The Greensburg Tornado: A Meteorological Breakdown 

The moment you cut yourself off with the "Tornado Warning" emergency screen and the subsequent display of flashes of that monster tornado truly freaked me the hell out. Brilliant, man.

Jeez. Those lightning flashes revealing the absolute size of that gigantic tornado gives me chills. Literally the definition of wedge.

As a truck driver, I have driven through Greensburg many times. I saw the damage firsthand and saw the recovery on subsequent trips. As you stated, the town has been completely rebuilt which is a living testament to their strength and resolve.

You have hit on the biggest weakness of the Fujita Scale. Unless a tornado passes through a populated area, there is much less damage left behind upon which to determine the intensity. The El Reno, Oklahoma tornado is a perfect example. While the winds in this monster were directly measured by a mobile Doppler radar at over 300 mph, the tornado was only rated as an EF3 because it mainly affected a sparsely populated area. I have absolutely no doubt that the El Reno tornado was an EF5, but the NWS has to be consistent or else the records of past tornado strengths will mean nothing. I have a firm belief that one day, the wind speeds of every tornado will be measured directly and will result in much more accurate records. The ratings of tornadoes using the F and EF scales will be called into question, and the two rating systems will be non comparable.

I visited Greensburg in mid-February for the first time. I’ve known about this tornado since it happened but to see the town itself with my own eyes was surreal. I ended up running into a local politician who gave us a tour of some of the public government buildings in the town and took us to a great diner. It was purely amazing hearing the stories of the people there, how tight-knit they are, and how involved everyone is in the community. Truly one of the most amazing towns I have ever visited.

One thing you don't mention is that the 15 minutes of immediate emergency warning was spent by neighbors with basements gathering in their basementless neighbors and many other such actions that cut the death toll a third.

He really dropped one of the best and most realistic tornado videos of all time and never came back

About a week after the storm my high school's 4H club shipped several busses of students over to help with the cleanup. we spent most of the day just wandering a field north of town pulling out whole sheets of metal roofing material and 2x4s that had buried themselves, and winding up what felt like miles of barbed wire. The thing that never gets talked about after the big ones is how windy it gets in town afterwards, when there's no trees or buildings to act as windbreaks.

My dad was driving through on his rig, when this happened, and heard the sirens and decided to seek shelter at the liquor store and that saved his life. The rig was dragged about a mile away. It was the most traumatic thing he'd experienced. He then decided to stop doing all 48 states and went local after that. We're fortunate to have him here with us still after that.

Top-tier storytelling and editing! You have earned yourself a new subscriber and deserve plenty more.

It's crazy to learn that even after producing the monster that was the Greensburg EF5, this storm went to create THREE more tornadoes that likely were of EF5 strength as well. If that is true then the Greensburg supercell must have really been some sort of super storm.

Dude made an insane video and just left.

That bone-chilling segment at 7:00 onwards where this maniac is approaching the enormous void in front of him. The droning voice of the EAS in the background, the muted driving footage, the low hum of that eerie synth. Even without the lightning, you can tell something is wrong from the way everything feels. Then you see that lightning light up the silhouette of something so vast that it shouldn't exist. The sky is swallowing the ground.

This was absolutely phenomenal. I'm a weather enthusiast and I have a specific interest in tornadoes, especially historical ones. I've watch probably just about every tornado documentary on RU-vid, and yours is the best by far. You are grossly underrated my friend, I will be sharing this around and definitely referring folks to your channel. Keep up the wonderful work!

I was sad to see that you only have two videos on your channel. If you made videos of this quality on a regular basis, you’d easily reach 1M subs. Your voice, delivery, editing, and ability to create an atmosphere are amazing. I would love to see your takes on other tornados like Mayfield, Xenia, Jarrel, etc.

You gotta do more of these on days like Joplin, Tuscaloosa and the recent Andover tornado great Vid and hope for many more! ❤️

Amazing editing, loved the little details such as the highlight on the CAPE profile and the glitchy cuts to the tornado.

The Greensburg tornado is such a fascinating and terrifying tornado. To have a tornado so huge hit a small town in the dead of night and basically wiping it off the map it’s like a horror movie. Not to mention to have a single cell create handful of epic monster tornadoes to follow in the coming hours is mind blowing. Just think of the coverage of this tornadic cell if it was during daylight? There were locations just to the northeast of Greensburg in Barton County that picked up 20+ inches of rain the coming days due to this system. It made Cheyenne Bottoms into a huge reservoir.

Wow, just wow, okay where do I begin. As someone who has worked on like, 3 amateur natural disaster documentaries myself (Only one of which I am actually proud of), this has just blown me away. The use of custom made footage is something I could only dream of creating myself. The video is well paced and the such. I feel like the only issue that I had was that some of the terminology wasn't as well explained as I would like it to be, but then again since Meteorology is going to be my major in college, It doesn't bother me all to much. Everything from the audio mixing to the script itself just gave me goosebumps. You have definitely outdone yourself, especially with such a small subscriber count. I feel like there could have been so many small more bits of information put into the video, but at that point I'd be nick picking and honestly, I can't sing this video's praises so much. Since it was just one small documentary, the only thing that could have been added is interviews with people who survived the tornado and NWS officials, but of course that is asking for a LOT. In terms of small creator documentaries or just videos in general, this is one of the best I've ever seen. Rock on my dude, I'll definitely try and implement some ideas from this video into a video on Jarrell when I get to work on that at some point. Nearly 15 years later, This storm's impact on meteorology will be known to the community for many years to come. Rock on my dude, you earned yourself a subscriber and I can't wait to see what else you have planned.

" Storm chasers" like Reed Timmer and Skip Talbot just to name a couple ( there are many more just as capable) are instrumental in providing warnings to give residents the precious minutes needed to get in a safe place and they have saved many , many lives. I want to thank all like them for putting themselves in danger to provide eyes on and in real time warnings that have saved so many and then they may be the first responders even capable of reaching hard hit areas. God bless them all. Thank you.

Absolutely incredible. Loved the informative storytelling and detailed analysis. Can't wait for more

I remember this day. The family was taking a trip to Wichita and we passed Greensburg early in the day and it was normal. On our way back we passed Greensburg again and it was like something out of a horror movie. The destruction was unreal, having to drive slowly past the town and seeing the damage was honestly terrifying

How this doesn't have more views I'll never know. Even though I was never affected by it, this tornado has always remained in the back of my mind ever since I first saw it on the show Storm Chasers when I was younger. It represents the truest worst-case scenario regarding tornadoes; a massive, extremely strong tornado shrouded by darkness headed straight for a town. This video only serves to cement that and I have to admit, having the tornado warning interrupt the video in the middle followed by dashcam footage of the tornado's silhouette shown only for seconds at a time by lightning, combined with the music, gave me goosebumps. That's the stuff nightmares are made of.

I vividly remember this. I was about 100 miles East and recall the lightning from that storm was some of the most intense I’ve ever seen in 50 years of experiencing Kansas weather. Greensburg was a pretty little town, with big shade trees and a little museum by the big hand dug well that housed an enormous Pallasite meteorite. It’s a neat town now and has been reborn, but it’s lost it’s quaint charm imo.

This was VERY entertaining, professionally worded, and well put together. Would really love to see more videos just like this for Joplin, May 3 99, etc

Incredible video! This has to be one of the scariest tornadoes in recent history. An EF-5 wedge tornado in the dead of night. Not something I’d want to mess with.

At 6:48…that shot where you see this monster….and then turned invisible again. That particular shot will always live rent free in my head. Beautiful, fascinating and terrifying.

Bro made one masterpiece then dipped, respect

The sudden cutoff to the EAS warning caught me off guard completely. Wasn't expecting what most call a #jumpscare in a vid like this one.

This tornado has always interested me the most. Probably because I was living in Wichita when it happened and we ran a canned food drive for the kids of Greensburg. This tornado came in the dead middle of the night, 1.8 miles wide. It swallowed the entire town. How fucking terrifying.

Great stuff, Gabe! Subbed for sure. Love the way you weaved a ton of info into the larger narrative without getting bogged down.

Thank you. Very professional. High Quality. I never feel joy from watching these storm videos but, I enjoy videos of this caliber (yours, Skip Talbot, Pecos Hank). (I will add more names as I can remember)

Excellent analysis and story telling. It's amazing how one storm can produce so many prolific tornadoes one right after another. A true testament to the conditions in place that night.

Such an underrated video! This is one, if not, the best tornado documentary I’ve ever seen!

This video deserves much more likes for the amount of views and the quality of this editing. Well done!

This editing style is absolute fire. I love how sophisticated and easy to follow it is. Hope you keep making videos!

Man, this was a great video! I went to binge-watch anything else you've made and I'm bummed there aint more. Cant wait to see what ya do in the future!

Wow, incredible breakdown and review of this. I'm really looking forward to more!

This is why greensburg is my fave tornado It’s the perfect definition on how a tornado is portrayed and preformed

This is one of the best tornado documentaries I’ve seen so far and I didn’t know much about this one in particular (but I did grow up watching some shows about the reconstruction of that little town) and the tornado emergency bit was particularly chilling. The footage showing that monster at night reminded me of the more recent tornado that destroyed parts of Kentucky, tornadoes at night are one of the things that scare me the most and I don’t live in an area where tornadoes happen often in general.

I keep coming back to this video. It's just so well done.

Bro dropped one of the best tornado videos of all time and then dipped

Dude the production of this video was absolutely top-notch! I would love to see more videos like this one for other well-known tornadoes.

Gotta say the cut to the emergency signal was very well done. gave me chills

Holy crap. This was beautiful. Very informative and well edited out. You got a new sub here!

that was one hell of a good video. Simple, clear, and instructive. I'm hyped to see your next works!!

incredible vid. I keep coming back to this one. So well done.

This is amazingly edited! The music and jump cuts make it so ominous. Accurately capturing that night.

The notion of driving blindly toward a massive EF-5 tornado on a pitch black highway, watching it get larger and larger with every lightning strike makes for some of the most nightmare-inducing footage attainable... and the 7:25 mark provides a near-perfect example of this. That is one terrifyingly riveting capture right there. This entire presentation was exceptionally well done. More severe weather and/or tornado channels could learn a lot from this video. Both extremely entertaining, as well as incredibly informative. Top-notch quality content, without a doubt. That being said, my sincere condolences to any and all of the people who were victimized by this monster. Thank you for sharing this with us, Gabe. I really hope to see more of these. Keep up the amazing work, my friend.

This was incredibly cool! Super awesome to have more high quality videos about the power of the atmosphere.

I see a bright future for your channel, everything about this video is phenomenal. I have to say the cut to the emergency broadcast is genuinely horrifying. PLEAE continue that

We need more meteorological breakdowns like this, this is an incredible video

Fantastic documentary! Your editing style adds to the depth of the presentation of this event tenfold. I would love to see a documentary on the Joplin tornado if you continue to do these documentaries!

This is unbelievably thorough yet pithy info making it completely watchable for laymen like myself. Thanks!

This is top notch work here, Gabe. Your writing was crisp and very informative while your delivery was comfortable to listen to and easy to follow. The editing was tight and followed the storyline, good use of nat sound. If you're not doing this professionally, you should be, IMHO.

You've earned your 900th subscriber in me today, very well done man! This video was very compelling and edited really well too

Thanks so much for this. It’s really interesting learning more about the meteorology behind this memorable tornado. I can’t believe it’s been 15 years.

I started stoem chasing back in 2002. I remember that evening well and the next day as well. I also remember chasing the storms in southwest Nebraska on March 28. I missed the big tornado in Grant, Nebraska by a few miles. Thanks for posting this documentary.

i come back to this and watch this all the time. amazing work.

This is incredible editing work. Bravo, I'm sure this took a long time to make and you did a superb job 👏

By far, the best informative tornado video I've seen!

This video is absolutely sick! Love the style and creation, and I can absolutely tell how long the editing process must have taken. Props to you man!

Well done! I really enjoyed this! Can’t wait to see what else you post.

This is very well done. As a meteorologist who formerly worked in the plains (Tulsa) I really appreciated the synoptic overview. Good job.

This was amazing! I instantly sub’ed to you and was sad it’s your only video! Super well done and thank you 💙

Great work on the edit, production and research. This thing was a monster.

great job man. the detail is insane. keep up the good work!

Love the video man! I’ve loved weather since I was a kid, but this one specific storm has always sent chills up my spine. I got into weather in like second grade, around the time this storm happened and I remember seeing pictures of that wedge and hearing about the satellite tornadoes and the other wedges from the same storm. It was and is so scary to think about yet so fascinating. No other storm gets me like the greensburg storm.

This is a top notch video. If you stay the course, this channel may very well become one of the best weather channels on RU-vid. Definitely subscribing.

Wonderful video, extremely well put together and the narration was top notch!

I visited Greensburg on a road trip around 1996 or so, saw the Big Well... Anyway, came back thru town with my wife in 2013... The difference from what I remember was core-shaking. That Mother Nature could erase the human footprint like that was unnerving and pure in its example before me.

All around really good video man! Thanks for posting.

Nighttime tornadoes are terrifying. To think a mile wide monster like that is completely invisible is completely insane. Being able to just with a lightning flash is both terrifying and fascinating at the same time.

Incredible. I've been waiting for tornado storytelling like this!

Dude, this is so bad ass. You deserve so much more attention

How in gods name are you not more popular?? This is top tier quality content :D

You really should consider uploading more content similar to this. Myself and many others loved this video, would love to see more content from you man

The way you stitched together the night time footage with the tornado warning was incredible and very eerie - I can't fathom what people experienced this night... holy.....

Subscribed ..love to listen to a knowledgeable person tell a story about something I do not understand, the forming of tornado like conditions and what prevents them from forming..good stuff 👍

This is so great!! I really hope you keep making content like this!!

Superb video on one of the most infamous storms to occur within the last 20 years. Hoping there's more to come!

Absolutely amazing work, please make more of these!!

well done! i've heard this story plenty of times, but you outdid them all. wonderful addition of the NWS warning. can't wait for more!

Bravo! That was an incredible documentary. I'm thoroughly impressed with your editing skills. I genuinely felt uneasy during the sequence where the car was approaching the lightning illuminated tornado. You earned my subscription, keep up the good work with whatever you end up doing.

Just watched this for a second time and it was still entertaining. Great video and I think I speak for everyone else that has seen that when I say I look forward to more!

Absolutely great presentation Gabe, as others have said, it's top-tier

Genuinely the best tornado documentary I’ve ever seen.

Greensburg tornado would always be the scariest one ever for me. The night time rural setup is a true nightmare scenario. All you get is only brief glimpses at the monster through a well placed lightning flash. The horror of it approaching must have been unbearable.

Really enjoyed this, and look forward to you hopefully producing more.

Amazed by your editing and storytelling skills!

Well done! I subscribed and look forward to viewing more of your uploads as you seem to put out quality work.

i really did not expect to see this is the first video on the channel. Super good video 🤘😎

Love the meteorological breakdown. I don't have a 100% understanding of how a tornado forms, but thanks to videos like this, I'm getting close.

Great job I love tornado docs and yours is up there! Please make more!

Wow, incredibly done. I cannot wait to see more videos like this.

Fantastic Job man. The storytelling in this is wonderful.

Excellent video, great editing. Subscribed to your channel! Looking forward to your future videos

Well edited,narrated. I like the low key,matter of fact delivery. The video is concise,not hyperbole,informative. Well done!

Loved this! Great work man, keep it up!

Great video, I love learning about tornadoes of past. And this one was one of strongest in history