El Reno Remembered

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When it comes to violent and memorable tornadoes, Oklahoma takes the cake. I have seen some memorials to those killed in memorable tornadoes (such as December 2021 in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, or the 1974 Super Outbreak fatalities in Brandenburg, Kentucky and Xenia, Ohio) because they were just that: memorable. Their dates don’t have to be explained to anyone in the area impacted by the storm. Oklahoma has had so many tornadoes of significant magnitude that it’s hard to pin down one or two in national consciousness. For the people in El Reno, though, one stands out: May 31, 2013. What made El Reno so memorable was that it came on the heels of the May 20, 2013 Moore, Oklahoma tornado…which took an eerily similar path of destruction as the May 3, 1999 tornado did. People were still cleaning up from the May 20 tornado when May 31 came along. In terms of destruction, it paled in comparison to what the Moore tornado had done days before ($40 million versus $2 billion). The loss of life was, thankfully, much smaller (eight in El Reno, compared to 26 in Moore, several of which occurred in a school that took a direct hit from the twister). But El Reno is in the record books. In my previous discussion I included a photo of TOTO, a device used to measure wind speed, pressure, and other things in or near a tornado. The devices that were impacted by the El Reno tornado showed it to be two and a half miles wide, the largest ever recorded. Additionally, the winds measured were 313 MPH, which is the second-highest wind speed ever recorded. The photos show the part of the human toll. Three scientists — Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras (Tim’s son), and Carl Young — were killed when the tornado did something that tornadoes “don’t” do: changed directions suddenly. Additionally, The Weather Channel’s Mike Bettes had his car tossed by the tornado (but he was uninjured). Understand: these weren’t a couple of BillyBob JohnRay fellows who’d been sitting on their porches drinking beers and decided to go look at the tornado. They were all experienced scientists, and they were equipped with weather radar and other tracking equipment. In 9,999,999 other cases the tornado would NOT have made a sudden turn to the south. That time, however, it did. The Samarases and Young were the first deaths ever from professional storm chasing. As you can see in the bottom right photo, there have been numerous mementos left at the memorial where they died, including anemometers, license plates, and even a weather radio. (So I’m not the only weather nerd who goes out and looks at things like this. ) Their deaths were tragic, but they didn’t die in vain: because of their work, scientists know more now about tornadoes than they did ten years ago. The memorial is perfectly fitting to the men who gave their lives to help keep us all safe. PHOTO COLLAGE: (Top left) Wide view of the memorial (Top right) Close-up look at the memorial to the three men killed (Bottom left) Description of TWISTEX, the tornado information gathering service that Tim Samaras formed (Bottom right) Hats, anemometers, a weather radio, and flags are among the items left by mourners at the site where the three died