Greensburg Kansas EF-5 Tornado 

This tornado was so massive that it took up atleast 12 of the 16 pixels in total this video had

This is my hometown, everything I knew and loved was in the middle of that monster. My mom, dad and brother rode it out in the front seat of a 78 ford truck..truck was destroyed and I honestly dont know how they lived thru it. 2 of the 12 victims were in the same block as where my parents lived :( it was such a great community, but not one of us greensburg residents are the same after that night...

Man that is scary driving when you can barely see anything especially during a tornado. You guys are sure brave.

that looks like my house after my sister and her husband Frank come over from Florida with their six kids- THANKS A LOT FRANK!!!

Very well put. It's easy to watch tornado videos on here and comment, but I couldn't imagine living in one of these small Texas, Oklahoma, or Kansas towns when a big wedge barrels down on you in the dark. I guess it's just a part of life for those folks.

I was watching the radar online of this monster before and during when it hit this town. The radar was scary looking.

That is One....Huge....Tornado!

There's nothing more scary than a tornado at night time. Gives me chills just thinking about it. Especially one THAT powerful!

I grew up near Greensburg. This video is chilling, to say the least.

"Spooky" video. Thanks for posting.

This tornado I learned destroyed 39 blocks before it died out

It was at 1 mile going through the town of Greensburgh. Other reports had it at 1 3/4 mile in the fields outside.

It also had wind speeds in excess of 205mph.

to go after that monster in the DARK.....what can I say? You guys have balls of steel.

An EF5 tornado is bad enough, but the eeriness of the thing barreling down the countryside at night towards a small Kansas town makes it even more horrific.

We had a tornado a Few days ago in Mooresville and it was a Roaring storm. Was Rated EF1

These guys are out of their mind.

its getting bigger Tim!!!

Bigest tornado i hhave ever seen in my life

Holy crap 2:25 thats huge......

I live in Kansas and no doubt this was a very devastating tornado. I am no engineer or meteorlogist but have been fascinated with tornado damage since May 4, 2003. When I look at the damage in Greensburg I can tell that the tornado was at least an EF4. It was the high school that pushed it into the EF5 category. No problem at all either this tornado was probably one of the most widespread/catastrophic tornadoes in US history but not quite as strong as some.

I just drove thru greensburg mar 8th and you can still see the aftermath of destruction. Ouch!

@mandkins I KNOW! I was in a Kansas outbreak of tornadoes i was scared! Luckily, it was a funnel cloud when it was north of my home i was holding myrabbit scared to death!

It was at one point 1.9miles wide and 1.7 miles wide in Greensburg. Stormchaser told me it took 5-10 minutes to get through town. Borderline EF4/EF5 damage at its most intense in my opinion. Yeah typically F5/EF5 tornadoes are really large but some have been as narrow as 100yds wide. The Parkersburg, Iowa EF5 tornado was around 1/2 to 3/4mile wide and it took about a minute to get through that town. It was just as erased. It was 1.2 miles wide at one point but only doing EF2/EF3 damage.

@kdolo100 Technically the Greensburg was the first EF5 on the new scale, but omany other tornadoes were rated F5 on the old scale before then. Also, BradleyWWEFan is wrong. The Greensburg tornado was the only U.S. tornado to be rated EF5 in 2007.

2 things: 1 there is no EF6 category 2: you can't judge strength from size.

I can definiterly understand the adrenaline rush but chasing tornadoes AT NIGHT is completely insane.

I know of Lanny Dean. I am a spotter/mobile spotter/chaser. In my part of the world there really is no problem with people out chasing. Our highways are not choked with chasers like you would find out in the plains. Our terrain is also very hilly so you really have to drive around and position yourself correctly in order to see what's happening. A tornado could be right over the hill and you may never see it. What good is a spotter then? I've had plenty training. I will have more as well :)

There was a theoretical scale that did go up to F12, but when it was put into effect only went up to F5.

@seanwilson7 how many tornadoes have u chased in ur life?

it may not be the strongest tornado on record but this is the biggest i've seen and the fact it hit at night makes it much worse.

@bull864 I hate to tell you but I read that these two guys died chasing the tornado that formed to the Northeast of Greensburg right after this one went through it. In fact, their website no longer exists.

did the sound cut out for anyone else?

Alderaan: Greensburg, Kansas on Star Wars Day (May 4), 2007 Death Star: World's First EF-5 Tornado

I live 100 miles north in Hays. I remember this night well. I was glued to the TV the whole time. Were you headed south or north on 183?

why does the sound keep going in and out?

on that Night - I was coming up I-35 northbound from Wichita to K.C. pulling a set of Triple - Trailers - Semi - and it was all I could do to stay on the road - Lightining was really badd too. Really Windy - south of Eldorado that night - Truckers on the CB had said it wiped out the entire town !

Even on the old Scale, the version put into use only goes up to F5. There would be no way of determining F6 damage.

I think they meant 70-80 where they were. Although, the Greensburg tornado winds were around 205mph, not 320mph.

My God,i cant imagine what it must have been to go through this thing.I was caught in an f-2 in middle school on a school bus,and it was the most horryfing thing ive witnessed.

I remember that night I live in Larned Kansas a few counties away and i couldn't take myself away from the tv

Wow check out that multiple vortex 1:28 - 1:46. At nearly 2 miles wide this was truly one of the biggest ever.

I didn't mean to be so 'direct' but i had the misfortune of being in G'burg that day. I am bovine veterinarian and we were on call that day. I work outside; I never saw it, it just happened to us. One minute we were eating, the next minute sirens two minutes later, we were banged up. it was upon us. Where I was there was about 2 minutes of in excess of 140 winds, sustained. I just didn't see how it could be said 'no ef4 evidence'. No big deal and i appreciate your tenacity. peace

Think it was 2.4 miles wide during its peak. That measurement at the base as well, the actual body was much larger.

I think the tornado would have been a lot worse if it happened during daylight hours. It might have been better to hit at night since it lost a lot of the daytime heating.

@darkkiler99 One of the girls I ran with in college is from G-burg and she said it was the scariest night of her life. The town was nearly completely leveled, but they've since rebuilt a lot of it. There are still some bare foundations and you can definitely tell the town experienced something major, but things are looking a lot better now.

5.40 Looked eerily like the1999 OK city Moore/Bridge creek F5 twister at full tilt!

OMG! Just watching this scares me! LOL You guys ARE brave!

When it comes to fatalities the 1999 Chickasha/Moore/Midwest City tornado was definately worse. HOWEVER, this one was larger when it comes to width as this one was around 2 miles across at it's peak. The '99 tornado never got over a mile wide.

that is what i want to see sometime, although i really wouldn't like to be that close and not that close to one of those though.

Pause right at 7:54 this thing was massive!

Was there two other vortices to the right of it or am I crazy

That is One......Big......Tornado!!!!

I came here to listen for the Kansas accent, in the Army at Fort Jackson, they had guys from Kansas had a neat accent. Miss the guys... 1968..

That isn't a Big Tornado. That is One Huge Tornado. This one had a diameter of 1.7 miles.

This has got to be every chaser's worst nightmare...A rain wrapped EF5 tornado at night. I would have gotten out of there.

is that Tim Samaras in the background

@dragonridley Thanks for setting the record straight.

I don't think that the storm chasers knew that the mile-wide wedge tornado was going to, or already had hit the town. Also, it's really hard to judge the distance & motion of a tornado from just a few moments when it's back-lit by lightning.

This was a monster as was the Joplin one and others of last year. Like you guys I love storms but I don't wish any harm to anyone .

I've always wanted to go on a chase with experts. THESE GUYS are who I want to go with!!

Damn that thing was almost as big as the joplin tornado.

Just watched a show about this tornado last night on Storm Stories. The entire town was literally wiped out. Incredibly sad. What's even sadder is that they didn't receive the publicity that say New Orleans received simply because the people in Greensburg weren't cussing and yelling at the news cameras and demanding free debit cards. Thanks for sharing this vid though. What time was this? Was it nighttime or was it just this dark because of the tornado?

One tornado in Nebraska was 2.5 miles wide.

how scary would it be if you saw a tornado in the distance at night like this and then in the next flash of lightning the tornado was right in your face? i think i would poop my pants.

I watched a documentary about that tornado, and the tornado wasn't going to hit Greensburg, the tornado actually changed direction

@juelz6187 i was about 30 miles from greensburg when it hit i was at church camp and ou pastorwas so scared cuz he lives in maxwell a.k.a. about 20 miles from greensburg! we were all so scared!

"WHAT A TORNADO!!!!111!!!!!!!!" 0:30

Btw, I live in Indiana. I actually did see some actual chasers last March 2 when we had a big tornado outbreak here. Some people I know were killed in an EF-4 that day. They didn't make the right decision and tried to ride it out in a mobile home. The entire family was killed. Mom, Dad, and 3 kids. If I have to put myself in danger to save other lives I will. Although I hope I don't have to! But I must drive around in order to get a good picture of what is happening.

I damn sure wouldn't be driving in its direction if I couldn't see it.

" Look at how big it is Tim ! " lol

awesome

wow that a big one

I love how close reed timmer is able to get to these storms. He is the coolest storm chaser ever

@mandkins I'm so sorry...

Just think if this was in the middle of the day how many great photos there would be It would probably be good for science if this was in the middle of the day

Many of us do have some level of medical training, and we also carry equipment and medical supplies to assist as much as possible should tragedy strike. Those who don't will often still stop and volunteer to help. I've never met a chaser who was anything other than shaken up by witnessing a tornado strike a town. Severe weather is our passion and this is how we pursue it. There are a few idiots, but most are compassionate people. We're certainly not trying to profit on the suffering of others.

@Sooner121 just looking at the graphs of thet outbrake is just frightning .i have studdied all the data thay had collected i like to chase and report to noaa but i would have to seay that day would probly make me change my mind heres just one link of the damage paths and associated f scale reedings

A friend of mine I ran into years after this life changer event happened and destroyed my home and scattered all my friends and family to the four winds tight family unit community was destroyed we all lost a lot 9 died. Well anyway my friend tells me he was walking southward down on MAIN STREET second block in on the left when the tornado hit he said he woke up out in a field 1 mile north and east-ish In muddy corn row and walked back and just started helping people. The water tower flooded the town instantly basements and people floating. Car tied like a perfect ribbon 🎀 around a tree Arial maps of our town was so unrecognizable I couldn't find friends loved ones land plots. Or anything familiar I was not there, but if I had taken my youngest brother home to Greensburg KS to live with his friend I would have.. my uncle ran to the basement and the first thing he heard was the water just getting sucked out from the pipes in the house like a jet. When that was over he went back outside and noticed he was in the eye because a tiny tornado was darting straight at him fast he barely made it to safety. I think what the police and mostly National Guard did to local residents and property owners was very wrong. The National Guard banned entry to everyone and than looted the town stealing firearms from owners who had found theirs off their properties I catch you sob doing that in my new home town we gonna wolverine the fko out of you. You taught us civilians well and your conduct towards pre-serving Constitutional Rights deserve a short fire-fight standoff You are a stigma on many people's past. Watch what your doing next time just back off residents that obviously are defending their land. Or you could just kill us all than loot us. ,🖕. FEMA you're a joke I'd have stolen your campers for your strong arm tactic on rental prices. And whoever thought they owned Greensburg and decided to go green with the town yeah you city council ect.. stupid. All of you for bankruptcy Over a socialist green fantasy. The place looks like a fake commie town with hideous building designs. Now those buildings will just fly away since you put for sails on the eaves. Fuk wizard of Oz the movie is an insult to un-suspecting viewers and people who's ever lost a child to kidnapping, to those in debt, ect.. just in case these green glass color scheme of the art museum are supposed to resemble the city of OZ. Pedos made that movie and they're rubbing their evil ways back in our faces and laughing because noone catching on to the subliminality laughing at sex cattles 8 and younger they have victimized in child sacrifice rituals at the Bohemian Grove location in N. California. For few hundred years MEMBERS securely involved with the SKULL& BONES prolific satanic cult secret society Luciferian safe zone harboring child trafficking and child spirit cooking's rituals and in the Bohemian Grove heavily protected compound is a used sacrificial alter which is a 40 ft granite stone owl at the base of it is an alter where CNN news Anderson Cooper's real mother sacrificed her only older son age 4-5? burned him alive to start the initiation for their secret society mostly involved with every corrupt egdes of our Country and The World. From Hollywood to celebrities to Presidential elects it's the Skull n Bones society that controls absolutely all of it and loves threatening Trump and trying to assassinate Trump several times and took major roles in wars and recessions child sex rings. Hip hop industry, NFL mlb, nba, Hollywood, the borders, the human trafficking,. School shooting, yep.

incredbile. its so incredible. this is a monster and was on evening. when i think, did many people have saw tv and then came this monster, thats be scared. i hope the best for the people and for the town. greez cluberaner93

Actually the Greensburg tornado happened on May 4, 2007. I said I got fascinated with tornado damage in 2003. Size has nothing to do with a tornadoes intensity. The EF5 level damage was minimal at best and even a famous structural engineer agreed with me on that. He said borderline EF4/EF5. It was not as strong as the Hesston, Kansas tornado in 1990 or Andover, Kansas in 1991. People like you need to go educate yourself on tornadoes.

It wasn't wrapped. It just occurred under cover of darkness.

I know lol I thought about looking that up after I posted the comment, 320 seemed way too high haha.

If you survived this storm you have total luck and should thank God big time! There was no escpaing this tornado. It was 1 1/2 miles wide, A wedge tornado(Which means that it is wider than it is high). And It had winds up to 200 mph! Also it was 9:0pm at night so it was a monster that nobody could see! There is no way you could have outran this one! God Bless all of those who died and survived!

Dude, you have to have balls of steel to do that!! Be careful and Godspeed!! Oh, and get some good video if you can!

I would loved see this during daytime tho I mean I rather not see it at all but would be insane during day time just over a open field

Because theyre slowing down the footage during lightning strikes and power flashes

@mr0loki0jr yeah i live around this area and tim was a police officer who lost his life that night...

Dude, maybe the video is a little bit dark but this storm all but erased Greensburg. One big mile wide path....less than a minute or two and the town was gone? Sounds pretty EF5 to me....

what time of day was it?

I think the one in moore O.K. 1999 was worse than this one. i read it was a little bigger and it had stronger winds.

I get it...they slowed the video down...duh!

The maximum width of the Greensburg tornado was 1.7 miles. Pretty easy to understand how it could completely obliterate 95% of the town.

Who needs an EF5 at night ? So sad

@joeyboi87 G-burg happened in 2007 and though it was an EF5, it was only the largest tornado in Kansas history as far as size, not as far as intense winds or destruction. Cubby is right, the Hesston and Andover-Wichita tornadoes were stronger in wind speed and damage. Ask any Kansas meteorologist. Yes, this was certainly the largest tornado, but not the strongest.

the power!

that is scary!

god dam 4 f5 tornados

1:31 Holy crap.

wow brave guys