Tornado Photos

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."

Small tornadoes formed and broke away from the rim of the vortex producing a hissing sound. The whirling tails writhed around the larger funnel. "I noticed the rotation of the great whirl was anti-clockwise," Keller said, "but some of the small twisters rotated clockwise."

Eyewitness accounts illustrate the inherent drama associated with the most violent wind storms. Tornadoes, most often linked to Kansas, actually occur most frequently in Oklahoma. The chance of being in a tornado or even seeing one is remote. Perhaps it's the rarity that makes tales of encounters so fascinating.

The Society is lucky to have in its collections a large number of twister photos, including what may be the earliest photograph of a tornado (center, right), captured on film on April 23, 1884, in Anderson County. Photographer A. A. Adams operated a gallery in Westphalia. He 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.

A classic cyclone was captured on film as it struck the town of Hardtner (bottom, left). 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.

Forty-four images of twisters are included in Kansas Tornado, a photographic exhibit available through the Kansas Traveling Exhibit Service, or KITES.

Kansas Tornado focuses on the extraordinary experiences of everyday Kansans and storms that have touched communities throughout the state.

Tornadoes depicted in the exhibit include those at Anthony, August 26, 1940; Emporia, June 8, 1974; Iola, February 28, 1918; Lawrence, April 13, 1911; Newton, May 1, 1930; Oakley, May 24, 1918; Oskaloosa, May 1, 1930; Topeka, June 8, 1966; Wellington, May 27, 1892; and Wichita-Andover, April 26, 1991.

Other collections related to tornadoes in Kansas include a Ballot Box and Street Signs from the Greensburg Tornado.

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