rome to make our way about half an hour north. Got home, settled down and we were basically asleep somewhere between midnight and 1am. barely an hour later, I was with my sister and mom in my parents closet as it was the closest thing we had to an interior room as the storm swept overhead. Craziest storm I remember and probably what solidified my interest in weather and storms.

[@randytracy1742]

Great stuff! I’m glad you included the f4 Spencer, South Dakota tornado 🌪️ of may30,1998!😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@jukebox5600]

Production quality is insane, cant wait for more of these outbreak breakdowns

[@tylerd.449]

I live just west of mechanicville, and we had a tornado touch down back in 2020. I asked my parents about if any other tornadoes had happened, my parents, mainly my mom, told me about the tornado that rocked mechanicville, and she was there to witness it. Today, mechanicville is a great city (even tho it has 5000 people, but the town south, Clifton Park, has 36000 and is considered a town) and it looks better than ever. thanks for making this video, as she didn’t tell me all of the stuff that you mentioned to me. 👋

[@nickp.2169]

Clifton Park sure has grown quite a bit since 98. I'm in Schenectady and the changes to Clifton Park are pretty amazing. I do miss Clifton country mall tho 🤣

[@89playstation65]

Been living in Clifton Park all my life. Did you know that the population of Clifton Park and Halfmoon (pretty much one town anyway let's be honest), has a bigger population than that of Binghamton NY? Binghamton NY (a city in the southern tier) and we have a bigger population.......so when do we start calling Clifton Park/Halfmoon a city?

[@shawnrajo]

Grew up in Clifton Park and was born just a couple weeks after that tornado hit mechanicville. Heard lots of stories about it and how bad it was especially with how unprepared people in the northeast are for something like that. But you’re right the area as a whole seems to have rebounded tremendously.

[@mattkowal90]

Lawrenceburg, Tennessee F5 tornado on April 16th as part of the Nashville Outbreak. Parent supercell produced three-consecutive violent tornadoes, with the first being a F4 through Wayne County, then the F5, and then another F4. As of 2022, the Lawrenceburg tornado is the only official F5/EF5 tornado in the state of Tennessee in the modern era. On March 3rd, 2020, a high-end EF3 went through Nashville, then the parent supercell produced a mid-end EF4 that struck Cookeville. Josh Wurman was chasing the Spencer F4, and his DOW recorded winds just above 261 MPH. Despite having winds of F5 strength, the damage to the town was classic F4.

[@Sj430]

That tornado gets called the forgotten F5. The F3 that when thru downtown Nashville gets the most attention.

[@weatherboxstudios]

Will cover this whole outbreak at some point!

[@DaniTheFemby99]

If I had a nickle for every tornado outbreak in the northeast on May 31, i'd have two nickles. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird it happened twice.

[@laurensmith43017]

This made me laugh. If I had a nickel from every EF3 or greater tornadoes I’ve seen or been unfortunately hit by.. I could buy a .25 piece of candy 😂 and have change! F5 Birmingham, F3 Leeds, EF3 Moody, EF4 Tuscaloosa/Birmingham, EF4 Argo/Odenville, and finally EF3 Center Point. Guess it’s clear I live in east/central Alabama.

[@brianstickel6811]

This channel has become my new obsession. Great work. Expertly explained and great production.

[@shogun2215]

Your editing is getting better and better, I'm loving this channel! Plus you look sharp in a suit.

[@rattmausch]

I was 13 at the time and remember that night vividly.. I was living with my Dad in Kansasville, WI which is located in Racine County about 25 miles south of Milwaukee. I was watching the 10 o'clock news with my Dad, believe we were watching channel 12 out of Milwaukee.. The weather man was tracking these storms coming out of Minnesota and urging everyone to be prepared as there were numerous reports of tornadoes and the main threat as they move across the state will be violent straight line wind gusts.. I couldn't sleep that night so I went down into the basement to watch TV down there. I switched back and forth between the weather channel and the local weather coverage. I would say our local weathermen at the time were legends.. We had guys like Paul Joseph, Vince Condella, John Milan, Bart Adrian.. All of them were really on top of their game that night. John Milan was saying it's a good idea to head to your basements as this approaches and to treat it like a tornado warning. Not many people in those days relied on the NWS text within warnings, it was all about the local weathermen in those days. Anyway, it was about 3:30 in the morning and I could hear faint rumbles, it was constant. I walked upstairs and looked out the window. The lightning was very frequent and intense.. The shelf cloud was mean looking with low hanging scud.. I went back downstairs as it hit. The winds didn't last long but were quite intense as it hit the house.

[@CYCLONE4499]

Impressive work put into this video. You even provided the correlating news coverage in relation to the actual meteorological activity which even lay people can understand. Well done bro!

[@BadGranolaMusic]

Good stuff! Thank you for your content! I've lived in both Binghamton, NY and North Bennington, VT and was not aware of this outbreak.

[@weatherboxstudios]

Beautiful area up there!

[@DanDrolett]

I worked at the Lansing, Michigan Fox TV affiliate at the time and had the overnight master control shift the evening of Sat 5/30 into Sun 5/31. Our chief meteorologist called me down to the studio around 1:00 am and showed me the blob moving onto the lake from Wisconsin. I asked him for an ETA. He said 4:00 am at the latest, adding "if you need to get anything done, might wanna do it now 'cause it's gonna be busy when this hits". By golly he nailed it! Just about 4:00 tornado warnings started popping one county after another. We lost utility power at our transmitter and trunked over to generator. Fortunately we didn't lose power at the studio but I saw a lot of tree limbs in the road on my way home. Won't forget that night.

[@ninjasktho9552]

I remember this storm! I was 8 or so, living in Amsterdam, NY. We were sure tornadoes were going to hit that day!

[@nickp.2169]

Great vid..I live in Schenectady NY and I remember the 31st clear as day. I was 17. One of the wilder weather days for the capital district.

[@GrumpyMeow-Meow]

I remember this. We lived in far NW NJ and we slept in the living room with our weather radio so we could reach the basement if needed.

[@tHebUm18]

Vaguely remember coverage of the Spencer tornado from when I was a kid (9) in central Minnesota for these storms. Not sure I'd fully gotten into my love of watching a good storm by that point, but nonzero chance I was right in front of a window watching the lightning as the storm passed through.

[@DavidOConnellvTnY1991]

I live in Plattsburgh, New York…about 20 miles from the Canadian border and about 65 miles from Montréal, Quebec. I was 6 years old when this happened and I do remember The Weather Channel and our local news stations were going crazy about the possibility of severe weather. I remember we had some nasty thunderstorms, but it was scary to know a huge tornado hit around 150 miles to my south.

[@StarTrek4Life]

I love the Ryan Hall and Reed Timmer references. Also great work, informative video.

[@kelly00000111111]

i had a good chuckle at the "some guy filming unbothered" tile getting filled in on the bingo sheet

[@superbro6413]

The month of wait was definitely worth it, excellent editorial as always! Cheers

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thank you!

[@pleasemakeaprofilepicture.3421]

dude the TV intro was FIRE🔥🔥🔥

[@Imherenotokaytho]

Ah hell yea, a weatherbox video Keep up the good work! :D

[@negf22]

Very professional presentation, you can definitely tell that a lot of research went into this, as well as the editing. You definitely have a bright future ahead of you. Great job!😎

[@fishskigaming]

You’re Definition for high-risk days are perfect!

[@charliewegner]

im in Minnesota, and this last summer (2022) i experienced a high risk warning. my weather app even warned me to the point that it said “tornadoes *will* happen.” it was terrifying. my phone kept blaring sirens.

[@cosmo3485]

I love the effort you put into producing these videos. Something about the retro aesthetic is just very pleasing.

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thank you! I'm a big fan of old graphics

[@jakethreesixty]

I grew up near where the Mechanicville tornado started in NY, and a girl I liked in high school was from Spencer, small world 😆. She mentioned the tornado once, but refused to elaborate further, that told me all I really needed to know, I had no idea the events were connected until now. Fun fact: the beer truck Stone Cold Steve Austin famously drove into the ring was the same Decresente company that got hit by the tornado.

[@UpstateChaser]

Incredible video! Thanks! I love researching this event as it was in my area

[@paulmorgan1009]

Watching this from Ithaca, NY. Always exciting to hear your town haha

[@r.w.bottorff7735]

I love your event choices! This makes my day!

[@Zuudoh]

bro your editing and production is amazing. you gotta keep this quality stuff up

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thanks Ryan!

[@nated7229]

The Forgotten F5 happen on April 16 that year here in southern middle Tennessee. I was scared to death as a kid watching the storm coverage and I was a couple of counties away.

[@Dahn.Baern.]

Great channel man. Keep these videos coming. Excellent work!

[@aaronjones1469]

This video gives a general explanation of how severe and tornado outbreaks form. Also, goes to show severe weather can happen anywhere at any time. I love how you explain this event very well, and what the aftermath of it was like. Great job. 🙂👍

[@stevarino1989]

I live in Rochester and I remember how stormy the summer of 1998 was. Especially the freak overnight derecho that slammed us on Labor Day. @weatherbox I hope you cover that one at some point!!!!

[@paulcarpenter7844]

I'm from Rochester but remember the one hit the Town of Darien lake and 09- I think ef1

[@Phoenixesper1]

I was 11 when I lived through this. We lived on the side of a mountain in NY and had a tornado blitz through the revine about 1,000 feet from our house that night left a scar of downed trees. We could hear the thing grinding up the forest like a woodchipper during the night while we hid in our closet. I also remember the spectacular and intense sheet lightning that just seemed to never end.

[@Shinji_Dai]

I'm from SoDak and i remember the Spencer tornado, but I didn't know it was part of such a large storm system.

[@RenegadeAcre]

Can't believe I'm here pre-20k subs 😳 Great video. 🤘

[@WTCaleb]

thank you, you've sparked an interest I forgot I had years ago 😄

[@FRESHORANGE5827]

HES BACK lol love they Ryan hall reference

[@NScaleTrainBoy]

Yo, I literally just was learning about this the other day, because I was looking if there had been any tornados in my area. I go to school in Troy, NY, so learning about the F3 in Mechanicsville, so close, was crazy. Great video, always enjoy your detailed and interesting videos!

[@pjesf]

So informative; nicely done. Relatively new to this channel but like what I see. Keep up the great work 👍🏻

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thank you!

[@traepederson6868]

Hello from Hartland, WI Steve (between MKE & MAD). Please keep this channel alive. Your videos are jam packed with information. You explain things clearly, and you put a lot of effort in your graphics and videos in general. I really love this channel and I always look forward to watching each video on my lunch break. Thank you very much. Keep up the excellent work.

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thanks Trae! I will keep going

[@straswa]

Great vid, I wasn't aware how much this massive storm system impacted Wisconsin.

[@jrwstudios]

Great production! I remember this day well, I was almost 10 and the mechanicville f3 is what first got me interested in weather. I remember getting out of church in the early afternoon and seeing clouds that looked green and a storm with almost continuous lightning. We lived about 20 minutes from mechaniville so no tornado for us thankfully, but in those pre-internet days nobody really knew what was going on. I just remember the radio kept having emergency broadcasts and my parents seemed pretty concerned. A friend of mine was coming back from a family trip and ended up driving through mechanicville hours after it happened. It made a big impression on him. A couple weeks later I drove through and while a lot was cleaned up I will always remember seeing the knocked over smokestack

[@hamburgerhamburgerv2]

The only time the northeast wasn’t invincible.

[@BillyKona6676]

Your videos keep evolving, Steve. Keep up the great work as always.

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thanks Matt!

[@Yeaggghurte]

I’ve always wondered what would happen if the 1985 outbreak happened in Philly instead of Pittsburgh

[@weatherboxstudios]

That would be a nightmare

[@Yeaggghurte]

@@weatherboxstudios hundreds would die without a doubt

[@Yeaggghurte]

@@weatherboxstudios but would it even be possible?

[@Razor-gx2dq]

@@Yeaggghurte tornadoes have hit cities before.

[@sudokokooo]

humor, information, and presentation keeps getting better!

[@chaotic.content]

I'm so scared of tornadoes, yet so fascinated

[@soothersgreenjackson]

You have made a great channel , good work

[@kvanua2264]

I really love the meteorological background lessons you give for the setup to the event.👍

[@kerrbear1980]

You make incredible videos!!

[@kylinmcdevitt1181]

In don't remember anything else from this time but I remember seeing a tornado in the sky in Rockwood, Pennsylvania

[@jasongann8535]

Keep it up brother. Love the passion. Makes me feel like I'm not the only super weather nerd out there

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thanks Jason!

[@gregkingsley3309]

Your history videos are important simply because history repeats itself. A study of these events is important.

[@aaronspringborn34]

I just came across this video. Very interesting. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@westcoastaviation_]

Always incredible videos, I learn something new each time!

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thank you!

[@westkana]

commenting for the algorithm, you've become one of my favorite weather youtubers out there 😁

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thank you!

[@-J.D.]

I grew up on Pierce Creek Rd in the Town of Binghamton. My immediate family still lived there (at the time) when the house was damaged from that tornado. Really wild to see the roads I grew up on mentioned. Now living in Dixie alley, I’ve become more accustomed to this type of severe weather. Great job presenting the content too! You did your homework to have Morgan, Coleman, & Pierce Creek mentioned. Unless you live local almost nobody knows those roads.

[@YotaakGFX]

Hell yeah dude, love your content keep it up!

[@cjmorganfla]

Honestly Great videos! It’s ironic, a week or two after this Pittsburgh (my hometown) was hit with an F2 tornado. I was too young to remember, but definitely one of the larger outbreaks. I’d love to see you do a retrospective on that and other major cities hit by tornadoes!

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thanks for sharing CJ! I will likely cover that June 1998 outbreak as well, and will look at other events in major cities

[@Ally_Rayne6]

@@weatherboxstudios that June '98 outbreak was on June 2nd of 1998 a day after my second birthday. And two days after the May 31st outbreak. There was a moderate risk that day on June 2nd.

[@Whatisthis195]

A tree hit my room from this storm when I was a baby! My mom told me she thought this was what caused my fear of thunderstorms as a child lol.

[@Prettywhite4awhiteguy]

My graduation from HS was on the day after this system went through Michigan, my High School used a generator to run the lights just in the Gym where we had the Ceremony. It was like eerie and as good as everyone did to try to make it as well as it could be, it felt like we were living in a dystopia. In our yard we had 3 different big old Sugar Maples lose large parts of them, and one large branch rested against the house right next to where my bed was right behind the wall. Thank you for giving such a deep insight into this. I lived in Greenville, Michigan at the time and yeah we thought it seemed like a tornado at first but back then we weren't as informed about a lot of this other severe weather.

[@dkt1976dt]

Everyone took the Tornado Warning here in Mechanicville New York seriously that day and there was no loss of life.

[@the-angel-of-light-gardevoir8]

Next year would have one if the most infamous tornadoes to ever strike the us, the bridge creek-Moore Oklahoma tornado of 99

[@zacharysampiere7362]

You have very detailed and excellent videos on all of these tornadoes. Sometimes I’m very fascinated with the weather events myself to. Keep up the excellent work to, these videos are magnificent. Also for a future upload can you do a video on the May 15 2018 tornado event that hit my home state of Connecticut?

[@HistoricUSRoute20]

Great video. This was one of the first severe weather events I chased. I missed the tornadoes but had some scary moments with hail near Ithaca. Probably the darkest daytime sky I ever experienced. Interestingly my first job was weekend meteorologist at that TV station in Binghamton two years later. And note (the town Apalachin is pron Ap-uh-lake-in 😊

[@weatherboxstudios]

Noted! Always good to get the local scoop on pronunciations

[@WeeabooASMR]

Super great video, actually really surprised it doesn’t have more views