Dr. John Scala takes a look back at the Plainfield, Illinois tornado

[Water4Jeremiah]

This video...is amazing.

This is real history and I just looked up what a WSR-74 is. I really hope someone can tell me more history about them or what's being used today? Also he said back in 2001 they were using ADRAD? Is that right? Thanks.

[simongarth2001]

I was in this tornado, and saw it ripping through a line of trees, as it came into our sub division. It had no shape....just a dark, evil green mass of destruction. Def not your typical wedge shape.

[ILovestorms]

@simongarth2001 Was it a multiple vortex? How could it have no shape? Was it rain-wrapped and invisible? You say it had green, which is typical because of the hail shaft.

[GOODY61]

Torando size has nothing to do with the rating.

[ILovestorms]

@GOODY61 No, not necessarily. In a lot of cases it does, but not always. It annoys me when storm chasers say when they are looking at mile-wide twister, "probably an EF4 or an EF5!!", especially on those programs that occasionally air on the discovery channel. Wrong. The EF-Scale rating is not determined when the tornado is in progress. It's not determined until the tornado is over and the National Weather Service sends a survey team out to study the damage.

[GOODY61]

@ILovestorms " Damage is surveyed and given a rating by NWS" , I agree with you there but you are contradicting yourself in your post. NEVER does the size of the tornado indicate the rating or the level of damage it produces. The F5 Canadian tornado within the last 5 years or so was less than 50 yards wide at points in it's cycle but was still producing maximum catastrophic damage. On the reverse side , it is very possible a half-mile or mile wedge may only produce EF1 or EF2 damage.

[GOODY61]

con'td A larger tornado will likely produce a wider damage path than a smaller tornado but in no way can you say a larger tornado will produce damage which is more severe than a smaller tornado. In fact I have read that as tornadoes start to rope out the circulation and wind speed can increase briefly and produce even more catastraphic damage than it had previously.

[AllenFamilyChannel]

Why did they use that radar in 2001??

[ILovestorms]

@AllenFamilyChannel They didn't. He is showing the radar they used in 1990, at the time of the Plainfield tornado.

[talladegajunkie1439]

It's a tornado like this that's gonna destroy Chicago one day... Not a matter of If, its a matter of when.

[ILovestorms]

@talladegajunkie1439 I don't think you can 100% guarantee that.

[talladegajunkie1439]

@ILovestorms, but look at the times it's just missed Chicago... It's gonna happen some day.

[GOODY61]

@talladegajunkie1439 Actually it's a low percentage that Chicago or any other area will be destroyed by a tornado. Think about it.

[talladegajunkie1439]

@GOODY61, But look at it... Birmingham earlier this year... Atlanta in '08... Chicago has just a good a chance as any. Just because a city is big, that dont mean that it wont get hit.

[GOODY61]

@talladegajunkie1439 Chicago has just as much chance as many other cities but your post stated it's not a matter of "if" Chicago will be destroyed by a EF5 tornado but "when". Statistics do not support this in fact they would support that Chicago is very unlikely to ever be hit by an EF5.

[sebenste]

That wasn't the Plainfield tornado at the beginning...it was the FIRST tornado that it produced, right near the state police outpost just west of Pecatonica.

[ILovestorms]

@sebenste I would imagine the Plainfield tornado was probably a wedge, since it was an F5.

[sebenste]

@ILovestorms : Given that it was completely rain-wrapped, we'll never know, but the most important things were that 1) you couldn't see it, and 2) It was a monster with 200-300 MPH winds..

[michaeljeaneca]

@ILovestorms

[EVANLINDEN16]

I lived in Plainfielf 15 years after the tornado, right by the High School where the center of the tornado was. It's totally different now, new neighborhoods and everything. It's real scary whay happened this day. My uncles friend was one of the people who had a fatality from the storm and one of our old neighbors friends died.

[iCPNetworks]

Finally, I can find footage of the tornado itself. The only reason lives were lost, and there was no footage, is because our meteorologist hesitated.

[STORMCSR]

@iCPNetworks Actually, I have seen other video of this particualar tornado. The video that I saw of this tornado must have been right after the tornado touched down, because the tornado was VERY skinny in the video that I saw on the local news that very same night.

[GOODY61]

@iCPNetworks Can't blame it on a meteorologist because most of the population is generally passive regarding storm warnings and think it will not happen to them. That is the biggest reason for high fatalities. Many of the deaths in Joplin were this way because people generally were going about their business as if there no worries in the world.

[ILovestorms]

Dr. Scala said that there were 26 deaths, but, actually there were 29 fatalities.

[GojiGuru]

I lived in Joliet, right next to Plainfield, at the time of this tornado. It came through my subdivision and destroyed everything behind my house, including my garage; everything from my house onward toward the other side was unharmed.

I recall my next door neighbor had a full bathroom set (tub, toliet, sink, etc) land neatly in his front yard.

[metsfreak4life]

Wow, Tuesday aug. 28, 2001. That's the day I first discovered the weather channel. I loved the content they had at the time, non-hyped and informative (as shown through this coverage of the 1990 tornado). Since then, however, TWC has gone downhill, with the people hyping up the storms and making you panic--not good at all!!!

[MysticArksRevenge]

@metsfreak4life I agree. NBC Universal should've never bought them out.

[Intelliguy]

Wow, I had no idea they still used those radars with the airport codes at that time!

[ILovestorms]

What time? In 2001? That's what they used in 1990. Those radars were long gone by 2001.

[MysticArksRevenge]

@ILovestorms I wish they didn't get rid of those. I liked those old WSR-74's.

[PinkSilverWolf]

dam i think May 3rd 1999 EF5 Beat that one

but i don't think there has been EF5 Tornado in Aug since that one.what happen about 1990 In Northern IL was a Strong Spring time set up and everything was just right for that monster . Very rare in indeed

[ILovestorms]

Both this tornado and the May 3, 1999 tornado were F5s. The EF-scale was not implemented until February 1, 2001.

[VercittiGangBoy]

2007

[ILovestorms]

Right, I meant 2007.

[PinkSilverWolf]

i know

i just so used to Say EF