The Fargo F5 Tornado of 1957 - The Science Behind the Slow-Moving Monster

[@weatherboxstudios]

Hey everyone! It's inevitable that after I put out a video, I find out I've gotten a few things wrong. People way smarter than me often email me with incredible information and details I had not previously known, so I decided to create a corrections document for this and future videos which will be linked in the description below the sources. The document will be updated whenever I receive emails/messages with great information that I can then pass on to viewers. Thanks guys!

[@pallmall5495]

No worries my friend. Unless you are James Spann you will never know everything about weather or what it has done. Great videos and keep them coming.

[@encycl07pedia-]

LEARN ENGLISH! FORECASTED ISN'T A WORD!!!!!!!!!!

[@encycl07pedia-]

FORECASTED IS NOT A WORD!

[@encycl07pedia-]

FORECASTED IS NOT A WORD!

[@ns3421thelocomotive]

What might happen if a tornado(hurricane sized) merged with a hurricane

[@CeltonHenderson]

Never ceases to amaze me how ahead of his time Dr. Ted Fujita was, just incredible.

[@pavan5272]

He was a beast of a meteorologist!

[@DefinitelyNotEmma]

Japanese dedication at full display

[@2345allthebest]

Yo Celton.... Do you know this guy? Between the two of you I would imagine we might be able to get some very accurate tornado prediction in the future?? 😂

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

@@pavan5272 he had a degree in engineering and a passion for meteorology. It's why he thought outside the box.

[@GetOffMyLog]

​@@2345allthebest tornado forecasting has come a very long way in the last 20 years, and models get better as time goes on and computers get more powerful. It's gotten to the point where models can predict the formation of individual cells hours in advance. We're going to keep moving forwards towards better and better forecasting.

[@jobes8315]

Holy cow, that Fujita report is insane and shows how one man's obsession can lead to great discovery and knowledge. And with as much detail that was included, obsession is an understatement.

[@kimm6589]

It's not an 'obsession', that's how we do things in science. He was more skilled than average at the time, though.

[@calrivera8301]

totally obsessed. shut your finger mouth up. you'd have to be obsessed to create just detailed masterpiece of human ingenuity in the fog of war that existed in metrology in his time

[@jobes8315]

@Kim M I appreciate yours and other scientists contribution to society but ill have to disagree here, you usually see reports this detailed from a team of scientists, not 1 guy. He not only did all the calcs in the report, but animated by hand extremely detailed renditions of the event. No matter what field, there's always someone who goes beyond the definition of obsession to change that field dramatically, Fujita is that guy for meteorology.

[@CMSonYT]

They couldn't handle his sheer autism

[@laraisokay]

@@kimm6589you cannot deny that the man had an incredible passion for what he did. He wasn’t just an average run-of-the-mill meteorologist. He changed the course of the science itself.

[@rschiwal]

My uncle was a Fargo Tornado survivor. Either he, or a family he knew (Family story) just bought a new car. It was hot and the kids were eating ice cream in the back seat. The mom was worried about the new upholstery getting stained by the dripping ice cream. Later that day, the new car was totalled by a refrigerator.

[@Cokercole]

Not funny.....that the car was destroyed but hahaha hahaha hahaha 😂

[@officialsnoopplays]

BY A REFRIGERATOR!? THATS MESSED UP

[@sabrinaleedance]

That's true irony

[@joshuamlnarik5942]

"That fridge still works to this day! FridgitripledoggDaire, tellyawhat"

[@martimasters7704]

And then there was all kinds of food all over the seats! Seriously, how fortunate that no one was in the car when the tornado had touched down. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen.

[@StormGallade]

Born and raised in Fargo here. I've heard a ton of stories of this tornado and the devastation it brought to my hometown. The first time I had heard about it though was because of a picture in a restraunt downtown that I saw when I was young, and that very picture of this tornado kickstarted my interest for weather.

[@Xfrtrex]

pin this

[@lowwastehighmelanin]

Whoa!

[@Kyle-bm2eo]

I’m from the Grand Forks area and have never even heard of this. Truly fascinating history though

[@chacehahn6556]

I’m from fargo too!!!

[@i-cant-think-of-a-handIe]

The same thing kinda happened to me, I was born in Lawrence county alabama (and still being raised💀) And I have heard stories after stories about an F5 Back in 1974 doing Lots of damage here And that was what kinda made me scared and interested in weather.

[@ErinsEnergy313]

My best friend's dad was Richard Shaw, the man carrying out one of the children who passed away. I remember her showing me the newspaper clipping. She wasn't born for another 12 years, but to this day, is very proud of her brave dad.

[@cyd160]

I experienced this tornado first hand! I was 10 years old at the time. We were on our way to a baseball game at the Twins stadium in north Fargo. As we headed toward the field from our car we saw the long tail funnel west of Fargo. We got in the car and went straight home. Turned on the radio and headed to the basement. The radio commentator said “it’s time to talk to the man upstairs”. In a few minutes the tornado struck. It sounded like a bunch of freight trains were going over our heads. We could see a little from the basement windows and saw debris flying past and tall trees bending over severely. It turned out that the main funnel was only about 1000 feet from where we were as the tornado had made a slight turn away from our house just a few city blocks before it would have hit us. We were lucky. Afterward it was like a disaster zone. Debris all over the yard including wood, blankets, and other personal stuff. We found hail the sizes of baseballs in the yard too. The next few days all you could hear was chain saws cutting up trees and other debris removal machines. The whole experience was terrifying.

[@martimasters7704]

Thank you for sharing such a personal and harrowing experience. You write so well that I felt like I was there. So happy you made it through the storm okay. Praise the Lord and may He keep you & your loved ones safe for all the days to come!

[@13_cmi]

Those animations were incredible. You don’t even see things like that decades later.

[@GottaWannaDance]

Yes we do. Disney .

[@dragonlover7196]

dr. fujita putting together such a coherent and _accurate_ analysis of the storm is absolutely wild. what a legend; even knowing that he's a founding father of our understanding of severe weather, his work astonishes me every time

[@maxdevos3201]

I live in what used to be called Golden Ridge, which is now called Madison Unicorn Park. The location of my current home is directly under the path of the tornado. Strong evidence of the tornado remains to this day; there is a distinct grouping of post-60s construction in the area which perfectly follows the path of the tornado. It is very obvious from the ground what was struck by the tornado. I attend NDSU (what used to be the ND Ag College) and have taken many classes in Ladd hall. To see the tornado in the background of that image provides a level of gravity that I couldn't hope to put into words. It's difficult to describe the phenomenon of seeing pictures of places that are so ordinary to me, so everyday and mundane, such as the building where I have "that chem lab" or my own intersection on my favorite KZbin channel, especially in this context. Definitely the coolest thing I've experienced in awhile, but also the most harrowing. It's also interesting that this event is so significant meteorologically, since from a weather perspective, Fargo is known for its catastrophic floods. One last thing that I thought you might find amusing; Prairie Rose, the city you denoted to the south, is a super interesting (and annoying) anomaly. It's about 20 houses that are completely enclosed by Fargo, and exists as a tax haven for the residents to leech off of city resources (namely flood protection) without paying local tax. The City of Fargo and PR have been in on-and-off legal disputes for decades. It's super funny to see someone unfamiliar with the area see it and (understandably) mark it as a real city.

[@maxdevos3201]

In 2009 and 2011, during record flood events, the city had to deploy a bunch of their own resources to prevent Prairie Rose from going underwater. The City website makes a number of "professionally snarky" comments about this.

[@crowboy0666]

@@maxdevos3201 "professionally snarky" is my favorite genre of commentary i gotta be honest, it's just so funny to see people very eloquently and politely fuckin slam someone or something else, especially as an ela nerd. also i hope everyone living in prairie rose to dodge taxes wakes up to a flooded basement next time there's rain.

[@Sing_A_Rebel_Song]

I’m sorry but who names a town Madison Unicorn Park? 😂

[@missano3856]

Somewhere out in the Ridge there is(or was) a horseshoe stuck in a tree. I saw it once but I was pretty drunk and never found it again.

[@RT-qd8yl]

@@crowboy0666 I can totally understand it though if they "spend" the taxes the same way other cities like Baton Rouge or Chicago do. Remember, there's 3 sides to every story.

[@YeahNah100]

Now that I have learned that corn sweat is a factor, I can better understand how the 1990 Plainfield, Illinois tornado was able to become so ferocious. Excellent channel and glad the algorithm finally set it in front of me.

[@Sing_A_Rebel_Song]

*looks judgingly at the corn fields across the street from me*

[@believer2]

​@@Sing_A_Rebel_SongMaybe toddler me was right to despise vegetables

[@salicaguillotines]

​@@believer2 or at least understand why there's _a group where we angry react corn 😠_ on the Book of Faces.

[@bambambam1807]

Awesome video, and Dr. Ted Fujita was so ahead of his time with that research paper. What I found most impressive was that he triangulated the pictures taken of the tornado to there exact location, and made a basic video on the tornado moving.

[@Alex-tx2dh]

19:00 I remember reading about this story a year ago, after researching f5 tornadoes. It made me cry to first imagine the dead children and mom seeing it firsthand, to then picture the dad opening the paper at the lobby or coffee shop and reading his children were ripped apart. It definitely felt real in that moment of research, which was a shift from scrolling through what looked like open walled dollhouses but were really the homes of Fargo.

[@Alex-tx2dh]

Also 21:10 WHAT?! I missed a whole half of this F5’s story

[@agentmueller]

Very well said. I’m from Moore. Since it’s this channel, I don’t think I need to say much else. I found myself tear up twice during this, especially for the father who got that kind of news, and something mundane most people wouldn’t think about. The army coming to town. I will never forget walking the streets of my hometown and it just looking like something out of the apocalypse. And then the army showed up, and the core of engineers set to helping our city folk and the army cooks were making meals and distributing them to anybody around who was hungry. It makes me tear up just writing this, it was an extremely traumatic experience for everybody involved even though we’ve become infamous for our tornados. I was in highschool and we went out for almost 8 hours helping people dig through their homes looking for pets, or looking for that one thing you would grab before you left your home on fire. Picture albums, etc. I always forget with the way the world is, that we are all Americans and we come together more than any other populace in the history of mankind when something catastrophic happens. We sat there as strangers looking through picture albums of elderly victims, and sitting on the front steps of what used to be their lifelong homes, and finding comfort in each other during a dark moment of our lives. I’ve always hoped that someday technology will progress to the point where we can zap the skies and disperse a tornado before it ever gets to take a single life. Now that would be an invention!

[@NancyCollazo-rk7jh]

Born and raised in Fargo. I was 8 when this tornado occured. We stood on the west side of our house watching it for a long time until my mother herded all of us to the basement and we crawled under a couch that was turned over for shelter. My aunt and uncle who lived on the north side of Fargo, had a large wing back chair sucked through a small window and dropped into the neighbor's tree -chair was fully intact! Many very strange occurrences like that. Memories are very vivid of this tornado even after all these years!

[@barrybrevik9178]

This is hilarious! Somehow, this video crept into my KZbin feed, and by coincidence, I was in that tornado, but I was only 1 year old, so I do not remember it. I was told that we heard it on the radio and immediately sheltered in the basement. They said that the sound as it passed over the house was much like a freight train. I am grateful that this channel has posted this video so I could finally learn a lot more about an event that has been large in our family lore. Mom and grandma would go on and on with their stories about how the roof came off every house in the neighborhood, and then it rained inside of them. The windows and contents of kitchen cabinets were reduced to powdered glass, which was deposited over every surface. Men came down from Canada, but there was still a lack of manpower, so the contractors could not meet the demand for home repairs, and many people went months before being able to live in their homes. They also mentioned that the people "on the other side of the tracks" had no basements, so they fled, which caused a big traffic jam. Evidently, there was a trailer park that was hit, and those people who had not already fled were lucky to be alive. My dad was the radio and tv farm reporter for WDAY at the time, and he had kept a scrap book full of newspaper articles about the tornado. I am sorry to write so much; the video stimulated my memory of the stories.

[@elainekoester3340]

Was/is your dad Ernie Brevik?

[@npeace312]

Seeing that photo of the man carrying the dead girl make me cry so much. Her family lost so much. It's heartbreaking.

[@Version135]

That picture was heartbreaking but I'm so glad you put it in. It's easy to get fascinated by these storms and forget the human cost. I have a 4.5 y/o daughter so that hit hard. Love your videos but this one was out of the park.

[@2345allthebest]

Work like this really makes KZbin shine... Its ability to bring us content creators like Weatherbox is a joy to behold. So many of us without this platform would never discover such educational, fascinating entertainment. Thank you so much for your hard work and for sharing your passion with us!

[@P1nkR]

It is a sad thing I can only give it a single like. I would love to be able to tell KZbin: "This, push this!"

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

I love this way of telling the story, triangulating the photos with the locations as the storm tracked. I've heard about the Fargo tornado for many years but have never seen a presentation this good about it. Congratulations on this first-rate work.

[@cnmnnaturalist]

Dr. Fujita's impeccable attention to detail and using animation to illustrate the behavior of storms is always amazing to me. He had a real gift for documentation and I'm sure he had an insatiable curiosity. This tornado was truly tragic, but I shudder to imagine what would happen if the same thing happened in Fargo today, as the population density is MUCH higher.

[@jackzimmer6553]

The animation that Dr. Fujita put together on the wall and tail cloud blew me away! He meticulously studied that tornado and others including the Xenia one in 1974. What he learned saved untold numbers of lives in the future. Great presentation as well!

[@PelicanGuy]

This has to be one of my favorite tornado events...one hour early lead time...unheard of! Dr. Fujita was THAT guy when it came to tornado research. I truly appreciate his work. I would love to see your video analysis on the Jackson (Candlestick Park), Miss. tornado of 1966.

[@16BitDisaster]

We always get cool videos about weather setups that lead to massive storms and tornadoes, but I wonder if a video about days that are forcast to be big but bust would be interesting. A meteorological breakdown of how all the ingredients for tornadoes are there, but for one reason or another it falls flat would be a pretty cool type of video.

[@Cereal421]

Convective Chronicles has an analysis video of the 5/20/19 high risk day that turned out to be a bust.

[@16BitDisaster]

@@Cereal421 I should check that out for sure!

[@atrainradio929]

Still never hear enough love for Ted Fujita. He’s literally the greatest meteorologist of all time; was decades ahead of his time and did it all as a recently immigrated Japanese man in a time of lingering racism from WWII.

[@opticsking4909]

So brave and stunning

[@moviemaker2011z]

i mean, his logic and reasoning WAS flawed but it was still a very much welcomed inclusion because without his insight and dedication to trying to add meaning to the chaos its unlikely that we would have the EF scale that we have today. he was a good man that had good intentions and im sure if he was still around today he would be proud of what we have accomplished thanks to his original work and efforts.

[@niagra898]

That’s a garbage pile of words if I’ve ever heard one. Wtf does “ Raaaaacism “ have to do with his admiration of weather.

[@moviemaker2011z]

@@niagra898 did you miss the part about WWII? or are you blatantly ignoring that?

[@niagra898]

@@moviemaker2011z Yes, I read it Nazi- and heard your dog whistle. How about you just try recognizing the man for his love of weather-not his skin color or point of origin k.

[@yochva]

I know this is a minor detail, but I love how you match your hairstyle and outfit to the era you're discussing. A minor detail that makes my particular inner history nerd giggle every time.

[@agentmueller]

I posted this on another comment, but figured I’d repost it here. I’m from Moore. Since it’s this channel, I don’t think I need to say much else. I found myself tear up twice during this, especially for the father who got that kind of news, and something mundane most people wouldn’t think about. The army coming to town. I will never forget walking the streets of my hometown and it just looking like something out of the apocalypse. And then the army showed up, and the core of engineers set to helping our city folk and the army cooks were making meals and distributing them to anybody around who was hungry. It makes me tear up just writing this, it was an extremely traumatic experience for everybody involved even though we’ve become infamous for our tornados. I was in highschool and we went out for almost 8 hours helping people dig through their homes looking for pets, or looking for that one thing you would grab before you left your home on fire. Picture albums, etc. I always forget with the way the world is, that we are all Americans and we come together more than any other populace in the history of mankind when something catastrophic happens. We sat there as strangers looking through picture albums of elderly victims, and sitting on the front steps of what used to be their lifelong homes, and finding comfort in each other during a dark moment of our lives. I’ve always hoped that someday technology will progress to the point where we can zap the skies and disperse a tornado before it ever gets to take a single life. Now that would be an invention!

[@vitreus0359]

Seeing a well built video around such an early F5 in the history books has me stoked to see a modern video of the F5's that occurred near I. 1956 Comstock Park F5 and more importantly, the 1953 Flint-Beecher F5. Can't wait!

[@danielwieten8617]

Have you seen @carlyannawx’s Flint/Beecher video? She did a really good job. I put Hudsonville/Comstock Park 1956 on my list too cuz I’m from Muskegon. Would love to hear the story told in detail

[@vitreus0359]

@@danielwieten8617 I have seen. It is a pleasure to see the past with future technology, and all the in-depth coverage of all these events that modern people can recall and/ or relate.

[@cosmo3485]

​@@danielwieten8617 Would love to see either of those as I spend a lot of time between Brighton and Holland.

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

I'd love to see a video on the May 1896 outbreak sequence. Even with the dearth of information, it was still arguably one of the most wicked outbreak sequences, alongside the Flint-Worcester outbreak sequence and the May-June 1917 outbreak sequence. And being a resident of NorTex, the Pilot Point-Sherman F5 is intriguing as it was the only F5 to hit the DFW area and was arguably the 19th century's answer to the May 3, 1999 F5 tornado.

[@steffen_yee]

Incredible video you made here. I felt that story with the father hearing about his children in the newspaper. Truly a tragedy

[@jm94008]

The production value of these videos is crazy, I’m so happy every time I get a new weatherbox notification!

[@PamB95]

Love that little ending you tacked on about the hurricane changing direction after the guy completed boarding up his window. lol

[@Razzledazzy]

I never really thought about how the fujita scale was made but hearing all the work he did on this particular tornado was incredible.

[@dillyboyq]

Ahhhhh you know it’s an absolutely premium Friday when Weatherbox uploads 🥰 your vids are absolutely top tier and I enjoy every single one. Keep it up! ❤

[@HexedPedestrian]

I lived in Fargo for 12 years. Older generations in Fargo still talk about this storm. If you live in Fargo for any amount of time you'll hear a story about it.

[@raelewis9957]

You do a great job of mixing historic accounts, science and personal stories to bring it home. Thank you!

[@MoldySpace]

You always do such an amazing job of conveying the human element of severe weather and the impacts it has on real people, but today's hit extra hard. Great work as always.

[@SpecialSauce5]

I have to say as a weather nerd, you do such a great job breaking down these past historic events! Really glad I came across this channel!

[@joshuawarkentin9199]

It's amazing how far climatology and weather forecasting have come in such a short period of time. Thanks for another great video!

[@Beanrock124]

It’s always a good day when this channel uploads!

[@architect0164]

facts

[@mandelbro777]

Fujita was one of those rare individuals who could pioneer an entirely new industry within the one brain. That report is utterly epic. To say it was thorough would be an understatement.

[@martimasters7704]

This is a fantastic video!!! Seriously, as a part-time stormchaser since 1982, I remember very well the days without internet and GPS. But how the science developed with the USAF is something I never knew about. It's the research by Dr. Fujita and university scientists who study tornadogensis that seem to make up the bulk of information vids on KZbin. First. you're a very good narrator with clear diction, excellent accentuation, and a nice tone overall. Secondly, your vids are well-organized and emphasize the important points, instead of focusing on tedious details. Finally, the compilation of the video is very professional. I don't give many compliments on KZbin, but here's my hat off you!!!

[@hebneh]

21:39 - Technological correction: Dr. Fujita did not use a VIDEO camera to create his animations; he used a FILM camera that probably shot 16mm movie film. There were no small video cameras at that time.

[@sabrinaleedance]

Wow , those old black and white photos of the developing tornado, mesocyclone and wall cloud are gorgeous, and so interesting

[@jm5390]

Those graphics and pictures used to show the lifecycle of the tornado were really cool. 🤩 As for events to cover next, you should do the Terrible Tuesday tornado that impacted Wichita Falls, TX in April 1979. That was also a well documented tornado hitting a populated area.

[@roberthoffhines5419]

God rest the Munson family. The sweetest thing on earth is a five year-old little girl. The quality and detail of some of those B&W photos is astounding. And horrifying.

[@fordgtguy]

The story of the Munson family hit hard, I feel so bad for the father. Black and white pictures are actually clearer than color pictures.

[@austfa7621]

Thanks for doing the Fargo tornado, I learned more about it. Fargo is my hometown and it's interesting seeing the path of the tornado how it goes from 12th Ave N to 7th Ave N and back up to 12th Ave N, then follows 13th Ave N into Moorhead, MN.

[@williammetcalf1421]

Just wanna say i love the fact that you incorporate VHS / Retro style looking graphics on your videos. Big fan and former Lakewood Ohioian !

[@Baldevi]

I would love to see your analysis of the Jarrell TX Tornado, the infamous "Dead Man Walking." It was a monster, regardless of it's F-scale rating's accuracy.

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

I'd say the F5 rating was deserved, and the winds were probably well into the F5 range despite the EF scale being generally more accurate on DIs and wind indicators. I will say that the majority of structures in Double Creek Estates weren't built very well, but the totality of destruction renders that point moot in Jarrell's case.

[@Caddynars]

@@Thicc_Cheese_DipI can understand why the rating was questionable. It wasn’t just the poor build quality of Double Creek estates, but also because the tornado’s forward momentum grinded to a nearl halt, and it just sat over the area like a giant blender.

[@ColtsPacers1]

​@@Caddynarsthat's the thing about the F/EF scale. It seems to be based on damage markers as a measurement of estimated wind speeds, at least that's my understanding of it. Which is why the giant El Reno tornado in 2013, despite having wind estimates at or near 300 mph (which is deep into EF5 range) was only considered an EF3.

[@LMacNeill]

I don't know if it's a big enough event for your channel, but there was a tornado outbreak on March 24, 1975 in Georgia. One of the tornadoes of this outbreak hit the Governor's mansion. It's one of my earliest memories -- a couple of weeks before my 5th birthday. I remember hearing the tornado coming, and my parents running in and grabbing my sister and me, taking us down into the basement. Apparently it skipped right over our house -- in one direction, about a mile-and-a-half away, there was a huge grove of trees that were destroyed and a couple of houses were damaged, and about a mile-and-a-half in the opposite direction, was the governor's mansion. We were right smack in the middle, completely untouched. Anyway, if you wanted to cover that one, I'd definitely watch a video about it. 🙂

[@fungillooo]

Love the aesthetic of your vids, your my fave weather KZbinr:))

[@condensermike]

Dr. Ted Fujita is a legend. Great video, man!

[@lucasmetz2403]

As a North Dakotan, I find it interesting that while 2 F-5 tornadoes occurred in ND in the mid-50s (the other near the city of Cannon Ball) none have occurred since. Great video!

[@Emily-fw1lq]

Someone just shared this video with me because they know my special interest is tornadoes, and I've never been happier. This video was awesome, and I'm so excited to have another weather KZbin channel to binge!

[@apollosaturn5]

I can't imagine the hell that family went through. The 14-yead-old loosing his home and all of his siblings, the mom finding her house and 6/7 children gone and the dad finding out the next morning on a newspaper with a photo of the body of one of his children. The survivor's guilt, especially as a parent, never leaves you.😢

[@loficampingguy9664]

An excellently informative and entertaining video. Thank you for all the work you put into these, it does not go unnoticed by any of us :)

[@mercurialjove460]

Wow I really loved this video! I especially loved the nice juxtaposition and transition between the two early tornado science breakthroughs: the first (broadcasted) tornado forecast and the development of the first tornado rating scale. I know some detail about the two March 1948 Tinker Tornados, but I was not so familiar with Dr. Fujita's early work and I loved learning more! There's a lot to be said about the Tinker Tornados, but here is some trivia that isn't talked about as often and may be interesting: While most of the focus (rightfully) is on the meteorologists who did the forecasting, Maj. General Borum's background was also oddly perfect and necessary for the events of that week to occur. First, he was effectively from Oklahoma having moved there very young and was naturally familiar with the conditions there. In fact, he was the longest serving commander of Tinker and the only one to retire to OK. Second, his skills and performance during the war were so good that post-war he was involved with the Pacific Atom bomb tests. It's incredibly interesting to me that many of the greatest developments in tornadogenesis in the 20th Century are connected to the Atom bombs. Of course Dr. Fujita is more directly connected to THE A-bombs than Maj. General Borum, but I have to think that especially as a man of the Great Plains being told forecasting tornados was impossible when he had seen the impossible become possible just 2-3 years earlier played a role in his actions.

[@XxCrystalPhoenix]

This whole YT channel is a mood ❤

[@3Authoress]

I've actually seen the uncensored photo at 19:13 and I'd read the simple caption for it, which gave little detail or backstory. Even then it was sad. Hearing the backstory of it here broke my heart. No one should find out their precious babies are dead from the newspaper and/or photographs. Bless those parents' hearts.

[@benjaminphelps561]

Im from fargo, and it blew me away when i was a kid when i learned how important my city was in the story of tornado understanding and categorization, we were a very small town back then, even now we are small, and to think we contributed to something this important makes me happy, not alot of love for the upper plains.

[@zcoldlel]

im a simple guy. i see a new weatherbox upload, i simply click.

[@ataricom]

I think I probably read about Dr. F's paper and animations, but wtf why have I never actually seen them until now? It's horrifyingly tragic, yet one of the most brilliant, meticulous, nerdy thing I've ever seen. I love it! I actually started triangulating tornado video perspectives in Google Earth a few years ago, and I can only imagine how mind blowing it would be to show him how trivial it is to do these days, and as a hobby!

[@Funz]

this channel is so friccin great man. keep up the good work

[@homeequityloan1746]

Thank you for linking his paper. I’ve never had the opportunity to read through it.

[@johnnomad7493]

As A 12 year old eye witness to 1957 tornado. I can remember every moment of that terrible day. The olsen photo is taken on 21st Street So.. Two blocks from my house. The ditch was A big area known as the Slew to us. A playground for us kids. And is now a park. It is A water tower on Main Avenue, not the air traffic tower two miles north of it.

[@silber724]

This channel is wonderful. Love that classy vibe.

[@debbieellett9093]

I am so glad I found your channel! You are now my most favorite channel! Thank you for being so dedicated. 👏👍

[@racerxfile]

The video analysis that Ted Fujita and the U of Chicago did on this storm is truly a labor of love.

[@nqgamer]

Your passion for this subject is contagious

[@johnshields6852]

The slow moving ones are brutal, like the Jarell tornado slowly grinding everything in it's path.

[@EliRicke-xl9mw]

Although this was more horrifying, the worst tornado that year (1957) was yet to come. In terms of intense damage, Sunfield was by far the worst and strongest tornado that year (everywhere it went there was nothing left).

[@user_romanport]

Great video. Fargo resident here. I work in radio and have a tower site in Moorhead right across the river that has a cold-war era bunker in the building. In that bunker I've seen a number of old logs/reports dating back many years. I'll take a look next time I'm out there and see if I can find anything related

[@bri-was-here]

You do a great job going into just enough detail that someone like me with an art degree can follow everything without feeling lost on the data points and acronyms

[@jabcreations]

Really nice nugget of history and weather, thanks for posting.

[@broadkiwi6882]

How the heck are you still less than 50k subs?? You deserve WAY more!

[@Cleanse_]

Dude the music you use is amazing, the vibes your videos give of are my favorite. Plus super informative, just an amazing channel.

[@amandaglynn3840]

I would love a deep dive into the (several) tornadoes of October 3, 1992 in central Florida, partially because I was living only a few blocks from where the F3 hit in Pinellas Park at the time, but also because it's a pretty intense event, especially in Florida history, and it's essentially never talked about. I don't remember anything about the day because I was too young, but my mom tells me we were looking out the window because the storm was so intense, but we didn't know there was a tornado until her parents called shortly afterward. My babysitter lived in the mobile home park that was hit hard, but fortunately she and her family were not home.

[@youtubehatesus2651]

This was very well made, very informative, very interesting, and at times downright exciting.

[@nataliaschuler3949]

Dr. Fujita’s animations are incredible!! I love love love it when you can watch a brilliant mind combine science and art. In my humble opinion that’s how you spot a visionary.

[@arg2981]

Masterful and thoroughly appreciated explanation! BRAVO!!

[@rickkearn7100]

Equally rare, an EF4 in Massachusetts (the city of Worcester) in 1953. The outbreak started over OHIO and moved East overnight, culminating in the worst and deadliest tornado in New England history on June 9th. Would be great to see this channel dig into that one, as I could find no specific content for this event in the Weatherbox archive. It has been conjectured this tornado actually achieved brief F5 intensity. Excellent content, production, quality and presentation here. I was pleasantly surprised at finding this great channel and so I subscribed.

[@rickkearn7100]

@poof69420 And the survey was conducted by Fujita himself! Go figure.

[@HistoricUSRoute20]

Well done on this video! You are bringing to life the storms and people we learned about and studied in college (back in the 90s). Truly appreciate your effort and dedication to these classics.

[@fishskiweatherreports]

Very interesting video! I dont know much about this tornado but nice video. I really understand your videos.

[@teresaniswander1243]

My grandparents and mom lived in Fargo during this tornado. They were lucky that they didn’t have a direct hit from the tornado, but they did have some damage to the roof, grass in the washing machine, cars moved from one side of the street to the other and blades of grass stuck in tree trucks (all info from my mom). Unfortunately - I cannot ask for any other information as my grandparents and mother have since passed away. My mom did say the sound was very scary to her (she was 6 at the time of the tornado). Thanks so much for covering this tornado - I haven’t seen much said or documented about this tornado.

[@haysgoodman8068]

I’d like to see analysis of the Barneveld, WI F5 of 1984. There were a number of papers written on this storm from UW-Madison, and the emphasis of the influence of the Nocturnal Jet on supercellular development was especially interesting.

[@jeffarbogash4269]

Ah yes Barneveld the closest radar was in neenah 100+miles to the northeast

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

The Nocturnal Low-Level Jet's influence on storm strength has been seen elsewhere, notably the Blackwell-Udall outbreak, the Greensburg outbreak and the 2019 Memorial Day Weekend outbreak. I'd go as far as to say that wind shear and the dryline can be underrated with some tornado setups, as seen on April 19th, 2023 in OKC.

[@mattschneider6773]

I remember Barneveld. Was a monster and hit in the middle of the night.

[@danielwieten8617]

Damn, this might be my favorite video you’ve done. I always feel indifferent to older tornadoes because of the lack of footage and information, but you really brought it to life and made it interesting. Yet another level of Dr. Fujita’s genius I wasn’t aware of. Would love to see you cover: 1953 Waco F5 1956 Hudsonville F5 (cuz I’m from that area) 1992 Chandler F5 1995 Kellerville F4 1999 Loyal Valley F4 2011 Smithville EF5 2014 Mayflower/Vilonia EF4 2020 Bassfield/Soso EF4

[@PelicanGuy]

Where is Loyal Valley?

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

@@PelicanGuy west of Austin and San Antonio in Texas.

[@teacfan1080]

I live in Fargo. Every year on the anniversary of the tornado people talk about it. This was a great video about this event!

[@mrjayjay124]

Fantastic work again Steve! This tornado has been something of interest for me for a while. Loved the video!

[@kendralewellyn2654]

Also from the Fargo area here. Having worked in "the ridge" area for quite a few years, it was a story I'd heard quite often. Tornados are not particularly common here though, and really never often to this degree; it really was a historic weather event. Still, I had no clue the impact Dr. Fujita had by bringing this particular tornado to life through his data, animations, and pure passion and dedication for his career. Really glad the people of Fargo were able to contribute to that in some small way through their photos and videos. It's hard to fathom the sheer amount of lives saved because of that man though... Goes to show, you never know the power and effects you could have simply by just giving a shit.

[@PulseFireRL]

excellent video as always dude. i call myself a weather nerd yet i have never seen fujita's animations of this event before. so so cool. and the way you packaged it all is perfect, keep it coming

[@weatherboxstudios]

Thank you so much man!!

[@youtubehatesus2651]

Hurray. A new video. These are so well done they are a treat.

[@lorrainezafke7048]

So totally interesting. My parents lived in a small town south of this and has mentioned in on many occasions. i never knew the entire track or history made but did know he had friends in the 12th Ave N area that were affected. Thank you for the history.

[@RealLucky35]

As an Ohioan, I would love to see an analysis/documentary on the F4 tornadoes of the Palm Sunday Outbreak in 1965, specifically the Pittsfield-Strongsville F4 as it tore directly through where my grandparents lived at the time (they were fine, thankfully). I also believe it inflicted borderline F5 damage in Strongsville! Regardless of what you make a video on next I'll still be excited to watch it. Keep up the great work!

[@emiliotorano1934]

Day has been made he has uploaded 🙏💞 dude I love your videos so much as a weather nerd and I love watching your channel grow!

[@entr0pix]

thank you dr fujita, for helping us understand severe weather better and saving countless lives!!!

[@Isaactheweathernerd]

Awesome video, man. I've always loved the tornado videos you do!

[@sreynolds777]

That was an awesome video - thank you for your work.

[@pmzephyr22]

The reference link you included is absolutely fascinating in every detail. I will work my way through Dr. Fugita's treatise, the introductory remarks were masterful. The writings here are a bit daunting but vital to understand. Thanks for being so thorough and understandable in all of your videos. I, and I think WE all have learned so much.

[@JerryEricsson]

I used to live up in North Dakota, just south of Devils Lake about 40 miles. We would drive to Fargo regularly to shop so I am quite familiar with the town. I still have friends who live up there, in 96 I decided to move home as I was retired and wanted to be near my family in South Dakota. Today, it is just me and my mom who is 97 and in a nursing home who live on from my base family, while I have a couple kids who are doing fine one in Minot ND and the other who lives in my home and cooks and cleans for the two of us following the death of my wife of 51 years. I was six when that tornado hit Fargo, I can still recall hearing of it and later learning of it in. the small one room school house on the ND Prairie near our farm where I was raised.

[@91rattoyota]

Very well detailed video sir! I really do enjoy learning how things have changed with time as far as forecasting goes. Fujita was way ahead of his time, just brilliant!!!!!

[@bobbenson6825]

I rarely say this but I wish I could give this a double thumbs up. Very well presented.

[@alyssinwilliams4570]

Not just a good video about a tragic event, but delving into some of hte history of storm and tornado forecasting and Dr Fujita's work makes this amazing. Definitely will be watching more content from this channel (esp. the Edmonton tornado; I still remember news reports about it, I live in Calgary 300ish KM to the south so news about it was everywhere)

[@stephenmorton6180]

AMAZING - Dr. Fujita! Thank you for this!