If you could have state-of-the-art sat / radar coverage

[andyhb]

12–13 April 1917 sequence (Rocksprings, TX, F5)— Record 2 days consecutive each with ≥ 4 F4-F5: 05/26 (5+) & 05/27 (4) Record AL 24h # tornadoes with ≥ 5 deaths each: 5, 05/27-05/28 (until 03/21-03/22/1932) 2^nd-deadliest KY tornado: 65 deaths in-state

 

The Rocksprings, TX tornado struck on April 12th, 1927, and there was a major outbreak on May 7th to 9th in the Plains/Ozarks.

 

The 1917 outbreak sequence is the one that resulted in the the Mattoon/Charleston, IL tornado (possible tornado family, although it was likely one path through these two towns since they are essentially right next to each other) along with the KY tornado you mentioned and a slew of other violent/killer tornadoes.

[Ensō]

Man, it's impossible to narrow down. I suppose if I had to pick, I'd go with one of the following: 1884 Enigma Outbreak, 1925 Tri-State tornado outbreak, 1935 Labor Day Hurricane or 1974 Super Outbreak. The 1920/1965 Palm Sunday outbreaks, too. It'd be pretty fascinating to see the 1984 Ivanovo, Russia outbreak as well.

 

The Enigma and Tri-State outbreaks, in particular, would be incredible to see. Many people forget (quite understandably) that there were a number of other very violent, destructive tornadoes during the Tri-State outbreak further southeast in the warm sector. Like the F4 in Sumner Co, Tennessee, for instance.

 

 

 

 

Also, regarding the Tri-State tornado, the appearance appears to have changed a few times. There were satellite vortices at least twice, and in a few instances the descriptions suggest a multivortex appearance. The "low, roiling mass of cloud" description is the one that still sticks, and many witnesses did describe it as such, but many other reports do mention descriptions of a clear funnel that sounds like a classic maxi-wedge. I think Joplin is probably a good proxy for the rain-wrapped stage, and almost any massive wedge (Hackleburg and Smithville immediately come to mind) would probably make for a good stand-in during its wedge stage. It's a shame there aren't any photos.

[Torchageddon]

I'm going to guess it may have looked somewhat like the Joplin tornado but perhaps not quite as rain-wrapped, maybe something like the TCL-BMX or Phil Campbell tornadoes at times on 4/27.

Interesting ideas, too bad that image banner you had with those tornadoes was removed so I can't compare on the fly  . A witness description that sticks to me of the Tri-State was "it appeared to be a low, rolling, black fog moving along the lands" or something similar to that.

 

Every time I think I've seen it all from the Joplin tornado, another crazy video comes along!

Yeah, same here! That is an incredibly spooky video and I can't remember a video showing that type of darkness descend like that. Pitch black in the late afternoon followed by chaos.

 

*cut*

 

Also, regarding the Tri-State tornado, the appearance appears to have changed a few times. There were satellite vortices at least twice, and in a few instances the descriptions suggest a multivortex appearance. The "low, roiling mass of cloud" description is the one that still sticks, and many witnesses did describe it as such, but many other reports do mention descriptions of a clear funnel that sounds like a classic maxi-wedge. I think Joplin is probably a good proxy for the rain-wrapped stage, and almost any massive wedge (Hackleburg and Smithville immediately come to mind) would probably make for a good stand-in during its wedge stage. It's a shame there aren't any photos.

The low, rolling mass of cloud sounds like the description I read and posted above, maybe the same. One day I hope to find out that an old image of the Tri-State tornado was found somewhere hid away for ages.

[billgwx]

Being NYC/Long Island-centric, I'd choose just about any Mid Atlantic/Northeast hurricane landfall or near hit--especially Carol 1954 (was she really still fully tropical at landfall?), Esther 1961 (what I call the "weenie suicide" hurricane since she turned away prior to landfall but still brought 100-mph gusts to Montauk), 1938 (true hurricane or the gorilla grandfather of Sandy?), and 1893/1821 (NYC landfalls).

 

As for winter storms and nor'easters, I'd like to see the January 19-20 1978 storm and the PD I storm (February 1979) to see how well the combination of today's modeling and our improved understanding of the science and model biases would have helped us predict their impacts. (From prior experience with forecasting snowstorms with the rain/snow line perilously close I think we would have nailed the former.) The Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 would be very interesting too--also the Columbus Day 1976 nor'easter which brought pretty strong winds to my northern NJ home at the time.