TORNADO PHOTOS AND INFORMATION PAGE
Tornadoes from 1884-1979
By the Kansas Tornado Chasers Page
All photos are property of the original Photographer and they have exclusive rights to the photos.

Anderson County, Ks. April 23, 1884. Photo taken by A. A. Adams.
A. A. Adams operated a gallery in Westphalia, took this photo of the storm from a downtown street corner as the tornado passed just northwest of the town. He later sold many copies of the image around the country.
The same tornado lifted David Metheney from his wagon as he drove home. The twister carried Metheney a distance before dropping him and causing severe internal injuries. His wagon and full load of lumber were destroyed; the horses were carried about sixty feet.
Credit to Kansas State Historical Society.

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    Marquette 100 years - Remembered - 2005
One of Kansas' earliest recorded F5 tornadoes tore through Marquette, located in the northwest corner of McPherson County, at 11 p.m. Monday night, May 8, 1905.  I have confirmed this information from a talk given by Marquette historian Allen Lindfors at a meeting of the McPherson County Historical Society.  The photos are frame captures from a video I shot that same day.

Another Story of the May, 1905 tornado that struck McPherson County - A neighbor that we farmed for when I was young grew up just west of Marquette, KS and was probably around 10 years old in 1905. The tornado struck at night and they walked in to Marquette just after it passed. On the way they found a man lying face down in a muddy field and turned him over to identify him. Leaving him for dead they proceeded on to town. To their surprise the man came walking in to town a while later. In retrospect they probably saved his life.   Story also goes that the same tornado sucked out a good amount of water from the Smoky Hill River at Marquette and dumped it on the town.
By Greg Nelson

Norton, Ks. June 25, 1909. Photo taken by Will Keller.
Will Keller made sure his family was safe in the cellar before he took another look at the approaching storm. He saw three tornadoes hanging overhead; Keller caught an eyeful that day . His experience on June 22, 1928, provides one of the best eyewitness accounts of a Kansas tornado.
"Everything was still as death," Keller said. "There was a strong gassy odor, and I could hardly breathe." A screaming and hissing sound emanated from funnel's tail. A circular opening at the center appeared to be as large as one hundred feet in diameter. He estimated the height at one-half mile. "The walls of this opening were rotating clouds," Keller recalled, "and the hole was brilliantly lighted with the constant flashes of lightning which zigzagged from side to side."
Credit to Kansas State Historical Society.

  Abilene, Ks.  May 14, 1913. Credit to Wichita State University Special Collections and University Archives

Hardtner,Ks. June 2, 1929. Photo © 1997 Kansas State Historical Society.
A classic cyclone was captured on film (left) as it struck the town of Hardtner. Folks remembered a light shower that fell mid-afternoon on Sunday, June 2, 1929. The mist made way for a giant tornado that twisted a combine beyond recognition and burned the beards off wheat.
Credit to Kansas State Historical Society.

Udall, KS May 25, 1955.
The Udall Memorial to the persons killed during the 1955 tornado. 
The memorial is located in the park about 2 blocks from the museum.

            Photos donated by Marshal Wayne Keely.  In the first photo on the top left you will see the storm shelter that Mr. Keelys took shelter in.  In the second and fifth photo from the top, you  will see the frame of a 1952 Chevy pickup in a tree.  This photo was taken in the front yard of where Mr. Keelys lives.   For a complete historical look at the tornado click here

Spring Hill, Ks. May 20th, 1957.  Photo by Rev. Robert Alexander. For more information on this tornado CLICK HERE.

Updated link's

Topeka, Ks. June 8, 1966

I witnessed and photographed the Sep 25, 1973 tornado that struck Salina and Clay Center. Our farm is about 20 miles SW of Salina by Falun, KS. I was in high school. Weird weather day for late September - very humid and thunderstorms occured in the early afternoon with lots of close lightning and moving fast. On the way home from school (3:30 PM) there was a supercell out by Kanopolis Lake that was really booming, but moved to our north and was gone. Around 5:30 Dad and I were outside working when we started hearing a something that sounded like a commercial jet at hight altitude, but the sound did not pass. We then turned on the TV and saw Cecil Carrier come on live and report a tornado warning for Rice and McPherson counties so we got in the truck and drove west of the farm (to get away from all of our cedar trees) and get a better look. To my amazement we watched a very active multi-vortex tornado about 8-10 miles SW of our position. We then ran back to the house for the camera and got some nice photos. It missed our farm, but flattened the neighbors farm 1 mile South. Only thing left standing out of a dozen buildings was the house and it had to be torn down. This tornado is documented as a long lived F2/F3 storm (100 miles or so on the ground). It started down by Pratt in the early afternoon and made it almost to the Nebraska border. I remember it knocked over an elevator silo in Greenleaf and I think killed someone that it fell on. It sure seemed like F3/F4 to me when it was in open country - see photo.

One last note - when we were helping clean up the neighbor's farm a couple of days later we (about 20-30 farmers) witnessed two cold core funnels that hung about 1-2 miles west of us. We later found out they were harmless, but unnerved most of us to say the least.

I forgot to mention that the '73 storms demolished the Sundowner East mobile home park in Salina and also did heavy damage to the city of Clay Center. I think the reason for low fatalities and injuries was that it was on the ground for so long that people had plenty of warning.
Greg Nelson

 
Pomona Lake, Ks 1978.  Photo by George T. Sayers, P. O. Box 283, Pomona, Ks. 66076