LARGEST TORNADO EVER!!! From Birth to Death (w/ Radar & Commentary) 5-31-13
Published on Jun 6, 2013 by Pecos Hank
At 2.6 Miles wide, this is the largest Tornado ever recorded. Touchdown was near El Reno Oklahoma on 5-31-13. This tornado was very deceptive to many due to its appearance and size. The bulk of what you are seeing at 2:50 is a large wedge tornado. When the base lifts and flattens at around 3:05 it gave the "tornado" a mesocyclone appearance and when it started dropping large sub-vorticies many chasers lost sight of the big picture. At around 6:02, the tornado is taking up almost the entire frame, however the huge sub-vorticies to the lower right appear to be the only point of ground rotation. What many thought were several tornadoes was in fact just 1. At time code 6:30, this is a separate, smaller anticyclonic tornado.
CORRECTION: The SPC does not give Tornado warnings. To License contact hankschyma@yahoo.com
EXPLANATION.... We are all aware of the risks chasing tornadoes. The surprising thing to us was that none of us had been killed yet, and even more surprising was that when it finally happened it happened to Tim Samaras, his son Paul and Carl Young.
Earlier that day the Storm Prediction Center gave the public a "Loaded Gun" warning for Oklahoma City and surrounding area. Unfortunately this also tells everyone in OKC where there's an excellent chance of seeing a destructive tornado. The streets and back roads were packed with cars and trucks, half evacuating, half racing in. People were hollering, cursing, crashing into each other, panicking, and blocking passage. Horns, sirens, thunder and the gushing sound of a tornado barreling down. At first the storm was moving relatively slow in an Easterly direction. 2 or 3 miles to the South was the Canadian River where most of the backroads / escape routes ended. Straight ahead were several easterly roads heading to OKC. When the tornado materialized i was driving next to it with several other chasers about 25 mph as it inched closer and closer. When it was close enough i hit the gas planning to outrun it. The tornado's radius was growing, accelerating and getting closer.... I could only go so fast due to the traffic in front of me and the tornado was gaining ground. I slammed on the breaks flipped the car around, blasted west and had to drive closer to an EF-5 than i ever want to again... looking at my maps i could see the chasers might be outrun. Then the tornado made a hard left turn to the Northeast and grew to 2.6 miles wide in diameter.
If i had to speculate I'd say something random happened to Tim. Somebody ran him off the road or crashed into his vehicle... or some kind of vehicle failure... Tire blow out or windshield gave way... He knew tornadoes tendency to deviate. We may never know, but i'm convinced something else went wrong. Regardless, They died doing what they loved doing and if it happens to me... if i start choking on a peanut while running from a tornado know this... it was worth every second. I love chasing tornadoes and i love cracker jack. My condolences to Tim, Paul and Carl's family and all the other victims of this day. I was looking forward to Tim's lightning research. -h
The El Reno EF5 - Chasing the Largest Tornado Ever
Published on Jun 5, 2013 by Skip Talbot's Storm Chasing Chronicles
A video summary of our storm chase through the El Reno area on May 31, 2013 featuring the 2.6 mile wide El Reno, OK EF5 tornado, and a smaller anticyclonic tornado. In memory of Carl Young, Paul and Tim Samaras. Music is courtesy Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com
El Reno Tornado Analysis - Understanding a Chase Tragedy
Published on Jul 4, 2013 by Skip Talbot's Storm Chasing Chronicles
This video has been updated to include the rating change and refined track of the El Reno, as well as the complete chase route of Tim Samaras and crew. Please see the updated version at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJOjjzHUwsk[next below]
This is a series of animations and video analyzing the May 31, 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma EF5 tornado and storm chaser movements around it. In addition to mobile radar measurements that suggest this was the widest tornado on record, also notable of this event is that several groups of storm chasers were impacted by the tornado resulting in damage to vehicles, injuries, and deaths. Using a series of radar animations, synchronized video of the storm, and plots of the tornado and chaser positions, this video is an attempt to understand what happened during this event and what went wrong. Focus is centered on the GPS positions of four groups of chasers that were impacted by the tornado including Brandon Sullivan and Brett Wright, Mike Bettes and his crew from The Weather Channel, Tim and Paul Samaras and Carl Young, and Dan Robinson. The video ends with storm and tornado footage synchronized to the radar and vehicle GPS position.
Published on Nov 12, 2013 by Skip Talbot's Storm Chasing Chronicles
This video is an update from my previous analysis [just above] of the May 31, 2013 El Reno, OK tornado event and the storm chasers that it impacted. It includes more detailed tornado and storm chaser tracks, including the entire chase route taken by Tim and Paul Samaras, and Carl Young courtesy Gabe Garfield. This video also makes several suggestions on where the public and chasers made mistakes while maneuvering under this storm and what they could have done differently to stay out of harm's way. This video may be used without permission for educational and non commercial purposes.
Brett and Brandon got extremely close to a violent tornadic circulation that produced multiple tornadoes in very close range... The team was hit by inflow jet winds into the tornado and their vehicle
5/31/2013 Brandon Sullivan Hit By Tornado Debris Northwest of Union City, OK
Published on May 31, 2013 by StormChasingVideo
StormChasingVideo.com storm chaser Brandon Sullivan and his chase partner Brett Wright got caught in the tornado and slammed with debris northwest of Union City, OK as the tornado hit a barn and exploded in front of them.
Clip 1 and Clip 2: Twin Tornadoes form over open field. Tornado is back lit with great nat sound audio of Brandon describing what is happening.
Clip 3: Interior shots of chasers trying to escape the tornado and screaming to get out of the way as the inflow of the storm pulls them back.
Clip 4: Time Code 1:40:21 POV Camera out of front of the vehicle of the most incredible footage ever caught by an UN-Armored chase vehicle.
The tornado hits a farm and throws debris into the air. Sheet metal hits the front of the vehicle and another vehicle goes past them and flys into the air and into the ditch.
After the SUV fly's past them on the left, a massive hail bail smashes into the front of there Jeep as they continue to drive to try to get out of the heart of the tornado.
Clip 5 Time Code: 3;11;06 Different POV Camera of what just happened in Clip 4 but with a wider shot. Footage shows debris smashing their windshield.
Clip 6 Time Code 3:37;28 Interior Camera of everything that just happened inside of their vehicle.
5/31/2013 Union City, OK Extreme Tornado Stock Footage 60P
Published on Jul 11, 2013 by StormChasingVideo
5/31/2013 Union City, OK Tornado Stock Footage Catalog.
Raw footage from Brandon Sullivan and his chase partner Brett Wright who were got caught in the inflow of the tornado and slammed with debris northwest of Union City, OK as a barn was ripped apart and exploded in front of them. Footage includes all five camera from inside and outside of the car.
Catalog ID: 05312013_BTS1 Total Run Time: Format: HD 1080 30P
TWC Mike Bettes Final Report Before Being Hit by Tornado
Published on Aug 22, 2013 by AirCastTV
The Weather Channel reporter Mike Bettes made this last report before the Tornado Hunt team was hit by the May 31, 2013, El Reno Tornado which threw one of their vehicles 200 yards, photos of which were widely circulated on Twitter. Miraculously, everyone in the vehicle survived.
Weather channel storm chaser direct hit from tornado caught on camera
Published on Jun 1, 2013 by TheGlobalnewss
Mike Bettes and his crew from The Weather Channel were storm chasing when they found themselves taking a direct hit from a tornado. The 200 yard journey he and two photographers took when they were unable to escape an approaching tornado was caught on tape, provided by The Weather Channel.
The Weather Channel coverage of the two-mile wide EF5 tornado on May 31, 2013, just two weeks after an EF5 tornado hit Moore, OK. TWC reporter Mike Bettes was hit by the tornado.
Mike Bettes discussed his reflections of the El Reno, Oklahoma Tornado with Meteorologists Eric Fisher and Maria Larosa and Storm Master G (Dr. Greg Forbes)
June 3, 2013—Tim Samaras spent more than 30 years researching tornadoes. Samaras submitted this footage to National Geographic in the weeks leading up to his death, as part of his last storm-research expedition. His son Paul and fellow storm chaser Carl Young also died in the El Reno, Oklahoma, tornado.
Tim Samaras — a scientist who chased tornadoes for more than 25 years — along with his 24-year-old son Paul Samaras, and his chase partner Carl Young, were killed by one of the tornadoes they were tracking in Oklahoma.
The storm chasers had always managed to get away. No one had ever died. But the unthinkable finally happened — and it was unthinkable because of the people involved, a veteran team of chasers led by one of the deans of the profession, Tim Samaras, 55, known for being cautious even as he stalked the world's most dangerous vortexes.
His son, Paul, 24, was also killed, as was colleague Carl Young, 45. Precisely how an experienced team of chasers met disaster remained unclear Monday, three days after a mile-wide tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City suburb of El Reno. Eleven other people died from Friday's tornadoes, almost all of them in vehicles.
Assessing tornado damage in Oklahoma:?Amid great destruction, residents of the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore begin to assess the severity of the twister that hit Monday. The deadly Oklahoma storm that chased down the storm chasers
The tragedy raises the question of whether too many storm chasers are getting too close.
The Chevrolet Cobalt driven by Samaras was found on an unimproved county road that paralleled Interstate 40. It had apparently been thrown, somersaulting, for half a mile, said Chris West, the undersheriff of Canadian County.
"It looks like it had gone through a trash compactor," West said. "The car was probably about 60 to 70 percent of its normal size because it had been pushed and mauled and compacted as it was tumbling down the road. Like wadded up."
Samaras's body was found in the car, still buckled in, and the other two victims were found half a mile to the east and half a mile to the west, the undersheriff said.
The tragedy, coupled with multiple near-disasters among teams chasing the same storm — a Weather Channel crew was lofted in an SUV and deposited 200 yards away — cast new attention on the increasingly competitive storm-chasing phenomenon. So many people are racing around on the edge of severe weather that they are creating traffic jams on rural roads in Tornado Alley. Old hands worry that amateurs are getting too close to killer storms.
( http://www.TFLcar.com ) On 5.31.2013 Tim Samaras, his son Paul and their colleague Carl Young were killed while tracking an F-3 Tornado in Oklahoma. Back in 2010 we had the honor of meeting and interviewing Tim Samaras about his job and the vehicle he uses to chase tornadoes. We publish that video in 2010 with some terrible music in the background. Today, in memory of Twistex Tim Samaras, we're publishing the entire interview mostly unedited. Tim's colleagues say the three men passed away doing what they loved. We think this video shows the passion, science and the professionalism that Tim applied to his job. R.I.P.
This 2012 NASA video was done in connection with the GOES-R program. It features renowned researcher and storm chaser Tim Samaras. Samaras, his son Paul, and his chase partner Carl Young passed away in Oklahoma on Friday, May 31, 2013 after they were overtaken by a multiple-vortex tornado. This video serves as a tribute to Samaras and his work.
National Geographic explorer and storm chaser Tim Samaras devoted his life to unlocking the mysteries of extreme weather. Along with his son, Paul, and storm chaser Carl Young—his longtime collaborators—he died in a tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma, on May 31, 2013. "The Last Chase" examines that mammoth storm, and reflects on Samaras's life and legacy through the words of people he knew and worked with.
PRODUCER: Shannon Sanders CAMERA AND SOUND: Spencer Millsap, Thomas Zothner and Robert Gongoll PHOTOGRAPHY: Carsten Peter
STOCK FOOTAGE PROVIDED BY: Jimmy Deguara, www.extremestorms.com.au TVNweather.com KWTV News 9, Oklahoma City Ray Bohac Brett McReavy/KDRMedia Ryan Hickman and Justin Hughes Hank Schyma Jeff Piotrowski, Twisterchasers.com Jeff Snyder Nick Nolte William T. Hark Basehunters, LLC
Tim Samaras Killed In Oklahoma Tornado Heartbreaking Final Interview
Published on Jun 3, 2013 by TheNewzRoom868
Tim Samaras and Carl Young, stars of Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers, along with Samaras's son Paul, were killed during Friday's horrific tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma, just hours after appearing on MSNBC's the Cycle. Tim was 55, his son 24.
Samaras had been involved in severe weather research for three decades, having founded TWISTEX (Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes EXperiment), a system for predicting and tracking storms. Since ending Storm Chasers, he was a frequent go-to expert for reporting and commenting on extreme weather events.
Just hours before the tornado, Samaras had been a guest on MSNBC's The Cycle, now his last recorded cable news appearance, to discuss the coming storm.
Escaping the El Reno, OK EF5 tornado - full HD dashcam sequence - May 31, 2013
Published on Jul 5, 2013 by Dan Robinson
(Read descripton and transcript below) This is video from my front-facing and later rear-facing dash camera while escaping the core of, and hit by the outer circulation of, the EF5 El Reno, Oklahoma tornado in my Toyota Yaris on Reuter Road between 6:16PM and 6:30PM CDT on May 31, 2013. CDT time shown on-screen is based on GPS time, synced with US official time and accurate to the second. Road intersections are shown as the vehicle encounters them.
I am attempting to narrate what is happening for the main video camera. My voice transcription is as follows:
6:17:29 "I want to find an east road here, I'm getting a little to close. I need to start looking for the east (road) option". The tornado was moving east at this point. I didn't want to go farther south and risk not being able to reach the next east road option to the south after Reuter Road.
6:17:45 "Power flashes". The tornado is damaging the power lines up ahead and causing arcing. The streetlight goes out.
6:18:18 "New wall cloud". Another area of circulation was organizing to the north.
6:18:28 "The wedge is rain wrapped". Referring to the main wedge tornado about a mile to the south.
6:18:57 "I don't like getting in front of tornadoes I can't see, especially huge wedges". Referring to why I don't want to go farther south than Reuter Road.
6:19:56 "What is that? I don't like the looks of that." I am surprised to see what looks like the tornado to the south rapidly approaching the road. I had expected it to be well south of me and to the west.
6:20:18 "It looks like the tornado." I now realize what is happening. 6:21:03 "It's just off to the side of the road". Referring to the tornado, which I can see is now right on me.
6:21:53 "Come on, car!" The car is not maintaining speed in the strong headwinds, due to the traction control reducing power to the wheels as they slip on the gravel.
6:22:13 "The car won't go!"
6:23:12 "I've got to get out of whatever this is" I'm still in disbelief the tornado reached Reuter Road that fast. I'm wondering if it may be a second tornado that developed to the north of the wedge.
6:23:24 "The car just isn't going"
6:23:33 "Come on! Traction control OFF!" The entire time, I have been repeatedly hitting the traction control's manual override button to turn it off, but it is not working.
6:24:03 I step out of the car and get my first look back at what I had just escaped.
6:24:22 "I just drove through that"
6:24:44 "There's debris" There are small pieces of debris falling around me.
6:24:50 "Where is it? I can't see it" From the driver's side looking north and northwest, I can't yet make out the north edge of the tornado. I was looking back to see if it was safe to stop again.
Oklahoma storms: Amateur storm chaser took photo of tornado that killed him Amateur tornado chaser Richard Charles Henderson sent this cellphone photo of a tornado to a friend minutes before the tornado killed him. The friend, George "Sonny" Slay, provided the photo to The Oklahoman. Richard Charles Henderson took a cellphone photo of the first tornado Friday and excitedly sent it to a friend. Minutes later, that tornado would kill him. June 3, 2013 http://newsok.com/oklahoma-storms-amateur-storm-chaser-took-photo-of-tornado-that-killed-him/article/3841315 [with embedded video report; comments disabled]
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5/31/2013 Extended Clean Edit - Intercept and Escape from El Reno, OK Tornado
Published on Oct 4, 2013 StormChasingVideo
This is the Extended Edit and Clean Audio stock footage catalog from the historic El Reno, OK Tornado. Video starts out along Interstate 40 and as the tornado was moving towards the area. The videographers approach the tornado near the El Reno Airport as it became rain wrapped and they found they were too close. Footage continues as they drive towards the Interstate on South Country Club Road and head east on Interstate 40.
At 13;02;09 the footage was shot along Interstate 40 looking southwest as the tornado crossed over highway 81 and toward Radio Road and Reuter where debris can be seen being thrown into the air before the camera crew continues to escape to the east to avoid being hit by the mulitvortex tornado.
Extended edit includes the scene after the massive tornado hits just to their southwest where the tornado turned deadly. As they try to escape from the tornado again, a billboard is ripped apart right in front of them. As debris covers the roadway, extreme high winds slam into the car making it impossible to see out the front windshield as they try to drive east and out of the tornadoes path.
May 31 El Reno tornado hitting storm chaser Mikey Gribble
Published on Jun 1, 2013 by Mikey Gribble
Mikey Gribble's storm chasing video from May 31, 2013 just south of El Reno, Oklahoma where a 2.6 mile wide EF5 hit numerous storm chasers. A multi-vortex tornado transitions into a wedge tornado and takes a hard right turn and accelerates just south of El Reno hitting several cars as it does, inclding my own. Just as quickly it turned back to the north and headed back towards I40. Storm chaser Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young along with a woman and her child were all killed by this tornado when they took more direct hits from it in their cars just down the road from us. My heart goes out to their families. We just caught a glancing blow from the southeastern edge of the tornado on 15th street south of El Reno and are lucky to be alive. Several other chasers also took hits rolling their cars out into a field. We narrowly escaped but had 6 windows blown out, the right side of the car sandblasted with dirt and debris, a computer and camera ruined and had equipment fly out the back of the car. We walked away from it though and that's what really matters. This was a historical and tragic day in the history of storm chasing. Roads being clogged with traffic and the tornado rapidly intensifying into a wedge, accelerating east and changing directions erratically all led to this tragedy. Several things all went wrong at once which is why so many of the most experienced and accomplished storm chasers in the world were hit by this tornado.
El Reno Tornado 2013 - Semi Tractor Trailer Flipped by Tornado - Full Version - 31st May 2013
Published on Jun 3, 2013 by freenewsau
Rear (Tailgate) Externally Mounted GoPro camera captures the terrifying sequence of events on El Reno EF5 Tornado.
A semi trailer was following storm spotters for a number of miles on I40 eastbound .
Around 50mph backing winds were present at the time. Due to the rapid loss of visual on the road, storm spotter, Daniel Shaw was forced to stop on the interstate after encountering near nil visibility in a matter of seconds.
The sides of the road at the time could barely be seen.
The semi trailer driver was following too closely and quickly in the rapidly deteriorating conditions. The semi driver was unable to stop prior to a rear-end collision with the storm spotter vehicle.
After impact, the semi was overturned by the edge of the tornadic winds.
Moments later, the 2.6 mile wide tornado set upon both vehicles.
The tornado proceeded to circulate around them for around 4mins and 20 secs.
Daniel Shaw, (storm spotter) moved his Toyota Rav4 into the top canopy of the semi, as to buffer his vehicle from flying debris.
The semi trailer shifted a number of times during the tornadic activity.
Both were very lucky to escape unharmed.
Daniel and the driver of the Semi-Trailer "Chucky" were re-united at a nearby gas station.
"Chucky" assisted Daniel with a tyre change after the impact blew out the back left rear tyre.
Daniel and fellow storm spotter "Greg" drove "Chucky" home to re-unite him with his family.
He said he was simply unable to stop due to high winds but said he didn't want to lose sight of my vehicle which is why he was travelling quicker that what he probably should have been in the terrible visibility and high winds.
A full version of the entire tornado event will be online by mid December 2013
'Mile Wide Tornado: Oklahoma Disaster,' Discovery Channel Special Documentary (Full) May 20, 2013
Published on Jun 3, 2013 by HowQueue
Storm Chasers Tribute Discovery Channel Moore Tornado Documentary May 20, 2013 Hearts go out to the victims and people who lost their houses - presenting the documentary on oklahoma tornado disaster 2013
National Geographic - Witness Joplin Tornado (Documentary)
Published on Jun 26, 2013 by alwaysDocumentary
National Geographic - Witness Joplin Tornado (Documentary)
On May 22, 2011, an EF-5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, a city of 50,000 in the southwest corner of the state. Packing winds of more than 200 miles an hour, the tornado tore through the center of the city, tearing off two floors of the city's main hospital, demolishing churches and businesses, and rendering whole neighborhoods unrecognizable. More than 150 people lost their lives in the storm, and the devastation to the city was enormous. Yet the outpouring of support, both from within the com
No copyright intended, this video is strictly for educational purposes.
Full Tape - Joplin Tornado Mike Bettes Live Reporting for The Weather Channel
Published on May 21, 2013 by AirCastTV
Mike Bettes's first two hours of reporting after an EF5 tornado destroys Joplin on 5/22/11. Unedited video sent directly from Bettes to TWC headquarters captured from the Tornado Hunt livestream.
In seconds, a supertwister can leave immense swaths of death and destruction. But what if technology could help us tame nature's most violent tornadoes?
Their 300 mile-per-hour winds can reduce a building to kindling, and launch cars into the sky like leaves. When and where they will strike remains a mystery, and every year they cause billions of dollars of damage. Venture into the eye of the storm to examine nature's most destructive force.
Learn about the twisters that literally scarred America, from the Natchez tornado of 1840 to the Plainfield disaster of 1990. Interviews with survivors, period accounts, and astonishing footage brings the savage brunt of these epic storms to life.
Learn the incredible tale of the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, which killed 700 people. And experts reveal the latest advances in Tornado detection, and explain how they may help limit the stunning losses from these meteorological terrors.
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