Tornado Ghost Towns p3 (Fan Edition!) And why some towns survive devastation.

Thurman, Colorado. Last Chance, Colorado. Mose, North Dakota. Udall, Kansas. Hallam, Nebraska. (and a quick stop in Glazier, TX). Towns that didn't survive severe weather events.
Thurman, A Mennonite community declined soon after several families were devastated by an F4 Tornado.
Last Chance is famous for Tornadoes, including one near the end of its life. However it was a fire the ultimately doomed Last Chance.
Mose, ND didn't survive a major severe weather event. Was it a tornado? It's not conclusive.
Udall, KS and Hallam, NE seemed to have survived due to lucky distance from major metro areas, among other things.
What is a Derecho, and what could happen in a major event like with Mose?, or the recent example in central Iowa.
Why do large tornadoes seem to have wild variation within the parent tornado? El Reno and Hallam have some similarities here.
Dean Gill, Last Chance 1993 • Last Chance tornadoes,...
William Reid, Last Chance 2010. • Last Chance, Colorado,...
DevinWxChase: / @devinwxchase
Skip Talbot: / skiptalbot and skip.cc
Griggs County Historical Society: www.griggscoun...
Udall Story: • The Udall Kansas Torna...
Harrison Cater: / @hrrrisoncater

[@scienceoutthere]

Discord! discord.gg/bNMVrjf

[@randyrobinson8751]

Watching this again. Love the country music & steel guitar. Gives us people on great plains a flavor

[@rammatic7881]

I live in the “town” of Hart, Oklahoma. What used to be the town is actually several miles away. It’s a ghost town now. On a piece of my fathers property, there is the remains of a homestead. The storm cellar has “Wright 1925” written into the cement. There’s not much left beside the cellar, the well, and some piles of debris. I heard from an old neighbor that a tornado hit the place. I did some research on NOAA and I believe it took place in 1957. Was a small tornado but hit their homestead directly, what remained was kinda just pushed into a pile and burned. The barn was in several large pieces. Random debris can be found everywhere in the surrounding area. I’m fairly certain the tornado caused the family to leave, I’m not sure if there were any fatalities or anything but nothing was ever rebuilt afterwards unless I’m mistaken.

[@mw5158]

Definitely do more of these videos. No one else is and they're really interesting. Like an earlier commenter said, this could be a tv show man.

[@asasadowsky01]

Are we just going to ignore the sheer enormity of moths inside of that jail cell? 😳🥶

[@scienceoutthere]

Lol. I think it speaks so well for itself.

[@asasadowsky01]

@@scienceoutthere I really hate insects😂

[@PolychromaticZero]

FREE THEM

[@douglasgriffiths3534]

@@asasadowsky01 How about cute ladybugs? I love them---they eat aphids that try to kill my vegetables and rose bushes. Or beautiful butterflies? And some moths? And whimsical praying mantises, which also kill harmful insects. I don't like most insects either, but those I mentioned are welcome on my property any time. (Jan Griffiths).

[@OneBrokenEgg]

@@douglasgriffiths3534 I can agree with that. Ladybugs, butterflies, caterpillars, moths, fireflies and praying mantises are all welcome to come visit my property whenever they want.

[@timnewman1172]

The Jordan Iowa tornado of June 13th, 1976. The town basically no longer exists, but the F5 and companion tornadoes were well documented and studied by Dr. Fujita himself!

[@timnewman1172]

The Fansler Iowa tornado of Mother's Day 1959 is much less known, but interesting. It started in the neighborhood where I live and travelled N.E. across country to the area in North-Central Guthrie County.

[@scienceoutthere]

I'll check that one out! Thanks!

[@alexanderteaganfawkescrawf446]

I am a survivor of the Hallam NE tornado. Seeing the photos again was really interesting. I live in Lincoln now and, we just got a tornado here in April of this year. Thanks for the video!

[@federicopavan4793]

Like a few other chasers out there, you really deserve your own TV show, these are really interesting stories! Always a pleasure to watch! Now, may I suggest (even though I think it has already been done) the 1929 Sneed, AR tornado, apparently the only likely F5 in the state’s history?

[@scienceoutthere]

I'll add it to the list. Who knows if I'll do this again, but yeah many of the big events yet to cover are in Arkansas or even further east...Places I wouldn't normally be already chasing in. But I do have family in AR (One of them was narrowly missed by Vilonia) So Maybe I should.

[@chdreturns]

Its been a year and def I'd love for this to return as a full series.

[@aslightlysanescientist3874]

Yeah I asked him that too a while ago and he responded he'd been in sneed a few days

[@RagingMoon1987]

Yeah, definitely Sneed. They still have a storm cellar there. Local legend says that the cellar shielded some of the people back in 1929. Oh, finding information on that tornado is hard! Not as hard as finding information on the Mose incident, but hard enuff.

[@bennorwood8433]

@@scienceoutthere are you aware Mose nd The grain elevator was destroyed according to the newspaper

[@Sarahsadie2021]

Nooooo! This can't be the last video in this series. That makes my heart sad. Please do more!

[@scienceoutthere]

Find me more ghost towns! :).

[@baileybrucem]

This is SUCH a brilliant channel and video concept. It is fun to fall down rabbit holes of tornado history, please make more of these or something similar!! It seems most tornado channels are all about thrill and chaos (clickbait), but the historical and meteorological aspects of these storms are so much more interesting. 10/10

[@scienceoutthere]

Thank you! Glad you appreciate these. I'll certainly do more like this, but it may be on a new series. Who knows! The ideas keep coming.

[@baileybrucem]

@@scienceoutthere I’ll absolutely watch it 😊

[@cherylsingleton1949]

Great video. Very interesting and informative. I am fascinated with weather. I have never seen a tornado, but grew up hearing the stories about Palm Sunday 1965. I wasn't born yet so stories from my grandma and other family members would always captivate me. I am from a small town called Sheridan Indiana where this storm took place. Keep up the good work.

[@brycehill6678]

I grew up in Logan County Colorado, just outside of Sterling on a ranch. Mom grew up in Joes, so I grew up hearing about the Thurman Tornado. Talk about humbling. I was actually, rather foolishly, chasing the windsor Tornado you mentioned. NE Colorado has always had, interesting, tornadoes. I actually was on the state 4-H team with a Yoder, same family you mentioned at the ranch. Great kid who was always willing to help others. I'm sure his predacessors from this disaster were the same.

[@williamdunn2525]

Cool to finally to see this. I saw you on the Tornado Talk discord earlier this year talking about Thurman Colorado

[@scienceoutthere]

I should probably post in there huh?

[@816Godzilla]

obviously there may not be any more tornado ghost towns, i really enjoy the structure of this series. maybe you could do sort of "tornado history" videos about different tornadoes and outbreaks?

[@scienceoutthere]

Not only is that a great idea, I'm actually working on a project with several people to restore information and data on historical tornadoes! We shall where this leads!

[@sapphirecoyote4277]

I don't know how I've never found this channel before, but you present all of this in such a nice and engaging way! I always get a little giddy when my state is mentioned, and when I can learn a little more about it. You definitely need more subscribers!

[@thedestructor1017]

Collab with Pecos Hank when?

[@scienceoutthere]

Someday! I have something in mind for that....

[@captainmorgan757]

As always, your investigation videos are informative, fascinating, and credible. Thank you for being you, Michael!!

[@scienceoutthere]

Thank you Captain!

[@Orbert]

1:32 - I’m 6 counties east of Weld. Definitely a lot of tornado activity in that corner each year. ~5:00 - I’ve been to Last Chance numerous times during my drive to Colorado Springs. Never knew it was a ghost/tornado town. Traveling N/S, you wouldn’t even know it, we’re it not for the stop sign.

[@staceygavan2443]

Nice video! Thanks for keeping me in suspense about Mose, ND for longer than I needed to be. But it was a fantastic video!!

[@Aybrix]

I would absolutely love to see more tornado stories, it's really fascinating to hear about these towns. I think Greensburg is the only one I've heard of in these videos elsewhere, and even then I didn't know much about it. Any sort of tornado stories though would be welcome!

[@scienceoutthere]

Thanks! And there will sure be some more to come, if not part of the TGT, then for some other reason. I'll keep them coming :).

[@stickyleaves6314]

I thought derecho soon as I saw the hand drawn map, was lucky enough to chase the one that came through the mid Atlantic in 2012 and can attest the winds are unworldly and that was close to the end of it

[@JoeOklahoma]

Great stuff. Been binging your videos and have really digged the history and causation notes. Your mentioning of how that last event led to the development of the updating communications (nice risk shirt, btw!) has me interested in what I think might be a fun video: History of tornado (warning and tool) upgrades, but specifically what brought em on. That giant tornado in the first video in the 50s that led to a bunch of death, and others - I wonder if there's articles or notes where we can see the actual wheels turning of folks prompting ideas to improve the system. Keep up the awesome work!

[@scienceoutthere]

Yes there’s an entire rabbit hole to go down over the evolution and history of tornado “alerting”. It’s fascinating stuff. Early on the weather bureau actively avoided mention tornadoes at all in forecasts because they felt the public might panic!

[@catherinehubbard1167]

KZbin presented me with your tornado ghost town videos today because I have long been fascinated by the science of these storms. I was delighted to find your channel and look forward to working through your other videos. I like your content and presentation depth and style. Although my training and experience is in biochemistry and cell biology research, I have always particularly loved paleontology, geology, astronomy, ancient history, and the forces and beauty behind weather and oceanic phenomena. So we have overlapping interests, which is good news for me.

[@scienceoutthere]

Welcome aboard!

[@heatherhillman7280]

Thanks for covering Hallam, NE!😁

[@scienceoutthere]

Thanks for suggesting it!

[@phillihp-yi5qb]

Great video as always. I love your "weather detective" mode

[@scienceoutthere]

😊

[@sawspitfire422]

Your videos always impress me, this one is no exception. I was hoping to visit the US for the 2021 tornado season, I've always wanted to capture high definition binaural (3D) audio of a tornado, but I guess my dreams will have to wait another year unless something radical happens before April. Until then videos like this will have to do!

[@scienceoutthere]

That sounds incredible. I'd love to hear some when you do, drop me a line! I've got a really high quality stereo recording setup and mics, but basically haven't seen a tornado since :/ Glad you didn't decide to come this year!

[@dea3908]

Saw your post on the Tornado Talk Discord, Amazing Video!

[@scienceoutthere]

Thank you!! I should spend more time in there honestly. I keep forgetting about it.

[@jettmthebluedragon]

I was wondering if you were to come back to this series 🙂 this series is very interesting 🧐keep on doing more of this series if you feel like it 🙂

[@marjorygavan6888]

Great video! Love the detective work!

[@RagingMoon1987]

I know I offered one suggestion in the past, but I remembered one earlier this evening. Beatty Swamp, Tennessee, 5/10-11/1933. I say both 10 and 11 because the tornado hit around midnight. 35 people died, and the only trace of the town is a road called Beatty Swamp Road.

[@scienceoutthere]

Beatty Swamp made the cut for part 4. I didn't visit the area though, It literally is just a road and nothing else!

[@RagingMoon1987]

Ooo, I'm excited for part four!

[@CatalinaFOIA]

Grand Forks was hit by 101 mph winds in August of 2001, caused wide spread damage. I lived in a nice apartment complex that had white pillars on the front. The pillars were ripped off the building and were never found. Torrential rain poured down after the straight line winds blew thru.

[@ikertheepic5381]

I has been interested in tornados since a little tornado (Who actually destroyed the bus station) formed on my city on Spain when I was 2 , good video

[@briebel2684]

Those high end derechos are wild. Experienced one first hand in Kansas on August 1, 1986. It's listed in the NOAA NCDC overview of that month. Though NWS Wichita called it an "inland hurricane" instead of derecho. 🤷‍♂️ The damage path wasn't that wide but was pretty long.

[@rebeltag]

Oh, and I want to mention also that I was also affected by that monster August, 10th 2020 Derecho here in Rockford, IL. One of the two tornado spinups in the city that day associated with that event was approx. 3/4 mile North of my grandmother's house. My house 2 miles further South lost power and it was not restored until August 14th.

[@em1osmurf]

a highest cost show or series: rated by category/severity, damage, economy crippling, deaths. it would be good to split it by storm type, as hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones have a time and force power unequaled by nearly any other weather event. i experienced super-typhoon pamela on NAS guam nearly 50 years ago, 3 solid days of screaming winds, and coconuts blasting concrete barracks walls like cannonballs. ATCs at andersen AFB were evacuated from their control tower. half a billion dollars damages (in 1970s money). go for it!

[@blip1]

These videos are excellent.

[@pjf03131979]

The Thurman tragedy is a sad tale out here. The points that you included in the evaluation as to the reason this region in the dead center region of this country are total goldilocks zones which absolutely spawn perfect twisters of high visible condensation funnels that reach so high and are so wide. Can be still barrels of pure white or pure sand and mud. Huge debris clouds reaching the wall cloud. Best part about the storm's is again, as you mentioned, they are in areas remote and free of structure and inhabitants. Or they look impressive but are relatively thin and not violent. They can almost be silent. But there is always that one rogue possibility. That perfect storm happened that one time and it resulted in that experience the men had. Men who responded to a possible injury scene from a tornado on the ground. Then witnessing their farm structures blown open and their loved ones as they were scattered around in the area. I just cant imagine nor want to. It's sad. Natural catastrophes that are expected in a tornado are some of nature's most extreme horror filled, fear inducing events. The sound. The time you are left to wait for it. Not knowing if it will hit dead center or the inflow and RFD will shred you're residence along with you. It's such a visceral experience to simply watch first hand accounts on video so the real thing must be a nightmare. I pray for them all. Those who have been and those who will experience that kind of power

[@nfcoasterferg]

I'm from Eastern Nebraska, and we've had several towns get hit by major tornadoes in the region (Hallam and Pilger, or even Grand Island in 1980 for example). I've always wondered why the death and injury tolls seemed to be so low in Nebraska. And then I figured out, probably the major reason is that most homes in Nebraska have cellars or basements. It's fairly rare to have a standalone home in Nebraska without a basement. But, in Kansas and Oklahoma, the water table is so high to the surface that many homes in this part of the region can't have basements or else they would constantly battle water leakage and flooding. Makes me very thankful that the water table in Nebraska is low and that most of us have easy access to a safe basement during these storms.

[@beccabush1252]

Please do more as it is really interesting

[@moiraatkinson]

Yes! I’m a new subscriber from the U.K. today and you seem to cover every subject I’m interested in 😊. Regarding your town that blew away, is the weather event you described not the same as a microburst?

[@scienceoutthere]

You can think of it like a well organized continuously recharged wet microburst that lasts many hours and for hundreds of kms. that's what a Derecho is in practice! So while I'm splitting hairs here, Derecho is just a better way to describe it!

[@moiraatkinson]

@@scienceoutthere thank you 😊. A microburst is a tiny event, weather wise and definitely doesn’t last for hours, so yours is probably the better name for whatever blew this town away.

[@RichieRouge206]

Really good video again! Definitely like the range of things you do.

[@robchit1653]

Hollis KS, in Cloud County, was destroyed by a tornado on May 14, 1909, killing several. When I was there, I saw just about three empty houses, a herd of goats and a limestone post declaring HOLLIS, population 0

[@scienceoutthere]

I’ll check into this one! Thank you for the tip!

[@pmzephyr22]

In the case of Udall, Kansas, I was told by older people that the town was so shredded that the then city council got a hotel room in Wichita to serve as their temporary meeting place. It is said this was the place where a decision was made to go ahead with rebuilding. I could have been misinformed by the local stories or, for all I know, it could be true. There is a small private airport was established in a new development. A friend and I restored a WWII aircraft in the hanger he built for his own place on the airport. Possibly useless trivia but, my contribution.

[@janefrusetta2199]

Excellent research and very informative! Please keep making these videos. I learned a lot!

[@scienceoutthere]

Thanks! If nothing else, I could start a new series. I love making these.

[@kellyhanson140]

I live in a very small town near the missouri/arkansas border in north central Arkansas. It was nearly wiped off the map in 1947 by an f4 tornado but still to this day is.. well i wouldn't say thriving but there's enough to keep it going.

[@swere1240]

the 1976 jordan iowa tornado is somthing you might be interested in looking into. theres video of it and fujita said it was one of the strongest tornados hed studied at that time

[@grave_i]

After an F5 tornado struck Jarrell, TX, the subdivision got swept away, with absolutely nothing left, all 38 houses were destroyed, and everyone in them died,

[@JennyBenFoldsFan421]

Codell,Ks. 20th of May 1916 1917 1918 The tornado hit this town… On the exact same day… Three years in a row…. Recovering from COVID-19 at the moment, so I don’t remember if the tornado took the same path every single time or it just showed up and they different things on different years… Very weird occurrence to have a tornado come to visit on the same exact day of the year for three days in a row I mean three years in a row.

[@Dorox97]

This is an interesting video never heard of tornado ghosts towns before

[@AmyraCarter]

11:16 So, it was a *_downburst._* I honestly think that's worse. ... Okay, a derecho. Hm. Still worse.

[@LRamaekers]

I live in Nebraska and I experienced the deracho In 2020 I was on the edge of the storm so I did not get the worst of the storm

[@wt1370]

Did Double Creek Estate’s rebuild after the Jarrell TX F5 ? I’m pretty sure nothing was left standing

[@scaprod558]

I think it did

[@wt1370]

@@scaprod558 👍

[@MM-nt7kt]

Can you do a video looking at the Great Conjunction?

[@scienceoutthere]

I’ll be filming some of that next week! It’ll probably be part of a video but maybe not a stand-alone thing.

[@MM-nt7kt]

Awesome!

[@whenyouhitcapsxlock8571]

Yes a new vid finally

[@scienceoutthere]

“Ring that bell!!” Lol. It’s only been a few weeks 🥴

[@DrakenGunslinger]

if you ever do another one, you should cover Atoka, Tennessee. the original town was flattened with only the original graveyard still being here. Atoka isn't a ghost town, of course

[@someperson3883]

How about do resilience like Greensburg, KS. Do Delhi, Louisiana. It is on I-20 and US-80 in Richland Parish.

[@scienceoutthere]

Hi there! I did Greensburg in part 2. The other two are new to me though, I’ll check them out!

[@someperson3883]

I just realize it missed Delhi to the south, but went through Waverly, LA which is not an official city, but stil has people. In Madison parish on US-80.

[@someperson3883]

Pilger, Nebraska is another good idea.

[@scienceoutthere]

@@someperson3883 Totally leaving that one to Hank and Skip to rehash forever! I wish so bad I could have chased that one.

[@MASONmakesMOVIES]

So interesting!

[@dirtbagdeacon]

I wonder if anyone in the Schrute family knows anything about what happened to Mose. I'll see myself out. *enthusiastic ragtime piano music plays*

[@HRRRisonCater]

did someone say derecho?

[@scienceoutthere]

:rave:

[@kevinp1046]

10:32 Now you can skip to the important part, to prove you're internet-famous to the homies.

[@TheSamknu]

De recho means to the right. Its a straight line westerly that crosses a map from left to right.

[@SonoranAstro]

i see a williams optics scope in the background, you shoot astro?

[@KieraCameron514]

Which _Pacific_ railroad? The Union Pacific, Central Pacific, or Northern Pacific?

[@scienceoutthere]

My source material just says "Pacific" But you raise a valid point I didn't even contest! I bet it would either have to be Canadian Pacific or Northern Pacific, but Northern Pacific is the most likely, it's old map has several spurs into E ND.

[@FIRESTAR56566]

As a citizen of colorado, I can confirm that the Thurman tornado is the deadliest in our state's history.

[@leahdrook5161]

Do Iriving,Kansas! It very interesting or tri state tornado ghost town

[@scienceoutthere]

I’m not aware of this one. I’ll look into it!

[@88wildcat]

@@scienceoutthere You'll need scuba gear to visit the site of the town since it is now under Tuttle Creek Reservoir. I'm not for sure whether the town was abandoned due to construction of the reservoir or due to being hit by two F4 tornadoes the same day in 1879 but either way the tornadoes didn't help the town any. Also a little tornado trivia, one of the people killed in the 1879 tornadoes was a girl by the name of Dorothy Gale. Frank Baum saw her name on a tombstone in the town cemetary and decided that would be a good name for the main character in a book he would later write called The Wizard of Oz.

[@scienceoutthere]

@@88wildcat I visited it. Stay tuned!

[@iginakay]

There was a beautiful steel guitar and guitar duet in part 2. What is that song?

[@theofficerfactory2625]

I never heard of the Udell tornado at 2.4 mi wide. News to me.

[@scienceoutthere]

Hallam was 2.5 miles wide. Udall weas 3/4 mile wide.

[@marquesdean5075]

Another tornado ghost town of honorable mention is Raab Corners,Ohio. That town was leveled during the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920.

[@scienceoutthere]

I'll look into it!

[@aprilrichards762]

What about Jarell, TX? Mid to late 1990s.

[@neonflashsparkotron5435]

Do a new one with Melva Missouri 1920

[@Rinde007]

11:24 Can you Email me that map and the weather effects the tornado unfolded cause im from Park River, just North of Forks, and wanna know what my town saw, cause we miss everything, 2016, huge rainstorm, no tornadoes, 60 mph winds, Grafton, Pisek, Minto, Adams, etc all get hit and we sit fine so i wanna see if we have a curse of luck from our past

[@radar_the_fox]

could u maybe do mulhull, OK? theres radar data that shows that tornado being 4.6 miles wide

[@tapetay5859]

The Iowa drencho actually started in my city, Omaha. Just so ya know

[@Vaticanmapper1]

Sneed arkansas is an interesting one

[@HiPeople-b1t]

Im extemely late but the 1929 sneed arkansas f5 that leveled the town should be here

[@RagingMoon1987]

I love that shirt!

[@randyrobinson8751]

Stay safe chasing tornadoes

[@59tante]

Please do more

[@scienceoutthere]

I might! There's a few stories floating around I can still piece something together! As you can see, this one got far less views. So be sure to share it around so I have some motivation!

[@59tante]

@@scienceoutthere I will. Good job

[@randyrobinson8751]

It could of happened. I live east of there in Norman co. Minnesota & sometimes it's like Norman Oklahoma

[@rebeltag]

Has anyone mentioned Fairdale, IL?

[@scienceoutthere]

New to me!

[@scienceoutthere]

Wait, Rochelle storm? Later?

[@rebeltag]

Yes, April 9, 2015... The EF4 Rochelle-Fairdale tornado.

[@rebeltag]

I mean, Fairdale isn't a ghost town due to the tornado but there was a risk that it could have been because the damage inflicted there was quite severe.

[@StephenMadorin]

Udall is still there??!?!

[@scienceoutthere]

Still going strong!

[@StephenMadorin]

@@scienceoutthere Yeah I’m from Wichita and know a few folks down there

[@Kristian.S.H]

im going to fight you for getting me hyped up about the 2020 tornado season... ITS DECEMBER 6 AND STILL NOT ONE TORNADO WARNING(waxahachie tx)

[@scienceoutthere]

Lol. What a trash season this was. Oh well I still had a lot of fun.

[@Kristian.S.H]

@@scienceoutthere me too lol. welp im praying for a 2011 like 2021 but in tornado alley thistime not in dixie

[@scienceoutthere]

@@Kristian.S.H I'm down!

[@Kristian.S.H]

@@scienceoutthere im kinda worried tho!!! my town is basically the dallas version of moore

[@wt1370]

1997 Jarrell TX tornado

[@mralmond693]

The Sneed Arkansas tornado that’s all

[@scienceoutthere]

I visited the site this year and it’s going to be on my next video in this series. It’ll be out in a few weeks! This will be sneed. Rocksprings, Beatty swamp. And Irving Kansas. I think that pretty much will scrape all theres left out there!

[@mralmond693]

@@scienceoutthere yay

[@bumcbumgorgita4148]

thurman is still standing a person lives there and mose

[@chasersrblx1935]

What shirt is that I want it.

[@scienceoutthere]

wxshed.com/ :)

[@chasersrblx1935]

@@scienceoutthere sweet

[@StevenSagerIsSuperEpic]

el reno could have become one of these on that fateful day in 2013. thank God it didn't.

[@jimleaveck1986]

douglas illinois early 1960s...town compietiy gone

[@TheCasualSirenEnthusiast]

666 likes? very cursed

[@dannyboy080487]

Wichita is not a college town

[@scienceoutthere]

Not in the traditional sense no. It's not at all its primary thing. Thanks to aviation, Koch, etc. www.wichita.edu/

[@StormChasersofOhio]

First.