Grew up a mile NW of Jordan...left in 1960. Haven't wanted to see this before now and am crying my eyes out. I can't believe our old farm is still there. I saw stills of it in the eighties at a Jordan School Reunion, but it never seemed real until I saw the results of an F5 last spring in NW AL. So very glad everyone in Jordan survived. School, Church, elevator....all gone but memories and people alive in my heart.
My family lived in Jordan and left there in 1964 when I was 6 years old. My father was the high school principal, and we lived behind the school. I know the house was lost, but I can't remember about the school. Our friends, Ron and Juanita Lincoln, were still in the area.
I watched the Jordan tornado level my sister and her husbands house that day...as we approached my brother in law ..who stood on top of his leveled 2 story house and the first words out of his mouth were " sorry the house is such a mess, but we weren't expecting company"
The Jordan tornado took my family's home just after my first birthday. Luckily none of us were home at the time. I've been told when we drove back into town, they needed to count the driveways to figure out which property was ours because of the extent of the devastation. This was the first time I've seen video of it. Thanks for posting!
My brother and his family lost their home in the Jordan tornado, and I arrived there just a few minutes after it hit. It was a shocking site. The professor, from Chicago, did make the statement to my brother that it was the most destructive he had ever seen. He said he estimated the winds speeds at 500-700 miles per hour. It was enough to move a V-8 Dodge engine with the transmission attached across the field by about 100 yards. They were sitting on the ground, and were picked up and moved.
@patchesallover Would that "professor from Chicago" be Dr. Ted Fujita? The man behind the Fujita Scale? I remember reading that he thought that the Jordan tornado was a particularly potent one.
@cbehr91 Yes, it was. I was not sure how to spell his name, so I didn't try. I still shiver when I remember seeing that monster as I drove from Ames. A large, dark green wall cloud that probably went up to 60-70 ft., with the gray funnel attached at the top. I wish I could have got a picture, but my concern was to try to get to my brother and his family. They were fine, They saw it coming and left.
@patchesallover ....we may have crossed paths...my sister, her husband, his father and brother inlaw and one other person took shelter in a basement fireplace that day..i too got there minutes after the tornado had destroyed Jordan IA. It was horrific to watch and to see the aftermath...we were heading there to visit watching the tornado. I recall my dad telling me from hwy 30 he thought that it missed them seeing the coop still there...as we got closer we noticed it was half there.
@patchesallover 1. According to Gene Moore at chaseday.com, a tornado farther south in Iowa from this outbreak actually lifted a VEHICLE SIZED OBJECT and tossed it out the side of the cloud tower from a height of 15,000 FEET! (Gulp) 2. Heard of a family at a party near Jordan that saw the distant storm and panicked, thinking the T was over their farm. Driving home they found it missed their farm by 1 mile, but the twister was so big it still looked from a distance that it went right over it.
I remember that day. 'Twas a Sunday, if I'm not mistaken. I was 19 years old, and have lived in Lemont all my life (so far). I had just acquired the soundtrack LP from the movie "The Wizard of Oz" and was listening to it, when I fell asleep. I dreamt there was a tornado in Lemont. When I woke up, guess what my mom told me . . .
This is the only footage I've ever seen of the Jordan tornado. It's one of my favorites. I've seen a couple of still photographs, but only that 40 seconds or so of footage. If you guys happen to know where any more footage is, I'd be most grateful...
I watched this system for 2 hours while I drove home from sking at twin Lakes. A friend was much closer coming back from wall lake. His boat was thrown off its trailer as they rounded the curve just west of Jorden that day. The man that captured this film was very brave that day
Sorry guys but I can´t see why those tornadoes the voice said they where anticyclonic ones... Really. I live in Argentina and we customary see how anticyclonic tornadoes should look like. And these obviously not. Debris came left to right, and here (southern hemisphere) they fly backwards as the whole funnel.
@bernybae1971 He actually said both tornadoes were accompanied with anti-cyclonic tornadoes. In other words it was the satellite tornadoes that were anti-cyclonic, not the main tornado of each storm. At the 0:26 mark of the video, you can see the anti-cyclonic tornado with the main cyclonic tornado off to the right in the backdrop. The one with the condensation funnel cloud not visibly touching the ground even though it is on the ground, the dust is spinning anti-cyclonic.
I remember seeing the Lemont clip the following day on WBBM, the local CBS news broadcast in Chicago. A person at a back yard barbecue took the film...
I live in lemont
ARCHSTANTON87 1 month ago
@bearcatcontractor Ron and Juanita are my Grandparents :)
angeltherapy2011 4 months ago
Grew up a mile NW of Jordan...left in 1960. Haven't wanted to see this before now and am crying my eyes out. I can't believe our old farm is still there. I saw stills of it in the eighties at a Jordan School Reunion, but it never seemed real until I saw the results of an F5 last spring in NW AL. So very glad everyone in Jordan survived. School, Church, elevator....all gone but memories and people alive in my heart.
littleskinnydancer 4 months ago
Damn you nature for being so scary! 0_0
vfIskullangel 6 months ago
My family lived in Jordan and left there in 1964 when I was 6 years old. My father was the high school principal, and we lived behind the school. I know the house was lost, but I can't remember about the school. Our friends, Ron and Juanita Lincoln, were still in the area.
bearcatcontractor 10 months ago
The lemont tornado was a bitch of a tornado. F4, I believe.
BackOff414 11 months ago
i cant see the anticyclonic tornado in the Lemont sequence, even in the zoom in
AJTwister97 11 months ago
My Aunt and Uncle lived right off McCarthy Rd near State St much of teh damage was east of there
parkman35 11 months ago
I watched the Jordan tornado level my sister and her husbands house that day...as we approached my brother in law ..who stood on top of his leveled 2 story house and the first words out of his mouth were " sorry the house is such a mess, but we weren't expecting company"
youknowaclown 1 year ago
I remember driving through the aftermath of the 1991 Lemont Illinois Tornando, there was debris all over the place
kurtespo 1 year ago
The Jordan tornado took my family's home just after my first birthday. Luckily none of us were home at the time. I've been told when we drove back into town, they needed to count the driveways to figure out which property was ours because of the extent of the devastation. This was the first time I've seen video of it. Thanks for posting!
karadeanne 1 year ago
My brother and his family lost their home in the Jordan tornado, and I arrived there just a few minutes after it hit. It was a shocking site. The professor, from Chicago, did make the statement to my brother that it was the most destructive he had ever seen. He said he estimated the winds speeds at 500-700 miles per hour. It was enough to move a V-8 Dodge engine with the transmission attached across the field by about 100 yards. They were sitting on the ground, and were picked up and moved.
patchesallover 1 year ago
@patchesallover Would that "professor from Chicago" be Dr. Ted Fujita? The man behind the Fujita Scale? I remember reading that he thought that the Jordan tornado was a particularly potent one.
cbehr91 1 year ago
@cbehr91 Yes, it was. I was not sure how to spell his name, so I didn't try. I still shiver when I remember seeing that monster as I drove from Ames. A large, dark green wall cloud that probably went up to 60-70 ft., with the gray funnel attached at the top. I wish I could have got a picture, but my concern was to try to get to my brother and his family. They were fine, They saw it coming and left.
patchesallover 1 year ago
@patchesallover ....we may have crossed paths...my sister, her husband, his father and brother inlaw and one other person took shelter in a basement fireplace that day..i too got there minutes after the tornado had destroyed Jordan IA. It was horrific to watch and to see the aftermath...we were heading there to visit watching the tornado. I recall my dad telling me from hwy 30 he thought that it missed them seeing the coop still there...as we got closer we noticed it was half there.
youknowaclown 1 year ago
@patchesallover 500-700mph? Thats sub sonic speeds.
vfIskullangel 8 months ago
@patchesallover 1. According to Gene Moore at chaseday.com, a tornado farther south in Iowa from this outbreak actually lifted a VEHICLE SIZED OBJECT and tossed it out the side of the cloud tower from a height of 15,000 FEET! (Gulp) 2. Heard of a family at a party near Jordan that saw the distant storm and panicked, thinking the T was over their farm. Driving home they found it missed their farm by 1 mile, but the twister was so big it still looked from a distance that it went right over it.
ATamandua 1 month ago
I live in Central Iowa, and if you just ask someone older chances are they have a story about the Jordan tornado if they live in the region.
skyclaw441 1 year ago
I remember that day. 'Twas a Sunday, if I'm not mistaken. I was 19 years old, and have lived in Lemont all my life (so far). I had just acquired the soundtrack LP from the movie "The Wizard of Oz" and was listening to it, when I fell asleep. I dreamt there was a tornado in Lemont. When I woke up, guess what my mom told me . . .
riqzster 1 year ago
This is the only footage I've ever seen of the Jordan tornado. It's one of my favorites. I've seen a couple of still photographs, but only that 40 seconds or so of footage. If you guys happen to know where any more footage is, I'd be most grateful...
LetsDoIt4Johnny1 1 year ago
Fujita said that the Jordan tornado was one of the most intense he's ever studied; that's eerie as hell!
zeroair4 1 year ago
I watched this system for 2 hours while I drove home from sking at twin Lakes. A friend was much closer coming back from wall lake. His boat was thrown off its trailer as they rounded the curve just west of Jorden that day. The man that captured this film was very brave that day
wildhog1777 1 year ago
WOW. This is freaky!.
vfIskullangel 1 year ago
Sorry guys but I can´t see why those tornadoes the voice said they where anticyclonic ones... Really. I live in Argentina and we customary see how anticyclonic tornadoes should look like. And these obviously not. Debris came left to right, and here (southern hemisphere) they fly backwards as the whole funnel.
bernybae1971 2 years ago
@bernybae1971 He actually said both tornadoes were accompanied with anti-cyclonic tornadoes. In other words it was the satellite tornadoes that were anti-cyclonic, not the main tornado of each storm. At the 0:26 mark of the video, you can see the anti-cyclonic tornado with the main cyclonic tornado off to the right in the backdrop. The one with the condensation funnel cloud not visibly touching the ground even though it is on the ground, the dust is spinning anti-cyclonic.
Torn80cj 2 years ago
LTOWN bitches
ILLINOISLOYALTY1 2 years ago 3
I have been to Jordan, went to ISU in Ames. The F5 at Jordan missed Ames by about 4-5 miles.
Ted Fujita said in an interview that the worst damage he had every personally investigated was the Jordan Iowa tornado.
Zoomer30 2 years ago
the one in lemont went through my backyard! and my cousins. but are homes werent touched.
emilyhomie 2 years ago
The Jordan Tornado was the Last F5 Tornado in Iowa before Parkersburg
madmanulin11 2 years ago
I remember seeing the Lemont clip the following day on WBBM, the local CBS news broadcast in Chicago. A person at a back yard barbecue took the film...
parkman35 3 years ago
when was this?
reillyisawesomeex3 3 years ago
Read the description.
cbehr91 3 years ago
@cbehr91 Is this a clip of a longer program? If so, what's it called and is it on YouTube?
LetsDoIt4Johnny1 1 year ago
@LetsDoIt4Johnny1 Yes, this is part of a longer program. It is on Tornado Video Classics I from 1992. It is two hours long and it is not on YouTube.
cbehr91 1 year ago