There is a myth that tornadoes do not strike big cities. You don’t have to look very far back through the historic record to debunk this myth.
The truth is that cities are a small part of the entire land area of the United States, so a disproportionately small share of all tornadoes actually affect the core area of cities. Here are some tornadoes that have struck cities in the past few years:
Brooklyn – Aug 8 2007: On this date two years ago, a rare F2 tornado skipped along a nine mile path across parts of the New York City Metro area. The tornado first touched down on Staten Island about 6:22 in the morning. The tornado crossed the Verzanno Narrows and touched down in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn.
The storm caused massive problems for the morning commute in the Big Apple, with trees down on train lines and subways knocked out of commission. It was the highest rated tornado tornado ever to strike New York City and the first tornado to hit Brooklyn since 1889.
Miami – May 12 1997: This F1 tornado did not do a lot of damage, but the dramatic photos of the milky white funnel against the backdrop of the city skyline got a lot of attention. The tornado touched down in the Silver Bluff Estates area, crossed bridges over to Key Biscayne and did some damage in Miami Beach.
Nashville – April 16 1998: Just after a week after the Oak Grove F5 which struck west of Birmingham, skies darkened over Nashville. As television cameras watched, power flashes exploded on the screen. One person in Nashville died as an F3 tornado moved across the downtown area just before rush hour. Three hundred buildings including the state capitol were damaged. One hundred people were injured.
Salt Lake City: Tornadoes are rare events in Utah, but an F2 tornado struck the downtown area of Salt Lake City during the lunch hour on August 11, 1999, leaving one person dead and over 100 injured. The fatality was the first tornado death in the recorded history of Utah. The tornado, caused extensive damage to a convention tent adjacent to the Salt Palace, a Wyndham hotel and the Delta Center.
Fort Worth – March 28 2000: An F3 tornado struck the Fort Worth, TX metropolitan area directly just after the evening rush hour. The 35 story Bank One building suffered heavy damage, with most of its windows being blown out. Glass from several downtown buildings showered down on the streets below. Two people were killed by this tornado, including a heroic man who helped several people to shelter before he was killed.
Atlanta – March 14 2008: A tornado struck downtown Atlanta while the SEC Basketball Tournament was being played. The tornado damaged the Georgia Dome, blew windows out of downtown hotels and collapsed several buildings. Several homes and buildings were destroyed in the historic Cabbagetown district. One person was killed.
– Bill Murray
[email protected]
Follow my weather history tweets on Twitter. I am wxhistorian.
