THE NIGHT OF THE TORNADOES - Florida's Deadliest Tornado Outbreak
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
- In the darkness of February 22nd 1998 a deadly cocktail of atmospheric conditions would unleash a devastating outbreak of tornadoes on the southeastern United States, hitting the state of Florida particularly hard. This outbreak of tornadoes would go on to make history as it claimed the lives of 42 and injured hundreds more. The twisters spawned in those dark hours in February would go on to be Florida’s deadliest in history. Officially referred to as the 1998 Kissimmee tornado outbreak, those who survived it remember it as: THE NIGHT OF THE TORNADOES
This outbreak would be Floridas deadliest in history with several strong to near violent tornadoes ranging in intensity from F0, F1, F2, F3, and even one that was initially rated an F4.
Fujita Scale Explanation
F0 - Light Damage (40-72mph)
F1 - Moderate Damage (73-112mph)
F2- Considerable Damage (113-157mph)
F3 - Severe Damage (158-206mph)
F4 - Devastating Damage (207-260mph)
F5 - Incredible Damage (260-318mph)
Twitter: / celtonhenderson
Patreon: / celtonhenderson
Sources:
www.weather.go...
www.weather.go...
www.weather.go...
www.tornadotal...
www.weather.go...
web.archive.or...
web.archive.or...
web.archive.or...
tornadoarchive...
• Kissimmee Tornado outb...
NOT FOR BROADCAST
Contact Celton Henderson at overflowingcrucible@gmail.com for licensing inquiries.
All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. See Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015).
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS
Thanks for watching everyone! If you have any suggestions for future videos or weather events you'd like me to cover let me know in the comments!
Hey!
This might be hard...
But what about other country's tornado?
For example, France has been hit in the end of October by its longest tornado, maybe Europe's one. An outstanding 209km EF3.
Even though the vast majority of tornadoes happen in the USA, I'm sure there might be something to do about the rest of the world...Like bengladesh.
@@Achillionable Yeah there have been several tornadoes in other parts of the world that I'd be interested in doing at some point. There are a few other RUclips channels that have already done this if you want to see one while you wait for me to get around to it.
@@CeltonHenderson Why not! I'm glad you've already looked up to doing them! I already know they will be very interesting. Plus, looking at multiple videos on the same events always give different point of views, that's the best.
I’m hoping somebody would do a video about a Wisconsin tornado outbreak. There’s been some significant ones
There's a tornado in San Leonardo de Yague, Spain which while it didn't injure was of F-3 if not bordering on F-4 intensity with significant aftermath footage in the mountains near the village. The village's economy, one of the largest municipalities in Soria Province relies heavily on lumber products. Which gets into why the 4000 hectare/10000 acre tree damage and 141 hectare/350 acres of F-3 tornado intensity got a local television documentary of 30 minutes in length. You get a tornado while obscure produces a lot of foreign content footage in the form of aftermath content.
I'll look for other European tornadoes with media content or video footage older than the 2010s.
Well done. I was on the air on The Weather Channel that evening into the early morning hours. I recall seeing the intense storms rolling into the area, and feeling helpless, knowing that so many of the people in danger were already asleep and not watching. I took advantage of the fact that I had a national audience to advise people who had friends in the Kissimmee area to call them and warn them that a tornado was bearing down on them. I have no way of knowing whether anyone was able to take shelter as a result of this, but it was all I could do on that terrible night.
That was quick thinking on your part and no doubt someone’s life was saved that day because of your suggestion.
@@TheGryfonclaw doubtful
Do you still work at The Weather Channel? I don't watch TV anymore.
I watch TWC every day when i get home from work. Then catch the shows after storm center. I like knowing whats going on in the world of weather.
@ayashin19, Just be a little more of a sourpuss, why don't'cha....
5:06 is a photo of my destroyed apartment complex, Country Garden, in Winter Garden. I was one of the 70 injured that night. The 25th anniversary is almost here. I now live in Massachusetts, but am here in the area for another day. The night was true terror. I was interviewed a year later by Channel 13 regarding the disaster. It does sound like a train heading straight for you. No place to run. I'll forever have PTSD when I hear about tornados. It all comes back. I sheltered my 5 year old son and took the punishment of flying glass into my skin and a beam cracking my skull. That same son died in 2016 and I grieve even more when I think of this time in our lives. Thank you for putting this together. I periodically search the web for anything to do with this night in 1998.
In a weird twist of fate, I see Warren Madden commented below. I was once engaged to his brother Mark.
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I hope this video helped in some way. I'm fascinated by tornadoes and study them academically but I'm all too familiar with the human cost they leave behind. This outbreak in particular just felt evil to me having impacted people who were not well prepared for strong to violent tornadoes occurring, especially at night. Thank you for sharing your story.
@@CeltonHenderson Thank you. Excellent work, sir. Also, the intro was a true blast from the past! I had forgotten about that FL promo but know it well. xo
My condolences
My great grandma lived in the winter gardens and survived the tornado that wiped out the winter gardens
IM A SURVIVOR! I was 16 at the time, I live in KISSIMMEE,( Lakeside) it was so scary my dad saved my life and got me out of my bedroom in time he walked outside and heard it, grabbed me and we ran to the closet one min later if that it hit, i thought we all were going to die, everything above us fell on top of us and it felt like the house was lifting off the foundation. it was hard to breathe and I could barely hear anything but a roar and just everything crashing together I found baby diapers, pieces of shingles, baby toys, food, trash, debris everywhere in my room i lost all my belongings. After it passed the front of my house was half gone and my room had no roof all the way to the kitchen. the only roof we had left was what covered me and my family. I was in shock.. I have full ptsd, im 38 and still cry when it storms to bad outside... I still live in kissimmee and a mile where I use to live... I go over the bridge where ponderosa is and everyday I go over it my stomach turns.... rip to all who we lost. Dad if it was not for you and god I would not be alive, a day survivors will never forget.... Thank you to who made this!!!!
Hi! My moms sister and her one year old survived the tornado also I lived in cocoa beach at the time and remember insane flashes of the lightning I was about 13 i climbed into my moms bed. Little did we know the tornados were hitting my aunt near sandford area. She says God woke her up she went and picked up her son out of the crib and it hit right at that moment: it munched her trailer in half, killed her neighbors. She was thrown from her baby and broke her hip climbing in the dark through debris to get him. The neighbors had generators they ran and found her in the debris. It picked up her little Toyota truck and placed in the tree right on top. Salvation Army rebuilt her home. My cousin wouldn’t go to movies, have water poured over his head because he remembered the roaring rain. I remember those storms I’m sorry about how it affected your family and home. Hugs to you!
Brandi, you are most definitely meant to be here.
Your father saved you.
Get help for the PDST.
A gift to yourself and father.
Coming from somewhere that sees no tornadoes, and simultaneously knowing what makes them tick, hearing about deadly tornado outbreaks in the middle of winter is always such a mind-blowing thing to me.
Generally it is odd, but considering that this happened in Florida it makes a little more sense. Florida is so warm and wet because of its location. Mix that with cool air coming from the north, it’s a cocktail for this kind of event in winter. Not super common, but the risk is there.
We do get tornadoes during the warm and wet season, but they are usually very small spin ups from local wind shear in our summer thunderstorms or hurricanes. What usually makes the winter months our tornado season is during the dry season from around November to april, this is the only time of year cold fronts and colder air masses push this far south. So, ironically, our more intense severe tornadoes and tornado outbreaks happen during the winter. Keep in mind, it can get cool and snow here north of around i4 (Tampa/Orlando/Daytona is about the most south any freezes happen) but I’ve never seen a flake haha. Another big risk factor here is that a lot of people live in mobile homes in Florida.
I grew up in Hoosier Alley, not the South, but I always feared Winter outbreaks. Something about them felt more intense.
@@476233 It snowed a few years ago north of Tampa! It never accumulated on the ground, but flakes fell from the sky!
@@al6r725 it snowed in Ft Lauderdale at the end of January 1978, covering the ground. That was a loooong time ago, though
The Kissimmee tornado missed by my house by a cul-de-sac. Absolutely terrifying night. I've refused to be without a weather radio; especially since Florida's worst tornadoes are during winter.
I was 4 and that tornado missed my house too, my brother woke up because the blinds were banging against the window of his room due to the high winds of the tornado. He woke my mom up but she thought it was just a really bad thunderstorm and went back to sleep. I’m thankful the tornado didn’t hit us, a trailer park down the street from us was decimated with many deaths.
Also missed my house and Massa Street Owners also my street
in lakeside?
I've always had a fascination with tornado documentaries, they have a unique style and feel compared to other disasters videos. I've spent my entire life in Florida. I really can't describe the feeling's I had watching this one, having lived through this event myself. Tornado's were always a distant event in my mind, even when they happened here in Florida they were nothing like the devastating twisters out west. I was 14 when this outbreak occurred. I remember being glued to the TV before the power went out then chatting with my mother and sister, nervously joking a bit about the weather and trying to pass the time before bed. We lived just south of Sanford, along the St. Johns river. That night was straight out of a movie, we heard the sound, that famous freight train sound and all three of us just stopped and stood in silence for a few seconds. If you live in the Midwest this scenario is as real to you as hurricanes are to us. But here? For us? Hearing that sound, knowing what it was and making ourselves believe what we were hearing was real...That was hard to reconcile. We ended up in our hallway since the bathroom was on an outer wall with a window. The F3 that killed 13 people passed within 3 miles of us. When we saw the path it took we were surprised that we had heard it so clearly. We suffered no damage but I will never ever forget that night, that sound nor the aftermath. For years after the tornado hit you could see houseboats that it capsized in the river from the bridge heading into/out of Sanford.
Thank you, so very much for this video. It feels like our night of terror is one of the more forgotten tornado events.
do you know if the tornado went into sanford?
wow!! that's a crazy story thanks for sharing
I didn't know this happened so I'm glad it's been uploaded couldn't imagine the fear you went through
@thatsthatwagon it did. It hit right by the airport. Mellonville and also Beardall Ave which was the street I grew up on. It devastated my street.
I lived in winter garden during this outbreak. My mom said that night she felt off and could feel the pressure change in her belly as she was heavily pregnant with my brother. The news warned of the tornado and I remember my mom grabbing me out of bed(we lived in a trailer at the time, I was in kindergarten) and driving across highway 50 to take shelter at my grandmothers house (Easy street and S orange avenue on the map by the RV resort) The weather was insane and no sooner than we ran through the doors, debris and wind started wiping at the roof. She said There was a fatality at the trailer park one street over. During highschool, years after the fact, I was talking to other kids who lived locally at the time about our various experiences with it and feeling so strange at the thought of what everyone went through with it.
I checked the maps and compared it to a current map of the town and IF the mobile home park across the street is the one that I remember driving by during my childhood (reports don’t specify)is the one that was hit, It missed us by one street.
(Edited: just called my mom for a better recounting of the night)
Being from Kissimmee but born after this. I have always had an eye out for videos like this. Thank you so much as this "Night of Tornados" is not talked about so much anymore. This is so underated!
I have been waiting for years for someone to make a good documentary on this set of storms. I lived in the path of the Kissimmee tornado and remember it like it was yesterday. Literally the most vivid memory I have and I was only 5 years old. It lit the flame for my fascination of meteorology.
I was attending UCF at this time. I vividly remember that day. We had a hailstorm around UCF on the afternoon before the tornadoes hit. For those of you familiar with Florida, you know that hailstorms with stones bigger than a pea are very rare occurrences that far south. I remember the air having a strange oppressive feel that day before the tornadoes hit. It was very oppressive and peculiar type of warmth and humidity, especially for February in Florida.
Tornado weather. I've experienced that during both the Super Outbreak and the late April 2014 tornado outbreak. Very hot, muggy and hazy weather. Feels like summer but super hazy and still in the air. Very bad sign for things to come.
Great video. Another interesting February tornado event in Florida is the Pensacola, FL EF-3 tornado on February 23, 2016. That tornado occurred during another El Nino period and went right through my aunt's neighborhood. I remember seeing the radar signature and watching the livestream from the local news and calling her to tell her to take shelter. According to her the tornado hit 30 seconds after she hung up. Thankfully she wasn't injured and only suffered damage to a fence, but just down the street there were homes destroyed and an apartment complex which had the second floor swept away. Besides my personal connection what I find interesting is that this was only the second F-3/EF-3 in the county's recorded history. The first occurred the week before.
Yeah stronger tornadoes like this are far more common in El Niño years. An EF3 is a significant event to go through.
So basically if you live in Florida at it's February 23, you might want to keep an eye out on the weather.
The 2007 Groundhog Day tornado outbreak also occurred during an El Nino period. That outbreak simultaneously became the second-deadliest in Florida history (behind this outbreak), produced one of the strongest tornadoes to ever hit Florida (Paisley-DeLand extremely high-end EF3), and produced the first four tornadoes rated on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
@@Thicc_Cheese_DipI feel like the Kissimmee tornado's initial rating of F4 shouldve stood as some of the cinder block homes struck by the most violent winds where largely leveled to the ground, I remember seeing one photo which showed a home with nothing left but the doorway including some other walls. The damage done to the strip mall was also some of the most extreme I've ever seen from a Florida tornado.
The 2007 DeLand tornado was also a borderline EF4. It directly struck a rural cul-de-sac west of town and razed two homes to the ground.
Feb 2 1998 a small f1 tornado went through the back of my property in Davie FL. I remember watching the weather Channel and tornadoes were spotted all over the state. We received quite a bit of damage. Something I will never forget
I had worked a 16 hour shift and had gotten home around 11pm. We were in Loughman which is just west of Intersession City. We did not hear any warnings or alerts but we were watching the storm come in when my phone rang. Me and two deputies were the first into Ponderosa Pines RV park. The devastation was unbelievable. We carried the wounded out on doors and pieces of wood. Ambulances came from numerous counties to take the wounded. I can't thank the people enough that helped me carry the wounded out. This storm was a nightmare and it was the worst that I ever saw. I will not soon forget it or the people that I met and the ones that we lost.
This is deathly terrifying, and this is why, even if I'm living in a town/state/city that's in or near tornado ally or has a little to no chance of tornadoes, I'm building a storm shelter
Keep in mind most Florida tornadoes are very small and weak and only do damage to trees and mobile homes. I’ve never heard of an F5 in the state, and I think there was only one F4.
@@476233 I completely understand, I just want to build one in case of emergencies
@@midnightheartwolf9200 better safe than sorry!
@@dansmodacct exactly!
@@midnightheartwolf9200 kind of hard to build one in Florida dig a few feet down and you hit water most of the time
as a resident in central Florida, its strange how this is never talked about unless your in the weather community. thanks for making this video!
no for real i live in south florida and i never knew any of this either until now
You are right. So many commungot flattened in the last year snd we are not on the coast.
Yeah never heard of it
I had moved to the area in 97 and still live in central Florida and remember this night vividly. Luckily for me it narrowly missed the town i was in but do recall just how loud and windy it was that night. Like even moreso than usual then come to find out later that a tornado touched down about 7 minutes from our house and went the other way. Youre right, really dosent get mentioned too much around here, I think a lot of people still reflect on hurricane Charley that came through in 04 more than anything else. But I definitely remember 98 to this day.
I live on central Florida but never heard of this.
Born and raised in Florida with my birth year being 1984. I had just turned 14 that February and remember that night vividly. We live in the south Jacksonville area at the time and had my MeeMaw come over to our house that night since she lived in a mobile home. We lost power and slept in the hallway that night. We didn’t get any tornadoes but we had strong storms.
You would’ve been 4 in the year of 1998 if you were born in 1984. you couldn’t have been 14 unless you were born in 1974 and turned 14 in February of 1988. ;-;
@@sweetie__lexiiummmm, what 😂😂😂
Another El Niño year 2007 had numerous intense tornadoes in just about the same area. Ironically the 1998 outbreak helped minimize the death toll in that outbreak. Though 13 still perished as a result of being in mobile homes.
One of my favorite facts about the strongest tornado of the outbreak an EF-3 that went through Lady Lake Florida was that it was the first tornado to be rated with the Enhanced Fujita Scale. As the first day it was used was February 1st and the tornadoes occurred on February 2nd.
The 2007 Groundhog Day tornado outbreak. 21 total perished, 13 from the Paisley-DeLand EF3 (165mph peak 3-second gusts), and 8 from the Lady Lake tornado, which was a high-end EF3 with 160mph peak 3-second gusts. The New Smyrna Beach tornado was a high-end EF1 with peak 3-second gusts of 105mph, while a fourth tornado hours later in Polk County was rated EF0.
Thank you for putting this out. This is an often forgotten outbreak that I don't think gets documented enough.
I grew up in Sanford literally right behind the airport in one of the hardest hit areas of sanford that night. I was 9. The tornado missed my house and my neighbors on each side but devastated the rest of my street. I've seen some crazy things since with hurricanes, but nothing like what I saw the next day walking out of my front door. The feeling of absolute helplessness I will never forget. Good job on the video!
I was 6 and my family had just bought the house we moved into in Geneva just on the other side of the river. I remember going with my dad late at night and the next day to go check on all his buddies in Sanford. He soon found out that his life long friend Steve Malloy and his 2 children didn't make it through the night. I can remember going to one of his friend's houses and climbing on a pile of what was a house then realizing i was spinning the tire on an upside down RV buried underneath. At the time, myself and my brother didn't really understand how devastating this was. I just remember my dad and his friends crying and us sitting there looking at his house that was completely turned inside out. His friend Steve lived near Lake Jesup and at then end of S. Sanford Ave there is a memorial plaque at the boat ramp/ park which they dedicated to Steve, Travis, and Sarah.
@@brockbeckman8898 I love geneva. Are you talking about lake Harney woods neighborhood? I work in there now lol. My family owns a building moving company so they have tons of big machinery. They canceled their jobs for weeks to help cleaned up. My dad grew up on the same street right behind the house I grew up in. He was really impacted by it with seeing the place he had always called home leveled and his friends that lost their lives. That name, Steve Malloy sounds so familiar.
I remember that day very well. I was camping at a rainbow gathering in Ocala National Forest. The sky and winds were crazy all day you could feel something big was brewing. Before it hit it gave the most amazing lightning display for at least an hour before. When it finally hit it was the scariest storm I've ever been in. Our tent got shredded. I haven't experienced anything like it since.
I know about this outbreak. Twister Ride It Out at Universal Studios Florida was due to open in March but was delayed after this it opened in May. Talk about irony. So sad. Great synopsis it was interesting learning more about it.
My favorite ride too! I remember going on it and laughing hysterically as my mom
screamed at the top of her lungs. But noooo, it got replaced by Jimmy freaking “Duck”face Fallon’s ride.
I lived in Saint Cloud during that time. I remember waking up in the middle of the night to wild howling, non-stop thunder and lightning. I did go back to sleep but little did I know about the disastrous event that was unfolding that night.
My mom also went back to sleep after my brother woke her up, she thought it was just a really bad thunderstorm.
I was around 6 when this happened and I remember it clearly, sleeping next to my mom as she was reading a book, I woke up to my mom looking out the window stating that it’s not raining anymore but there’s a loud train noise. The next morning we walked down Simpson road Kissimmee and it was very apocalyptic. We got lucky.
I lived on Simpson Road in the Country Crossing subdivision. I was 16 at the time, and my family also walked down Simpson Road to the Ponderosa RV Park to survey the damage.
I was 4 and sleeping next to my mom also. We were living in BVL. My brother woke up in a panic because the winds from the tornado were banging the blinds on his window. He woke my mom up and she looked outside, thought it was a bad thunderstorm, and went back to sleep.
I was living in the Morningside mobile home community and had just arrived home from work. I was working until late night in Lake Buena Vista and the manager decided to let us go home early. It was a breezy, humid, warm night. I usually take 192 but I decided to take the shortcut and pay the toll through Osceola Parkway. The movie Twister came to mind when I felt the mobile home shake, hail, horizontal strong winds, the sound of a runaway train coming, and sudden change in pressure because my ears popped. I was seeing it all the our living room window and wondering if this was a tornado. Five mobile homes disappear down the cul-de-sac. I felt it was inappropriate to take photos of the damage. Thirteen lives where lost in that community.
My route included Morningside trailer park and the FHP stopped me from entering. When I asked the officer, why? He said, "We are still searching for bodies." 😓
I remember the nearly constant emergency warning alerts breaking into radio through the winter, usually on Friday or Saturday nights. I don’t remember if there were any weekends like that after this one. A couple months later the tornadoes were replaced in news coverage by wildfires in Florida. 1998 was a rough year,
Yes it was. I have the same memories. That winter was so stormy almost every weekend. I remember many Friday and Saturday nights running to my parent’s room. And glad to know I’m not the only one who remembers the wild fires of 1998.
I remember Osceola County getting hit with these tornadoes, but I never knew other local areas were affected. Lastly, I was going to school when the wildfires hit Volusia County, I remember driving back and forth during the summer session from Orlando to Daytona twice a week and seeing the fires along I-4 while driving back home at night.
I was in Maitland at the time of this incident. I recall being awoken in the night by the severe weather, with constant severe- to extreme precip and constant tornado warnings, warning expired, warning cancelled, another tornato warning, etc. The windows were illuminated with constant flashes of lightning. Eventually, I fell asleep and then in the morning awoke to hear the news.
Exactly 52 weeks, 364 days later, the corresponding Sunday night in February, 1999 I was awoken under the same conditions and heard severe weather outside, along with tornado warnings being issued and cancelled and expiring. This time I was petrified in my bed imagining it would be a repeat of 1998, but in the morning there was no news of destruction or loss of life.
This brings back memories. I remember being in a bar in Orlando watching the weather coverage. Does anyone have recollection on what hours this occurred?
It was in the late evening, 10pm-2am range
Watch the video? He clearly breaks it all down. I mean come on... This is just plain silly.
I had no idea that this occurred. I’m a transplant to Kissimmee, and I had to go back and look at the path, which seems to have passed four miles north of where my folks currently live. Although my family and I have experience with nighttime tornadoes, having lived in Middle Tennessee for most of my life, the fact is that there just seems to be less warning time for the storms I’ve seen in Florida. Where I grew up, we were on alert for storm systems that rolled across the US and made their way to my area, whereas in FL things seem to develop more spontaneously over the course of a day or so.
great video sir, yes this is one forgotten tornado outbreak some people now living in Florida never even heard about my sister lived in Kissimmee at that time fortunately the tornado missed her area by just a 1/2 mile, I was living in jarrell tx the year before in that massive 1997 F5 Jarrell Tornado. Yet lucky again was I was only 1 mile away from the path of this monster and happen to get a glimpse of it on my camcorder. I will never forget what I saw that day in may of 97
Great video, very detailed!
I remember this night well, I was 12 at the time and we lived in Wekiva Springs (Longwood). Before sunset, I recall while my mom was fueling up at the station at SR436 and Wekiva Springs Rd I noted the air was very warm and moist yet very windy. It was like nothing I'd experienced before hence why I remembered it so well. That night we watched Finian's Rainbow on a rented VHS so we missed many of the warnings and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, we were awakened by the severity of the storm and my mom pulled her car into the garage since my dad was away on business. Thankfully the tornadoes spared our area, passing to our south and east, but it was still a very wild night. Numerous years later I experienced that same unique moist wind while visiting family in central IL for Thanksgiving. I left a day early due to it, I had a very strong feeling about it. The next day was the famous Washington, IL tornado.
Wow that's incredible you were close to significant tornadoes on two separate occasions! That warm moist wind coming from the south is the low level jet transporting moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, its a common ingredient in severe weather setups and especially tornado outbreaks.
Excellent Narration and images! You do a good job of being interesting without making light of the tragedy. I would suggest the Jarrell "Dead Mam Walking" tornado, from around this time, the El Reno mega-tornado that cost several chaser and resident their lives, or one of the many tornado outbreaks that have occurred. Another topic that could be interesting is tornados striking cities / urban areas, as their is a myth that urban areas are safe from tornado damage.
I would love to hear this guy's voice on the Jarrell one. Sounds scary just thinking about it.
@@metallicoustic6733 Be prepared if you watch the Jarrell documentary. Out of all of the tornado docs I have seen that one has had the most impact on me. It’s just gruesome.
@@bdjoh011 totally. The way it just sat on that neighborhood and turned everything into dust is chilling. The skinned cattle comes to mind as well. Straight out of a fantasy or horror story. This guy's voice is perfect to tell the tale.
My mom lived only 1/2 mile from the path going through bvl Kissimmee. I drove out to her that morning as phone lines were down. It was a horrific sight at the Ponderosa RV. My heart goes out to all those families.
I was a senior in high school that year and lived in Longwood, but went to school at Lake Mary, that was the most eerie day I could remember that night and the chaos and the aftermath afterwards…no one knew what hit them…
R.i.p to the 42 people that were killed and the hundreds injured in this absolute tragedy
I lived in Florida from 1992 to 1995 in Jacksonville and the weather was wild. Thunderstorms every afternoon in the summer. Although I didn't experience any tornadoes while I was there. We did see a water spout when we were at the beach 1 day. The problem with Florida is there's so many mobile home parks, and to me, the structure's don't seem to be very well built. Our apartment building was garbage. If a tornado ever hit that it would have totally demolished it. I have experienced a few tornadoes in Connecticut. I remember the one I believe it was in 1978 in Windsor Locks. I didn't live in the area at the time. I lived South of Hartford and I did experience a Tornado in Wolcott Connecticut in 1996 I believe it started at the high school In Waterbury and went through Wolcott. It downed tons of trees and ripped roofs off houses. A huge tree almost squashed my car, but missed it by a few feet. That was pretty scary, not knowing what was going on. Because people don't expect tornadoes in Connecticut. And there was a day in 2018 several tornadoes touched down in Connecticut. Many towns were hit hard. I remember debris being piled up on the side of the roads for weeks. Connecticut doesn't get a lot of tornadoes and they really had a hard time managing the whole situation as far as clean app goes.
Actually the Windsor Locks CT tornado occurred in October 3 1979 and it was rated a F4
I remember this night I was 9 years old, the tornado just missed our home but I remember hearing the destruction around us, will never forget!
The tornado missed my home too, I was only 4 years old
I’m from central Florida & remember this day VERY WELL! We’re used to hurricanes & tropical storms however believe it or not tornados are very rare here. Thank you for telling the story of a natural disaster that destroyed & took many many lives.
I will never forget that night. I was around 10 years old and I lived in Fort Pierce, Florida (about 90 or so miles south and southeast of the areas these tornados hit) and the weather had also been getting pretty bad down in our town as well and we were up all night watching The Weather Channel and watching the news about everything happening. That night me and my grandma got into our bathtub several times when it got real bad out. I remember when I went back to school my school was doing a fundraiser type event where they were collecting canned goods and such from students to send to those effected by these tornados.
I lived through that event in Kissimmee. I have PTSD of storms now. I’ll never forget it.
Technically, it's Florida's "*Night of the Twisters*"
I lived in Deltona, FL at the time. I remember that night vividly. I was about 15 years old at the time. Scariest night of my life. Recently relived a bit of that fear with the storms that passed through Missouri on Monday, April 1, 2024.
This was very well put together. Thank you for putting this together.
I love the effort and detail in this video - adding photo context and newspapers etc really add to the understanding and immersion. Thankyou!
I take 92 to get to Kissimmee , and when it’s storming it looks beautiful but also one of the scariest things at the same time cause you see clouds that look like forming tornadoes but also it’s just farmland so you have a good view of the storms that come through. Eerie and surreal
I was just born when that tornado hit. I think it gave me a permanent fear of tornadoes that I didn’t know I had until later on in life.
Many of us remember this, and many of us were there. I personally was in the middle of it, on duty at the time. The worst part was being on the back side of it, after driving through the line responding to Winter Garden, knowing it was heading toward my family. I called my wife, told her what was coming and for them to find the best place in the house to hide. We lived in BVL in Kissimmee. Thankfully our home was spared, but a quarter of a mile south of us was devastated as seen in this video. My daughters were students at Cypress Springs Elementary.
Seeing all the places near my home town get destroyed was really sad to me.
My father and stepmother took me , my brother and sister , to Orlando for vacation . We stayed near Kissimmee in a hotel - I remember being 14 years old , and driving by the mobile home park the next day and it was gutting to see the destruction . I seem to recall a small baby being found in a tree alive and well , that made the news that morning . Universal shut down twister “rightfully so” in memory of the victims that night . Being from New York , I had never experienced anything like it .
OMG, it's rare that you see actual Supercell spawned tornados in central and south Florida, while it's even rarer you see video documentary of such an event. Good stuff!
That night was absolutely terrifying. Changed my family forever.
I remember this night like it was yesterday. I was 5 years old. My parents still live in Lakeside Estates where it hit. My mother woke us up rushing us to the bathroom as it roared outside just turning and missing our neighborhood and hitting the one across. My brother was like can I go back to bed not realizing how serious this was. My dad seemed so calm but now that I’m a parent I can imagine his fear. Many of my friends and my sisters friends lost their homes. I remember all the damage after. Scariest night ever.
I was 4 and living in BVL. My mom, brother, and I were asleep. My brother woke up in a panic because the winds from the tornado was banging the blinds on his window really hard. He woke my mom up and she looked out the window but she thought it was a really bad thunderstorm and went back to sleep. The RV park that was destroyed was 3 miles from our house.
My wife used to live in BVL when this happened. Her story is terrifying, and I'm glad her and her family made it thru safe.
I saw this tornado live as it happened. I was 16 and lived in the Country Crossing subdivision on Simpson Road, close to the Ponderoa RV Park and Lakeside. I am a light sleeper and woke up to howling winds and cracking thunder. Looked outside my window and saw this beast - it was a wedge. My first thought was to warn my family, so I banged on my parents' bedroom door yelling that we should leave. My mother angrily replied "go back to sleep." The morning came and sure enough we saw the carnage at the Ponderosa RV Park.
I can’t even imagine laying eyes on this thing. It must have been terrifying. Especially considering no photographs of it exist.
@@CeltonHenderson I could only see it during lightning strikes. Also, I remembered the wind was blowing towards the tornado, so I wonder if my street experienced the rear-inflow jet.
@@realanalysis42 It depends on your position relative to the tornado. If it was moving towards you, that was just inflow, if you were behind it at the time and it was moving away, that was RFD/ Rear inflow jet. You mentioned that it looked like a wedge, could you describe it more? No photographs of it exist so I'm genuinely curious as to what it looked like.
one of the largest hit Sanford that night killing 13 of my friends and neighbors. it destroyed our property and miles more of homes and farmland, it was the worst night of my life, I have a sleeve tattoo dedicated to to first thing I saw when It was over and I
opened my eyes. I was 10 years old.
PS. I wrote this before watching the video. this is incredible. my memory was pretty spot on, im 35 now. Watching the map, the yellow line is a couple hundred yards off, but still this is an amazing job.
Thanks, and yeah the NWS tracks and reports I had to go off of are not the most accurate things in the world. They are much better for modern tornadoes, I did the best I could with what I had. Thanks for sharing!
@@CeltonHenderson I think this is absolutely amazing, you did such a good job and I thought it was incredibly accurate. I was just randomly researching that night and you had posted this video like a couple days prior. great job
I was living in Tampa at that time and I recall during that afternoon, the towering Cu that were going up were tilted to the NE, winds were strong out of the SE and the dew points felt extra sticky for Feb. It had that 'spring time in Oklahoma feel in the air. Or in other words, tornado weather.
Yeah that classic feeling the air has when the thermodynamics and kinematics are favorable for tornadoes, its unmistakable.
I lived in ocoee Florida and winter garden tornado hit a house we just moved out of and my dad was renting out. The storm went right over my house it was intense lightning and the wind was crazy. I will never forget it. And this is what got me into tornados. I have learned alot
Nice breakdown of the event Celton.
I was 4 when the tornado hit and living in BVL. Me, my mom, and older brother were asleep. We had no idea a tornado had touched down and was in the area. My brother woke up to the blinds banging on the window from the tornado winds. He woke my mom up but she thought it was just a bad thunderstorm and went back to sleep. I was fast asleep beside her. The tornado luckily skipped my neighborhood but demolished a trailer park 3 miles from me. A lot of residents were killed there.
Nice work! The synopsis is great!
I loved the information about this outbreak I even wrote an essay about the outbreak 3 months ago. Can you do more tornado outbreak content about Florida?
Yes, I will likely be covering more. I actually live here lol.
It's rather crazy because 3 and a 1/2 weeks later I went to Disney World with 20 other classmates of mine and we did not notice any difference whatsoever prior to the tornadoes.
It just missed the parks by a few miles.
We were there the same time. Noticed a few trees down when we drove up from Miami
Would you be willing to make a video on the F4 tornado that ripped through Harrison, OH on June 2nd, 1990? Had that tornado shifted 250 yards west, my grandparents would’ve been hit directly. Instead, just 1 branch had fallen onto the back yard, nowhere near the house.
What?? That’s crazy! That was the day I was born 😂
My aunt Ginny was friends with a man who got to killed in the tornado that took 13 lives . He was 40 years old and his wife and child survived . He often came into my aunt's dry cleaning business and talked with her . She said the lightning looked like a strobe light . That particular tornado passed only a mile from her double wide . I remember the news saying a baby was rescued from a tree . This outbreak was not as violent or deadly as the Carolinas Outbreak of March 28 1984 which I experienced .
Missed your videos! Great work as always.
I remember this day. I lived in Polk City at the time in Polk County. My mom and I were outside and it was mid day. The clouds looks dark and like it was about to rain. My mom looked at the clouds and said that they looked like a tornado was going to form so we went inside. I didn't believe her and so that night we went to bed only to wake to my aunt calling us from Kissimmee telling us about the horror that happened during the night. We drove up and picked her up to drive around her area. I've never seen anything like it. Everything was trashed. Her duplex was not affected but she did say that she felt like her windows were going to explode. I remember a baby was missing, a man was thrown across the highway I think, there was a mattress in a tree, a trailer park was destroyed yet some were not touched. It looked like tornados just bounced around from one home to the next skipping one but not the other. My dad worked at Disney at the time and he said his boss lived in an apartment and he said the tornado sounded like a train.
Nice job - this clearly takes a lot of effort to put this whole thing together
Get this man a Netflix Docuseries. This was amazing
Brother!!! Killed it!!! I don’t have the tech to do FL outbreak analyses, would love to see more! I’d help promote it too. Some interesting ones if you didn’t know already, 2007 Groundhog Day, 1966 tornado family, April 15th 1958.
All on my radar to do in the future, the problem always is the further you go back, the less you have to work with.
there is so little that scares me BUT… that damn weather alert sound, tornado warning… chills everytime. immediate panic
Same
I was still in high school and lived in Southchase which was only 4-5 miles from the area it hit in Kissimmee. All I remember the next day at school this was the topic pretty much all day. A decent amount of kids in my school were affected by this catastrophic event.
Florida winters are typically nice but when you have warm days prior to a strong cold front approaching, you have to be prepared for a good chance of some nasty weather.
Limey here. I visited relatives in Florida in 2014. I went to Fort Myers. I never realized tornadoes would touch Florida. I recall the thunder being terrifying.
Florida actually has more tornadoes per mile than any other state. However they are mostly very weak “spin ups” that happen during summer thunderstorms or hurricanes. The only time we really get more serious tornadoes like these is during winter. The cold air comes behind the cold fronts which brings a lot of instability and they can really get nasty.
But we’ve never had an F5 here, and I believe only 1 or 2 F4s.
I’d say probably 80% are F0, 10% F1, 7% F2, and less than 3% are F3 or greater. They are very rare.
Tornadoes are an absolute nightmare in Florida. The strong ones typically happen at night, and they're almost always rain wrapped to make things even worse. You can't see them but you definitely hear them, and feel them if you're close. I was a few miles north in Ocala when this happened, and found myself in Deland during the 2007 outbreak. Just have great luck I guess, and that's sarcasm because I wasn't trying to be anywhere near either of these outbreaks. With no visual reference you typically don't know until they're maybe a few hundred meters from you
I've seen 3 tornadoes in Florida since I started chasing them. 2 of the 3 were at night. We don't get significant tornado outbreaks here that often but when they do happen they are usually nocturnal menaces.
I remember this day. My mom picked me and my brother up from school early that day. It was so scary because i remember mom trying to keep us calm on the way home and she was seeing the black clouds and knew it was going to be bad later on. We got lucky it went south of us but we got a lot of big hail.
I was 9 years old living in Kissimmee (bvl for those who know). I woke up late night hearing the crazy rain, thunder, and wind. I went and told my mom there was a tornado. She sent me back to bed angrily for waking her up. Our pizza shop (Lou's) which was less than 5 min away, was completely leveled. I lived around the corner from the Ponderosa mobile home park.
Remember it every February. Back then we lived 2 miles away from ponderosa rv park, but knew nothing of the twisters until the next morning. We figured it was a typical severe thunderstorm that night. The weather has been weird earlier that day, having spent that day at the local Kissimmee fair & carnival.
I lived 3 miles from the Ponderosa trailer park, I was only 4 years old. My brother woke up in a panic because the high winds from the tornado was banging the blinds very hard against the window. He woke my mom up but she thought it was just a really bad thunderstorm and went to sleep.
@@93seronica still live in Kissimmee?
@@ew1745I live in Orlando now
My dad was friends with the 53 year old man killed in his RV in Sanford. I was 11. I remember he was a good guy. RIP Don Vincent.
I remember the late 90s as being one heck of a time for severe storms. I remember lots of tornado sirens and lots of death tolls in the news. When the 99 Bridge Creek tornado happened a lot of people didnt think tornados could produce such destructive deadly winds. I call it an era of re-awakening for storms in the USA.
Born and raised in Sanford FL. I was alive for this...
great video man! I love the editing and music choices as well.
Thanks for this informational video! I had no idea Kissimmee was subjected to tornadoes, the things you learn....
This was a bad night. My friend lost her father in Sanford and we were cleaning up for weeks. Unfortunately the Orlando Magic had a big game that night and local tv hadn’t wanted to interrupt the game with thunderstorm warnings for later in the evening so instead they just had a little crawl at the bottom of the screen a few times. Most went to bed without leaving a radio on for warning.
I’m surprised there was only 1 image of a tornado that night because I’d heard that it was captured by cameras at the 417 toll booth north of Lake Jesup. I know the workers there saw it cross the road.
That’s so messed up
I lived in Daytona when this happened. I was standing outside watching the storms. The sky was green. It was very eerie.
Great video. So happy to see another upload!
my grandma was in the heart of this outbreak and she described it as "absolute hell on earth"
Thank you for this information! I just completed storm spotter training for Lake County, FL, this week-this tornado outbreak was mentioned. The photo used in this video was one shown in class. I am from northwest Indiana and retired to FL 3 years ago. I learned at this training that most tornadoes here are at night. I am also used to having tornado sirens, so much to my surprise when the first tornado warning popped up when I first moved here, there were no sirens. Cell phones will give you a weather warning now, but if it is at night and you are sleeping, you might not hear the alert. It is very important to have a NOAA weather radio for night time!
No worries and thanks for comment! I actually live in central Florida and have chased a few tornadoes here, mostly at night..
I was a kid living in Clermont at the time. I remember having to go into the hallway of our home in the “middle of the night”.
Dude you're excellent at narrating, especially horror, you should narrate some horror stories!
The eeriest night of my life.
I remember Osceola County getting hit with these tornadoes, but I never knew other local areas were affected. Lastly, I was going to school in Daytona when the wildfires hit Volusia County, I remember driving back and forth during the summer session from Orlando to Daytona twice a week and seeing the fires along I-4 while driving back home at night.
I live in Jacksonville, FL and barely remember this event. Unbelievable!
I was 7 years old when that happened, lived in the Rosemont area of Orlando, literally sandwiched between the Winter Garden-Ocoee and Kissimmee tornadoes. Only now, I'm just realizing how close the former was to there, and how bad it could have been if the track was even two miles south of where it was.
I survived this night in Sanford. I will never forget the sound.
I was driving home from work that night on turnpike by Kissimmee and I drove either right in front or right behind it . I just remember how scared I was had zero idea what was going on until next morning.
I was 14 at the time, two days before my 15th birthday and I remember this night. I couldn't sleep because of all the lightning and I could just sense that something was coming. One of the supercells passed over my area that eventually produced a tornado in longwood.
My sister and I went to watch a movie at celebration that night. We were heading back home just after midnight, and it was raining so hard. All of a sudden, the rain stopped and and eerie silence was the first sign something was not right. It was so eerie, my sister suddenly pushed the breaks in the middle of the road. Hail started to fall all over us, and then we saw it coming. My sister tried to push the gas, but that monster was already pulling us . Don't know how, but somehow we manage to escape. I truly believe the only reason we are alive today is because we stopped. If my sister had continued driving, we certainly have died that night. We were just a half mile away from the shopping center ( pubix)
My hometown got grazed that night. To date it's the only experience I've had with a powerful tornado. It happened in the middle of the night. The sound like that of an off sounding train will forever haunt me. In the morning we found out that it hit the fish camp. A man ironically named "Lucky" was the only fatality iirc.
Unfortunately the tragedies that year were far from over. That summer (1998) we had the worst wildfire season to date.
It took me a few minutes into the video to figure out how and why I didn't remember it at all. I was in the Marine Corps at the time and we were deployed to Puerto Rico and the smaller island of Vieages back when it was still used for that. It's now more of a tourist area and most of that training is just done at Camp Lejeune now. But when we had returned back to NC several of the guys from our unit were from the areas hit and had no idea what happened until we got back a few days later. I'm not sure if it was from this same system but the Navy ships we were on did change course because of a massive storm in the Atlantic. The waves were actually hitting the flight deck at times and that ship was definitely rocking quite a bit. I feel bad for those that lost their lives, the injured and those that lost everything really. I still to this day can't understand the amount of trailer parks in Florida with how often it's hit by hurricanes. At least the warning systems are far better since then but warnings or not isn't going to save a trailer.
Rip I remember that
Was just a kid when that happened but I remember that was so crazy