Supercell vs Appalachians - How the 2002 F4 La Plata Tornado Defied the Terrain

[@weatherboxstudios]

Stop data brokers from exposing your personal information. Go to my sponsor www.aura.com/weatherbox to get a 14-day free trial and see how much of yours is being sold

[@Riverside_Railfan417]

Loved this video!

[@juanfervalencia]

If you ever want to do storm chasing in Colombia, be my guest, I have a car that can take us to many places, a decent camera and a thirst for knowledge. Your channel is fantastic, thank you a lot for the content and knowledge you share, our climate here in the tropics works differently but we have other type of phenomena that is worth of appreciating and learning. Saludos desde Colombia.

[@arizonaandmontana76]

​@@Riverside_Railfan417 FR

[@Mythical6255]

When are you gonna do a video on the Bridge Creek/Moore F5 tornado? It’s literally 25 years old

[@InfiniteFacts18]

God loves us all so much that he gave his perfect son to die for our sins and raised him from the grave to defeat death. Through faith in JESUS we can be saved and reconciled to GOD. please repent🙏♥️

[@tornadotrx]

When the world needed him most, he returned

[@blakebarber6935]

I love you slab daddy

[@Firemarioflower]

What?

[@blakebarber6935]

@@Firemarioflower tornadotrx is the slab daddy

[@P.BarnesTaser]

​@@blakebarber6935 All hail slabdaddy!!

[@browneartistry9835]

This and the Tornado that crossed the Continental divide are the reasons why I completely tossed out the myth "Tornadoes can't form on, or cross the mountains". They can and do all the time. Not just in the US

[@hithere7382]

This was common knowledge in Arkansas at least in the 80's and 90's, not certain about the times before.

[@calgarytek]

Weatherbox is back!

[@Richard-p3b]

@@calgarytekwell, are you?

[@TheSkyGuy77]

It's just not as common.

[@KaileyB616]

They definitely have an effect, but no, mountains definitely do not completely prevent tornadoes from forming.

[@andrewcushen8379]

I was six years old in La Plata, Maryland at the time of this tornado. I can’t believe that you covered it on your channel, as it was an event my family and I will never forget. I was a kindergartener at Archbishop, Neale School, and the pre-K and kindergarten annex was the only part of the school that survived aside from the nuns residence and the lunchroom. One of the kindergarten teachers was famous in the community for going in on Sundays to prep for the week to come, typically with her two dogs. That Sunday, she just decided to take it easy, as I believe it was getting close to Easter, and there was less for her to prepare. A very close break in her favor. Everyone sought out the nuns at my school to ask for prayers on their behalf to God, as it was felt that they were blessed to have survived a tornado that passed so close! For 2 1/2 years, we went to school in a bunch of trailers in the parking lot of the nearest Catholic school, and even used space in a nearby Christian center while the finishing touches were being put on the new school. Then, among the other schools nearby, our little Catholic school was the envy of the community as we were newer with a waaaaaay better gymnasium. La Plata was a small town, but a very strong community, and it was really upsetting for everyone to have been set back by the tornado. The impact on the business community cannot be overstated. This tornado ripped through the historic heart of La Plata, and some of the structures that were damaged and destroyed are lost forever. Thank you for explaining to me how something like this ever came to pass. No one in my life can believe that my hometown was destroyed by tornado, but I can show them this video now, and they will know that I am not making it up!

[@rositchi5889]

Crazy. I was 7 and remember hearing about this tornado. I was really scared that it was going to keep going and come up to where I lived in Upper Marlboro. I'm glad you and your family were ok. Wasn't there another tornado later, just not as strong?

[@mewlover2482]

Ii was about 4 and lived in waldorf. The main things I remember are me trying to catch a red Robin with my mom yelling at me that we needed to get inside, trying to help mom close one of the blinds in the living room where a lightning bolt hit the ground feet away from said window and hiding in the bathroom. I also saw video of some sort of truck on top of the old safeway store. It took forever for the area to rebuild. None of us knew if it would jerk up and head towards us or not.

[@Dhetef]

Born and raised in La Plata over by blue crabs stadium

[@Richard-p3b]

@@mewlover2482❤😊

[@lesbianslipknotfan]

im a local from la plata! i was born in october 2002, so i wasnt alive for the tornado, but my sisters who were 2 and 3 at the time do. they remember my dad standing outside taking pictures instead of being smart and sheltering with his pregnant girlfriend and two kids 😭 edit: hes still alive and also still stupid

[@kurams]

Oh hey! La Plata resident here. I actually live a few minutes from downtown, so let me tell you, seeing footage you took of streets I literally pass through every day, and shopping centers I regularly use? This video was nothing short of jarring, haha. You even got a shot of my bank, and I think that was my neighbor's car. Kudos for pronouncing our town name right, by the way--outsiders usually say "La Plàta" like it's a Spanish town, but everyone that lives here says "Luh Playtuh". Living here nowadays you would never believe a tornado ripped through at all. Houses came in and filled in all the spots that the tornado tore up in the first place. We're more than hypervigilant, though! We get tornado watches seemingly every time the rain kicks up a little! Not having another mountain-climbing tornado incident, no sir. Brilliant video, it's nice to see our name get out there a little!

[@DemonicIntegrity]

I know right! My jaw dropped when he filmed the Port Tobacco sign, I grew up there!! But yeah, there's not a single storm that doesn't get at least a thunderstorm warning it seems.

[@lesbianslipknotfan]

its so interesting to see our town name appear anywhere! because it doesnt even appear on the weather path for the news!! we just have to guess🤭

[@seansmith8834]

I live in Calvert County. My dad still works at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. I was in 6th grade when this tornado hit. My mom actually worked at a local Washington Post bureau in La Plata. It was right along Charles Street, steps from Marshall's Gas Station that was completely destroyed. I missed school the next day to go with my mom to check on her office. It was horrifying, the amount of damage we saw. But that tornado is the reason I'm close to finishing my Master's Degree in Meteorology from Mississippi State. Incredible video! I don't see this tornado covered very often. The dynamics of it, to happen this far east has always fascinated me.

[@hithere7382]

If you're good at math you should try to work there too, those employees make pretty good money and almost all of them work in air conditioning and heat + nuclear plants are getting new leases on life all over the country.

[@PatrickFlannery-l9h]

Having grew up in West Virginia and now living in the Shenandoah Valley, well done on this video! An eerie coincidence happened here in the Shenandoah Valley on April 26, 2022 (ALMOST EXACTLY 20 years to the day that 2002 Shenandoah Valley tornado at 17:35 - 17:47 happened). We had a severe thunderstorm that had just come over the Appalachian mountains into Staunton, VA (approximately 40 miles southwest of that 2002 tornado), where I was at work at the time. I remember seeing the approaching ugly teal blue clouds that produced nickel to quarter sized hail at my work. A few minutes later, that storm produced an EF-1 tornado about 5 miles southeast of my work, in Fishersville, which tracked about 5 or 6 miles east into Waynesboro, and knocked down trees and a church steeple, and doing minor damage to houses and barns. Mind you, this whole time this storm was severe thunderstorm-warned, but NEVER tornado-warned. You are absolutely right. While the Appalachian mountains do take some steam out the storms passing over them, under the right conditions, a tornado can still form anywhere. The Shenandoah Valley is wide enough and flat enough that, under the right conditions, a storm with enough energy left after passing over the Appalachians can recover in time to produce a tornado here in the Valley. New subscriber here!

[@CeltonHenderson]

Nice explanation of how the hodograph shape influences how splitting supercells behave, the left moving ones are basically what a regular right moving supercell would look like in the southern hemisphere. Great video.

[@CoopxrDP]

This tornado was absolutely absurd. Most of my family remember this as they live in Charles County Maryland. There was so much coverage around this tornado even international media began to report it. Ironically this was the second strong/violent tornado to hit Maryland in the last two years as a tornado hit the University of Maryland Campus in 2001

[@SkylineFTW97]

I was too young to remember the college park one, but my family and I lived in Hyattsville at the time. I wouldn't get into tornadoes until a couple years after this with a small one that hit Eastern Montgomery county

[@waluiginumberone548]

Finally, some love to a more forgotten tornado in my home state. I have now just remembered that my grandparents moved to Maryland the day after the tornado hit La Plata.

[@debbie1502]

Awesome video! I'm glad this event is finally getting some coverage. Interesting fact! A second F2 struck the same exact area within 5 minute of the this F4. Between 07:02 pm and 07:07 pm, both tornadoes crossed through the heart of La Plata. This isn't the first time this has happened too. In 1994, the town was struck by two more tornadoes, that arrived only 11 minutes apart. The first of them was rated F2, which is already quite uncommon for the area. As unusual as that is, that's not all. An F4 tornado occurring on this side of the county is already a rare feat on its own, but this one also stayed on the ground for 90 minutes and had a 78-mile path... And to put the cherry on top, it was moving at approximately 60 mph through downtown La Plata, with an incredibly fast average forward speed of ~52 mph. This makes it one of the fastest violent tornadoes on record! Even as of September 2024, an intense tornado (F4/EF4 or greater) hasn’t occurred anywhere close (within a radius of ~400 miles, north of 33°N and east of 80°W) for well over two decades. Needless to say, this event was quite the phenomenon.

[@theofficerfactory2625]

As a Marylander who made frequent trips to the south, we passed through La Plata and it took them over a decade before the scars were getting harder and harder to spot.

[@logicbomb2044]

This is the one that started my lifelong obsession with Tornadoes. I was a kid living in La Plata when this storm came though. I've sat in that Safeway parking lot directly where the tornado crossed, hundreds of times. It's surreal to see everything you've ever known, your home, all reduced to piles of rubble in the blink of an eye. 9/11 was still fresh in everyone's minds, and the sense of community was strong. Everyone came together, offering whatever help they could to those in need. It's a shame we often need tragedies to bring that out of ourselves. Thanks for the video, it brought back a lot of memories.

[@tmblazze5301]

You have to be the most in depth KZbinr to explain the charts and weather patterns. 80% of my knowledge is through you. I love your vids so much man. Keep it up bro they are bangers

[@stigfries]

growing up in this region on the VA side, this was the "big" tornado that fascinated me as a child. when I was like 11 I got my mom to let me visit la Plata.

[@miketrn16]

We were supposed to move to La Plata in 2002, but the house we wanted to buy was destroyed that day-moved to VA instead, which completely changed the entire trajectory of my life for the better. All as it should be. So interesting to hear all about how/why so many years later. Interestingly, the town we were moving from was hit in the 1985 outbreak in PA and shown here as well.

[@Burningvortex-o8y]

I live in maryland and i finally found someone that talks about one of the most famous maryland tornados

[@breakingbacon658]

Mulan emperor of Appalachian’s: no matter how the wind howls, the mountain will not bow. Hun tornado: then you’ll bow in pieces!!!

[@WanderingRoe]

Lol

[@waynebarnett7467]

Being from northeast Ohio I will never forget May 31 1985. About a month later I went through both Niles Ohio and Kane Pa. The destruction was jaw dropping. The south side of Kane looked as if it was just swept away. The twister went straight up a residential street taking everything in its path, then scored a direct hit on their high school. The one thing still in my mind’s eye was a steel guard rail ripped from the ground and twisted straight upward with the wooden posts still attached concrete and all , pointing like a mangled finger.

[@Kat-tr2ig]

I'm from Salem, Ohio, and although I was pretty little when the tornado struck Niles I still remember family members talking about it for years.

[@waynebarnett7467]

@kat. I was 19 at the time, it was definitely a day to remember. Newton Falls was hit also. Around 6pm that evening the sky was greenish looking here in Akron. Any time I see a sky looking like that , I’m headed for the basement.

[@katiehouse6502]

it's really a talent to have videos that show the full atmospheric setup while still being interesting to watch, and you hit it every time!! especially with the hodographs. love what you do! :)

[@kimm6589]

Nuclear power plants are well-reinforced and not likely to be overly damaged by a tornado. Some structures may be, but there are fail safes in place that a meltdown would not occur, nor the reaction chamber be affected.

[@hannahgross9923]

This is near my hometown, and even 20+ years later people still talk about it, particularly because even though the town is so small the tornado still managed to hit the one main intersection. The solid brick church on the corner (La Plata UMC) was pretty well destroyed and they have photos inside of the damage and reconstruction. It's not often we get a big channel doing a piece on rural Maryland! Thank you for doing it well 😊

[@admwadenx]

This storm was part of such a weird period. First came the terrorist attacks of 9-11, then just under 2-weeks later a tornado hit the College Park campus of the University of Maryland killing 2 sisters! Then this thing plows through La Plata the following spring! And I remember all of them like it was just yesterday!

[@SkylineFTW97]

It was a hectic time near DC. I grew up in Eastern MoCo/northwestern PG, so I didn't see this storm, but my family got to experience the panic from the beltway sniper attacks around Silver Spring and Wheaton up close instead. And the college park tornado wasn't that far from us either.

[@3rdeyelionheart]

Do you all remember Hurricane Erin before the 9/11 attacks?

[@SkylineFTW97]

@@3rdeyelionheart Nope. To give you some context as to how old I was, I just started preschool the week before 9/11.

[@carrollkl]

Don't forget about the Anthrax attacks in October '01 and the DC Snipers in October '02.

[@sautewonder7090]

the audible yipee i let out when i saw this on my main page im so exciteddd!!! love ur content so much

[@aslightlysanescientist3874]

Sometimes when i get bored i go into wikipedia and look through violent tornadoes on wikipedia, just read through this extraordinary tornado today and thought it interesting enough to look inti more and found an amazing storm with a lot of unusual conditions to make it, hats off to you.

[@AJKPenguin]

Thank you @weatherbox. Your videos are top notch and most welcome. Now. . . The hereditary traits for this tornado hail back to 1814 and then some. The tornado that struck near Washington was the catalyst that helped stop further destruction by the British. After burning the region in retaliation for the year's prior attacks on York (Toronto), the weather turned and a tornado directly hit a battalion. Because of the weather, the Americans were given some mercy as the Royal Troops were delayed in regrouping and not up to such, considering their damage and losses sustained. No one really knows how strong that tornado was but it's inferred it was equivalent to F4.

[@paulmorgan1009]

From the DMV and remember this day vividly. Another great video dude!

[@TKRVideoCentral]

Great piece as always Steve! I lived a good chunk of my life in Central Ohio, and I thought when I moved to MA in 1993 I was getting away from all the storms...it's scary that most of the F4 tornadoes that have occurred north of La Plata have been in MA...thankfully, not on our side of the state...however, we did have one here in Revere, ten years ago this past June...came right up Broadway and shocked the heck out of the town...I know it's small (EF2) compared to most, but it shook everyone around here...and I lived only six blocks away from it, closer than ANYTHING I'd ever experienced in Ohio...love to see you do a piece on it, since it was so highly unusual...keep up the great work!

[@forgeheartgaming7858]

This tornado hit on my 3rd birthday. I grew up in Dentsville, which is about 10-15mins north of La Plata depending on traffic. Dentsville is just houses, a cornerstone, and an EMS station. I went to school in La Plata. We put La Plata as our documented address, etc. La Plata is my hometown, and this tornado is not talked about enough. Thank you so much for covering this.

[@GreenWorm-lw7em]

As a resident in the safe, I’ve been seeing tornadoes more frequently ever year. Thanks for reporting on this area! Largely forgotten by the weather community.

[@TheRealHusk]

I was IN the 2002 tornado and it’s cemented my fear of tornados.

[@617SHORTS]

My fear was cemented when I learned tornados can rip up the cement😊

[@STEPHEN1463]

Fauquier county is where I live it's pronounced "Fawk Year." We are prone to small tornadoes because we are at the foot of the mountains in the foothills.

[@STEPHEN1463]

Irrelevant but I drove a medical transport taxi for two years from 2020-2022 in the DMV and I had a 74 year old man I occasionally took to physical therapy in La Plata and he mentioned the tornado three seperate times. Mr. Murphy was his name.

[@andrewcushen8379]

I’d probably know him! Those of us who lived through this simply couldn’t believe it happened, and when I get together with my grandparents, I still ask them what they remember about this day!

[@STEPHEN1463]

@@andrewcushen8379 Its a small world!

[@urban_cultivator4202]

Not totally irrelevant.

[@DemonicIntegrity]

I lived there!! We grew up in Port Tobacco!! It happened months before I was born but this tornado was insane. My uncle's house, the one he and my mom grew up in, was barely missed cuz the tornado got the street beside it instead. Because of the terrain *if* you had a basement it was likely only partially underground, usually a corner sticking out. Many people lived on hills, our house in Port Tobacco had windows all along one long side of the basement. When we sheltered down there once when I was little, we were tucked in a corner behind the staircase. My grandma and mom told me about how the Safeway was torn up. A new one reopened. They talked about how you can just see the damage done with the new buildings against the old. We had a newspaper of it in the front of Jame Craik Elementary and the scar was crystal clear afterwards. We had tornado drills growing up. And Craik did not have a lot of real walls despite being made of brick on the outside so often times it meant sheltering in the one brick hallway that did, or in the closets in the art room. Most people think of Maryland and think of the hurricanes, but often times New York would get hit worse than we did the days after. My friends never heard of this tornado and never thought of tornadoes in Maryland until I tell them about this one. It's so wild seeing you take video in an area I grew up in and treated as an average site. Love your stuff. The population only grows. Charles County and it's surrounding areas expand every time I went home during college breaks. New subdivisions, new town houses, our schools are overflowing. It gets more and more dense and unrecognizable, a lot of deforestation has happened. A lot of people who live on 301 commute to DC for work. Many people live in Virginia and Maryland and commute. My mom had a cop friend who lived over the bridge in Virginia and was a cop in Maryland. We've moved this year. My mom and grandmother have been lamenting for years how it's changed. It's just too crowded and that brings a lot of it's own problems. Some days I miss it, especially walking through the forest in Port Tobacco or walking on the Potomac in Indian Head. The area has a ton of history and I do encourage people to read up and even visit for a weekend. I lived down the street from Thomas Stone's house. Many field trips were to historical areas, colonial reenactments, and even once a museum in DC. (The museums in DC are free, go to them) My great grandfather worked on the Indian Head base back when it was horse and buggy times, there's still steam pipes all around.

[@YayItsCaroline19]

Thank you for your story!! I really enjoyed getting to hear your POV on this tornado. I agree, it's a phenomenon that's happening everywhere, but at least in the DMV there's so much development and population growth everywhere. New families and buildings coming in and all that. For example, Bethesda, MD is barely recognizable now with all the new high-rises being built; it's essentially become more like Rosslyn down in VA or even a mini NYC.

[@girthquakr]

My home state, been to La Plata a lot, still always remembering the La Plata tornadoes. One of my driving teachers was a storm chaser and caught some of the first photos of the 2002 tornado

[@htewing]

Glad to see another La Plata video. It feels like it gets overlooked a lot. I went to school about an hour south of here about 5 years after the tornado, and had no idea it'd ever been hit.

[@russianbot8576]

i just want to say that whenever severe storms happen here and i worry about a tornado outbreak, watching your videos is really calming. understanding these weather events is helpful. i have had a lifetime fear of tornadoes since childhood-my dad was a stormchaser enthusiast, and the footage scared me a lot. so, thank you for being a continual source of anxiety reduction. i appreciate the fact you don't play frightening tracks over any parts of the videos like so many sources of tornado explanations and footage, and take care to humanise the people who experienced these situations, as well as mention that these events are, in fact, quite rare and take so much to occur. so, thank you so much.

[@ryanmiller1899]

I suggested this topic two years ago on your twin f5 video and man, you did it!!! Thank you for documenting and giving a voice to this story. Seriously this went above and beyond and turned out better than I could have hoped. You were then what you are now simply an unmatched creator in the weather space. Superb work

[@markpeelgb]

Another excellent presentation. You have a real knack for explaining complexity in an accessible and entertaining way.

[@militaryav8r]

I remember this tornado, though at the time I was stationed in Georgia serving in the Air Force. I’ve lived in Charles County, about 10 minutes from La Plata for about 30 years. I’ve been watching your channel for what seems like 5 years or so. It’s so strange to hear you talk about my back yard and so many roads and landmarks that I’m extremely familiar with. on your channel. Great video!

[@tracychesnutt3660]

Thanks for all the hard work you put into your videos. It helps me have better understanding of the physics of these monsters. Keep up the great work!.✨🌪

[@nihontiger]

Love that at 25:42, you can see the tornado path suddenly appear in that timelapse of La Plata

[@GammaCruxis]

I saw that too! It’s like someone took a pencil eraser and dragged it through the map.

[@QueenofTNT]

BABE WAKE UP WEATHERBOX UPLOADED

[@S1LLY_T1T4N_SB_L0V3R]

I hope Weatherbox uploads more often.

[@breakingbacon658]

It’s 4 in the afternoon… get outta bed

[@FuckKamalaHarris]

Most cringe, overused comment ever

[@Rearick1990]

My wife doesn’t care about weather so mine is more like “babe go away while I watch this” lol

[@maggiekelley259]

😂

[@kyrios5536]

PLEASE do a video on the September 20, 2002 F3 tornado in Indiana, it’s one of if not the longest major tornado to be on the ground entirely within a QLCS, and be on the ground for over 100 miles. Would LOVE to hear your take on it!

[@YayItsCaroline19]

Commenting so I can boost this, that sounds insane

[@bonzai785]

Weatherbox is the most calming weather channel

[@trasheyhamster]

AND ITS ABOUT LA PLATA

[@terencehill2320]

I thought that was SteveMRE or The Sony PlayStation 1 Sanctuary & Museum

[@highro13]

I remember this, it was insane. Me & my dad had to drive across town to make sure my aunt was ok & I just remembered that CVS. The city was just gone, I’ve never seen anything like it

[@sherrymaynard8879]

Today is September 29th 2024 your video was recommend to me while I have been monitoring the weather after hurricane helene. NC mountains and Tennessee mountains have been devistated by Hurricane Helene. Chimney Rock, NC is gone. Road is washed away on 40 at the nc/ tn line. Truck drivers stranded, people missing, homes, roads and even a hospital flooded and gone. The damage is unreal. Pray for Nc, Tn, Sc, Ga and Fl.

[@Matt-vs4zz]

I remember that storm. I lived in Chevy Chase, MD at the time (just north of DC). I was at the Rockville Cici's Pizza buffet (no longer there - rip). One of the TVs in the restaurant had the Weather Channel on and they were covering the storm. It was so eerie watching it cross so (relatively) close to me. I was 11 at the time and was obsessed with weather, particularly tornadoes. Seeing one so close to where I lived was something I'll never forget.

[@dominic5386]

I remember that when this system passed us in Maryland the hail was so bad nearly every car that was outside have smashed windows across the entire town

[@SkylineFTW97]

Been a lifelong Maryland resident myself and my fascination with twisters was sparked a couple years after this storm when a small twister hit near my elementary school just after we were dismissed one day. We recently had that small outbreak here in Montgomery county where that one tornado went from Potomac to Olney. While monsters like the La Plata storm are rare, we're no strangers to tornadoes out here. We get at least a handful every year

[@TheRealHusk]

Which school

[@TheRealHusk]

I remember when I was in elementary school, we had to shelter in place with tables against the windows. 😅

[@SkylineFTW97]

@@TheRealHusk Westover Elementary in either May or June 2004

[@TheRealHusk]

@@SkylineFTW97 I think our schools were close, I was born in prince Georges but lived on the border between Charles and PG

[@SkylineFTW97]

@@TheRealHusk Westover is in eastern Montgomery county, maybe 15-20 minutes from Beltsville and Calverton

[@XmanTheGamerMan]

Oh sweet! Another Weatherbox video to watch! I've been so stressed lately, I really needed this :)

[@lokkebrenna]

I work in one of the buildings that you showed at the beginning of the video, and I cannot begin to tell you how much this storm shaped La Plata residents. So often, people come in and tell us how they took shelter in our building, which was a bank at the time, and therefore had the structure to survive the storm. We still get the rare tornado siren, and I think all of us feel the fear of something like this event happening again.

[@ScottOSaurus]

I remember this tornado. I live in Charles county above, I was 8 I remember the two sisters who lost their lives.

[@LVM5584]

My day just got made. Weatherbox just dropped another banger.

[@crazyzxnes]

Very informative! I love how you explain things so easily. I have autism and i really want to become a meterologist, but it's quite hard to be one since i have a learning disability. Great video! (I'm not a bot btw)

[@jcolo80]

Steve, you did a great job once again!!

[@Engine33Truck]

Excellent video! I’m glad you pronounced “Appalachian” correctly, most not from here don’t. Also about the April weather event, there were 3 F0 and F1 tornados near Charleston. I have several pictures of one that was either posted on social media or sent to me, and I drove through where the other one was around an hour after it lifted. All 3 were on the ground for less than a mile each.

[@inquirewue2]

I remember watching this unfold in real time on WUSA channel 9. I was 12. I already liked severe weather but something about this one made me expand my interest. Both my parents worked for WUSA at the time and I had the privilege of visiting the weather studio a few times. So basically, I'm subbed to you because of this storm.

[@kirzasucks6364]

Marylander here!!! Was not alive yet when this tornado happened but man was it a crazy one lol, people in my area (Calvert County) even still talk about this tornado as it tracked through my county towards the end of its tornado life. Not really any tornados here ever especially of this power!

[@ineedvyvanse3493]

I love the casual “uh oh” in that guys video 😂

[@aubsarg0222]

You live about 30 minutes from me. Thank you for doing a WV type tornado video! The Ohio valley is dying and the one thing that keeps ppl here is the lack of storms.

[@CodydaUwUCawio]

It's always a good day when WeatherBox drops a banger of a video!

[@justie1220]

Steve, if you haven’t already, I’d love to hear you talk about the 1987 Teton Yellowstone F4.. Ive always been interested in this as it’s the furthest west violent tornado in the US.

[@EstorilEm]

Impeccable timing! Just spent four days camping in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest in Shenandoah - this was waiting for me when I got back today. 😂 This has to be your best video yet by the way, the editing and 80s style maps etc are just amazing. Also, I’ve heard a ton of people try to explain convective shear and how the rotation modes shift to vertical - never have I seen such an amazing and simple demonstration as the slinky though. That was just 👌. Also funny how you had no love for the vintage mustang lol - as soon as I saw that under the car cover I was like “f a 4 runner, what’s that?!” - kinda makes you wonder what they’ve got in the actual garage though, right? 😂 I’m bummed that I don’t really recall this storm very well, but I was a senior in HS at the time (northern VA, so not like this cell really hit me.) I guess there wasn’t such a thing as radar apps or smart phones, and the internet was very different. Would have had to watch the local news and weather radio to know what was happening at the time. Keep up the good work, can’t get enough of content like this!

[@tid418]

I heard him talk about a freshly waxed, third gen, and for the brief time before he uttered the next word... I had to know. Third gen what? Camaro? Mustang? ... and then... FourRunner. Er, okay. They do the generation thing even with those? That's adorable. Kind of strikes me like having a third generation LG washing machine, but OK!

[@AllenWorshiperofJesus]

I actually live in a place I heard a meteorologist on KZbin describe as a "tornado funnel." I'm in the Appalachias. If a supercell enters the county over, the "valley" or ridge line and river I live along increases a supercells rotation. There was a severe weather outbreak not too long ago and we had about 4 or 5 supercells come marching through our counties. They were all tornado warned due to the increase rotation caused by the 'tornado funnel.'

[@davidloudin7531]

There is a bank at the corner of US 301 and MD 6. The original building was leveled by the tornado, leaving just the safe standing. One small correction - the bridge across the Potomac is pronounced nice, as in you’ve got a nice bridge there.

[@Bonko_On_Video_Format]

I love all the opening songs to these videos

[@17Se7enteen]

i've been begging for a la plata video in more depth, and now there's been 2 this year!

[@andrewcushen8379]

What’s the other?

[@17Se7enteen]

Carly Anna made one a few months ago

[@HSangsterWX]

I’ve been waiting for a video to cover this for so long. Thank you Steve.

[@jeffkiess]

FINALLY...a new Weatherbox video!!

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

It's funny that this is the topic for the new video because just a couple days ago I commented on June First's video "How to not get hit by a tornado" and "answered" the title by saying to live in Central West Virginia or South Central PA. Someone tried using the sole F5 in PA history to make some kind of a point but I pointed out that that F5 was in Western PA, not SouthCentral. I thankfully live in Southcentral PA and within a 20 mile radius of my house, there has been only roughly two dozen tornadoes in recorded history according to TornadoArchive, with 2/3s being F1s and the remainder being F0s with two F2s and a single FU. I already loved and felt safe in the area I lived in but that's been reinforced since I found that out.

[@Gic424_YT]

I’m a native person from Delmarva (Maryland side) and I’m happy this tornado is getting talked about now, my state isn’t talked about much when it comes to tornadoes

[@PaulHosey-u3l]

That's because they hardly ever happen. Probably not a lot of videos about blizzards in Florida either.

[@loficampingguy9664]

It's super strange seeing a weather video that shows the exact place I grew up so close to where the event occurred. I'm from the Virginia side of the Potomac, and my hometown kept popping up on the edges of the radar clips. If the tornado had dropped at a different time, there's a decent chance my childhood would've looked different. I always wondered why we always were so weather-focused in school and did so many tornado drills. Now I know.

[@TrinityCourtStudios]

I’m a simple man. I see weatherbox uploads. I watch. I like. I watch again. ❤️

[@mindslayer1404]

I was a kid when this tornado hit. My mom was in our car and the winds were lifting its rear tires of the ground. We lived barely a minute from Pisgah where it touched down.

[@ms_cartographer]

I'm genuinely happy that you posted again. ❤

[@djmoch1001]

Yesterday, I was just idly wondering when we could be expecting the next Weatherbox video. And here it is! :D

[@DaniTheFemby99]

Love these vids, love the high quality. Keep up the good work, Steve.

[@YayItsCaroline19]

I was only a growing fetus when the '02 tornado happened, but being from the DMV region I'm familiar with the event very well. Considering it happened in my home state the year I was born, it's kinda always sitting in my mind in a way. Thanks for covering it with your weather expertise as per usual. I love the cute little snail you left too :) (also, sorry your car broke down :\) Also just another little thing, but this year in early June there was an F-1 in Montgomery County (like in the Gaithersburg area). I remember it being covered on the news and thought that it was so crazy that there was a tornado near DC lol :p

[@happy-composer]

Another fantastic video from the best weather documentarian on KZbin!!!

[@BrentWest-x4e]

Please cover the two EF4s that struck Jackson TN in 1999 and 2003. 20 total deaths and the 2003 tornado destroyed the oldest standing church in Tennessee, St.Luke Episcopal church, which was built in 1844. The 2nd tornado destroyed the monument for the tornado victims from 1999 as well.

[@mikeyfromnj]

Hi!!! Thanks for explaining this, always wondered why this was. I asked several people about this and never got a straight answer. I live in South Jersey and for the life of me couldn't figure this out, lines of storms fizzle out, etc. Once there was a good size storm heading right for us and wouldn't you know it, watched it vanished especially after the 15 min. lightning display. Hey thanks again for the info!!!!

[@maggiekelley259]

I'm always pleasantly surprised by your uploads. It's been great to see your channel grow (almost 100,000🤗)

[@biknetix3485]

always a good day when weatherbox uploads, keep up the content ! ❤

[@shawnbrian3850]

Just make me feel old saying 2002 was 20 years ago 😵‍💫 seems like yesterday.Got me jamming Kenny Rodgers now

[@empressvogt]

I remember that tornado. Of course I was living with my mom on the Eastern Shore. I don't remember who I was with, but you could see where the tornado headed by just looking at the grass. That was only a few months later. It was wild.

[@render1802]

The slinky is a great concept illustration!

[@dillyboyq]

AINT NOTHING BETTER THAN A WEATHERBOX UPLOAD BABY

[@BigGameHunter91]

Yesssss. We need more weatherbox videos!!!

[@ToastedNoodle]

NEW WEATHERBOX DROP LETS LOCK IN

[@robgarnett3767]

Been waiting a while for you to come back Awesome

[@bbybby91]

I live in a valley along the Appalachians in south central PA, west to east storms weaken on the ridge to my west and restrengthen to a stronger state once they cross the ridge to my east. Or on a very rare occasion storms will move SW to NE up the valley, 04/20/2015 for example, we had a text book supercell come up the valley.

[@tigerterrorist79]

BABE WAKE UP NEW WEATHERBOX VIDEO DROPPED RAHHHH Real talk, another banger vid man. Keep up the fantastic work. I look forward to every upload :D

[@axisboss1654]

This is very similar to June 2024 here in southwest BC the only difference being that the supercell never touched down but a funnel cloud appeared in the skies right above me. Meanwhile thunder and massive hail was falling.

[@jaytaylor629]

Yay! Another Weatherbox upload!

[@tofu6165]

finally a severe weather video talking about west virginia!!! so cool to see as someone native to wv!!!

[@PatrickFlannery-l9h]

Totally agree! As a fellow native of West Virginia, it broke my heart to see that Hico tornado damage, and I've lived away from WV for 10 years.

[@ethantaylor5425]

I lived through this, ive lived in laplata my entire life. I feel like this video can only do it some justice. I watched as the tornado ripped through the center of town, the sound was something I'll never forget. We saw massive pieces of debris being thrown like toys into buildings. I know that there have been worse tornadoes out west, but the density of our town led to just absurd amounts of destruction. I hope we never seen another storm this strong again

[@edwelty]

Hey I like the haircut! I find your videos fascinating. I feel smarter after too.

[@Jerorawr_XD]

New Weatherbox, I click. It's simple.

[@YippieYerpPerkyJerk]

Good call from the gf!! The snail is a great addition 🥰