31 replies to this topic

[Hoosier]

New to me anyway.  The owner of a theater managed to record the sound as the tornado passed by.  He was at 95th and Cicero in Oak Lawn, which is about a mile east of the infamous 95th and Southwest Highway intersection where many died.  

There is a color picture of the tornado around 1:20.  There's a chilling moment at 4:19 when he mentions a car falling out of the sky onto 95th street.



http://oaklawn.patch...o#video-5722274

[andyhb]

That is eerie as hell, looks like it was about 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide.

Considering population growth in Chicagoland since then, I'd have to think that a similar event would end just as badly or worse if it happened now, better warnings notwithstanding.

[Geos]

Incredible footage! I wasn't around till long after this event, but I've heard stories about it. I've never seen this video before today.
This was probably the last tornado to touchdown inside the urban core of Cook County? Some people think areas are immune to tornadoes in urban areas and close to the lake, but that is not true!

[Hoosier]

andyhb, on 17 February 2012 - 05:54 PM, said:

That is eerie as hell, looks like it was about 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide.

Considering population growth in Chicagoland since then, I'd have to think that a similar event would end just as badly or worse if it happened now.

It's officially listed as 200 yards wide but path widths aren't an exact science. It's pretty clear the zone of intense damage was fairly narrow.

[Hoosier]

Geos, on 17 February 2012 - 05:56 PM, said:

Incredible footage! I wasn't around till long after this event, but I've heard stories about it. I've never seen this video before today.
This was probably the last tornado to touchdown inside the urban core of Cook County? Some people think areas are immune to tornadoes in urban areas and close to the lake, but that is not true!

Depends how you define urban core. If you don't count the Lemont tornadoes of 1991 and 1976, then this was the last intense tornado. There have been weaker ones since then.

[Geos]

Hoosier, on 17 February 2012 - 05:58 PM, said:

Depends how you define urban core. If you don't count the Lemont tornadoes of 1991 and 1976, then this was the last intense tornado. There have been weaker ones since then.

Ok. I have to remember Cook County wasn't as developed as before either. I would define urban as a certain number of people per square mile. There have been a couple weak to moderate intense tornadoes on the north side that I can remember. One hit Zion in April of 1996. Path was only a block, but it was rated at F2. I think Gurnee, IL was hit that same evening as well.

[Hoosier]

Geos, on 17 February 2012 - 06:05 PM, said:

Ok. I have to remember Cook County wasn't as developed as before either. I would define urban as a certain number of people per square mile. There have been a couple weak to moderate intense tornadoes on the north side that I can remember. One hit Zion in April of 1996. Path was only a block, but it was rated at F2. I think Gurnee, IL was hit that same evening as well.

The fringes of Cook county probably weren't as developed but IIRC, Oak Lawn had around 20,000 people at the time of the tornado. A bigger issue the urban spread out into the collar counties, just waiting to get mowed down by the next violent tornado.

[cyclone77]

Wow, that was very cool! I was surprised at the lack of profanity by that guy lol. A lot of people would have been yelling everything in the book.

[Hoosier]

Imagine if the Oak Lawn tornado would've remained at F4 intensity for a longer time into Chicago. The damage in Chicago was mostly light to moderate F1-F2 type stuff.

[Hoosier]

cyclone77, on 17 February 2012 - 06:19 PM, said:

Wow, that was very cool!  I was surprised at the lack of profanity by that guy lol.  A lot of people would have been yelling everything in the book.

I know lol. It's just eerie how he's outside talking to those women about the other tornadoes that day. Little did he know what was about to happen.

[cyclone77]

Hoosier, on 17 February 2012 - 06:21 PM, said:

I know lol. It's just eerie how he's outside talking to those women about the other tornadoes that day. Little did he know what was about to happen.

Yeah he even mentioned Moline. I'll have to go back and check to see if there were any out this way that day. He also mentioned Belvidere. I remember them getting hit by a bad tornado, but I don't know if it was this day or not. I'm sure some of the historians in this sub forum would know off the top of their head.

[andyhb]

cyclone77, on 17 February 2012 - 06:23 PM, said:

Yeah he even mentioned Moline. I'll have to go back and check to see if there were any out this way that day. He also mentioned Belvidere. I remember them getting hit by a bad tornado, but I don't know if it was this day or not. I'm sure some of the historians in this sub forum would know off the top of their head.

Yep, that was the same outbreak. Was the day that the high school got hit (It was an F4 as well).

[cyclone77]

andyhb, on 17 February 2012 - 06:24 PM, said:

Yep, that was the same outbreak. Was the day that the high school got hit.

Ahh, ok. Thanks man! I remember hearing about that tornado when I was a little kid in grade school. One of the teachers was into weather, and anytime we had to do tornado drills he brought that up.

[Geos]

That day ORD recorded 0.19" of rain. High 69°, Low 52°. Light fog and rain in the morning. A report of smoke at 3pm. Then a thunderstorm at 6pm.

http://www.wundergro...eq_statename=NA

Dewpoints reached 60° mid afternoon, so there was some juice for t-storms.

[cyclone77]

Wow, this was only a few miles from where I live now. Interesting.
F1 SW of Spring Hill Whiteside 2130 0.3 miles (0.5 km)

[BeastFromtheEast]

Geos, on 17 February 2012 - 06:05 PM, said:

Ok. I have to remember Cook County wasn't as developed as before either. I would define urban as a certain number of people per square mile. There have been a couple weak to moderate intense tornadoes on the north side that I can remember. One hit Zion in April of 1996. Path was only a block, but it was rated at F2. I think Gurnee, IL was hit that same evening as well.

Last year... Mt. Prospect and Downers Grove F1 Tornadoes..
http://abclocal.go.c...ocal&id=8207678

[cyclone77]

[foster]

cyclone77, on 17 February 2012 - 06:19 PM, said:

Wow, that was very cool! I was surprised at the lack of profanity by that guy lol. A lot of people would have been yelling everything in the book.

Me too. It reminds me of the WIBW weatherman during the 1966 Topeka F5. In his interview he's going on about how it was the most important moment in his career and he knew what he said next was going to make history. Instead of our modern day panic over tornado emergencies and such, he spoke in a monotone and bored voice saying "it's in topeka...for god sakes....take cover."

It's not quite the same...but guess back then presenters had more reserved reactions or so it would seem.

Edited by foster, 17 February 2012 - 07:15 PM.

[cyclone77]

foster, on 17 February 2012 - 07:05 PM, said:

Me too. It reminds me of the WIBW weatherman during the 1966 Topeka F5. In his interview he's going on about how it was the most important moment in his career and he knew what he said next was going to make history. Instead of our modern day panic over tornado emergencies and such, he spoke in a monotone and bored voice saying "it's in topeka...for god sakes....take cover."

It's not quite the same...but guess back then people had more reserved reactions or so it would seem.

Yeah, good point. Definitely was very professional.

[SpartyOn]

Creepy audio. You can hear the agony in his voice.

[Indystorm]

Good find! I remember the news reports out of Belvidere, Crystal Lake, and of course Oak Lawn that evening. Good t storm at Hobart, Indiana. Sun Times or Chicago Tribune later published a special edition titled, "Tornado Day '67" which gave extensive coverage.

[Thundersnow12]

Only a matter of time before we get another Oak Lawn or Plainfield around here again.

[andyhb]

Thundersnow12, on 17 February 2012 - 08:25 PM, said:

Only a matter of time before we get another Oak Lawn or Plainfield around here again.

...and this time it might not be through a suburb...

People often think Dallas is the worst case scenario out of the commonly tornado targeted major cities (often due to its geographical location), I'm inclined to think Chicago might be worse, especially during a 6/2/90, 4/24/67 or 4/11/65 type outbreak.

[JoMo]

For being so intense, he was pretty calm through the entire thing.

[michsnowfreak]

Im not a big severe fan, but that was pretty cool! How many died?

[Hoosier]

andyhb, on 17 February 2012 - 08:44 PM, said:

...and this time it might not be through a suburb...

People often think Dallas is the worst case scenario out of the commonly tornado targeted major cities (often due to its geographical location), I'm inclined to think Chicago might be worse, especially during a 6/2/90, 4/24/67 or 4/11/65 type outbreak.

The way I see it, the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex is at a somewhat higher likelihood simply due to its geographical location but Chicagoland is the biggest metro area with an enhanced risk of a major tornado disaster. Large metros like Houston, New York City, Philly etc certainly have the population to be concerned about but not the violent tornado history that areas in/around northeast IL have. Fortunately, the truly violent events don't happen very often but with the urban sprawl, a big hit on Cook county is no longer needed to make it a major problem.

[Hoosier]

michsnowfreak, on 17 February 2012 - 11:07 PM, said:

Im not a big severe fan, but that was pretty cool! How many died?

I think 33

[andyhb]

The Houston vicinity had the Goliad, TX tornado back in 1902, which killed 114 (tied with the Waco tornado for the deadliest in Texas history), but I can't find a lot beyond that.

[Hoosier]

Did some digging and found that Cook county's population in 1967 was over 5 million and not much different than current levels. The distribution has changed though with Chicago losing residents over the years. Here's are some impressive stats. Cook county's current population is higher than 29 states and it contains 40% of all Illinois residents.

Also, as of 2010, there are 39 counties in the US with over 1 million people. If we look at those counties and F4/F5 tornado tracks since 1950, there are only 3 other counties that have had 2 violent tornado strikes besides Cook: Cuyahoga county OH, Oakland county MI, and Hennepin county MN. St Louis is tricky since they are an independent city but if we lump them and St Louis county together, that makes 4.

[B-Rent]

St Louis county has nearly 3 times the pop of St Louis City. I say its an even comparison.

[SpartyOn]

You can only hope that the monster outbreaks don't hit highly populated areas like they did last year. I've always consider Chicago and Indy as major sitting ducks. The outer ring suburbs have sprawled out very far in the last couple of decades.

[magoos0728]

Awesome audio...such a scary experience.