1951 Corn tornado
 | This article is an orphan, as no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles. (August 2026) |
 The tornado as it was going through Corn. | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Date | June 8, 1951 |
| F3 tornado | |
| on the Fujita scale | |
| Fujita Scale (NWS) | |
| Highest winds | >158 mph (254 km/h) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 0 (+1 indirect) |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Damage | $250,000 (1951 USD) |
| Areas affected | Corn |
Part of the Tornadoes of 1951 | |
During the later evening hours of June 8, 1951, an intense and destructive F3 tornado travelled through mid-west Oklahoma affecting the towns of Corn and Colony, Oklahoma. The tornado would become the first tornado caught on motion pictures in the United States.[note 1] The tornado would not cause a direct fatality on injury, though one man was killed when he was struck by lightning.[1] The tornado would travel 11 miles and would reach its widest point of 173 yards (519 ft.) near Corn and Colony.[2]
A tornado warning gave residents ample time to seek shelter in homes as the tornado would just miss downtown Corn. The tornado would move extremely slow at around 10 mph, heading in a southeastern direction.[3] After exiting Corn, it would then converge with another tornado and strengthen it as it would enter Colony a few miles away.[4]
After damaging several houses in Colony, it would then enter a rope-out phase and dissipate just southeast of Colony.[5] While no one was directly affected by the tornado, one man was killed when struck by a lightning bolt while the tornado was still on the ground. The tornado would inflict $250,000 (1951 USD), in 11 mi (18 kilometres), though the time on the ground is unknown.[6]
Meteorological synopsis
[edit]
The mouth of June was average, with temperatures around 76.1 degrees Fahrenheit (24.5 degrees Celsius) and precipitation around 4.79 inches (12.2 cm).[7] On June 8, heavy rain and hail accompanied the severe thunderstorms that spawned the tornadoes.[8] The first tornado in the localized tornado outbreak would be an F2 in Alabama that would injure 2.[9] Another F2 would strike Douglas County in Kansas causing damage to a barn.[10]
Tornado summary
[edit]The Corn tornado would touch down from clouds about 5,000 ft high at approximately 6:30 PM CST, just northwest of Corn, about 13.5 miles (21.7 km) southeast of Clinton.[6] As it entered Corn, a tornado warning was issued for Corn and Colony. The tornado would cause at least $250,000 (1951 USD) in damage there. The tornado would continue out of Corn and connect with a separate tornado that was also causing damage. This tornado was not counted in the list of tornadoes.[11][2] The tornado would weaken as it crossed plains northwest of Colony. Here, John Gosen would record the first Video in United States of a tornado.[12][13] The video shows a multi-vortex tornado crossing into Colony at a slow speed.[note 2][1][14] The tornado would dissipate shortly after entering Caddo County, about 3 miles east of Colony.[15]
Aftermath
[edit]After the tornado dissipated, it had accumulated over $250,000 (1951 USD) in damages in 11 miles. Several hundred of livestock were killed, though no direct human fatalities occurred. It would ultimately destroy 25 homes and 22 farm buildings causing hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix.[6] One man was killed when he was struck by lightning. The tornado was the most notable among the tornado outbreak.[citation needed]
Other tornadoes
[edit]| FU | F0 | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | F5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Several other tornadoes would touch down across Alabama, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. An F2 near Plevna, Alabama, north of New Market, caused a home to be leveled, resulting in two minor injuries, while a granary was destroyed, and other buildings were damaged.[9] Another F2 tornado near Clinton Lake, southwest of Lawrence in Douglas County, Kansas, damaged a barn, removing the roof and destroying the front and sides.[10] Overall, 7 tornadoes were confirmed.[2]
See also
[edit]- Tornadoes of 1951
- 2007 Elie tornado - Another well documented tornado
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 "Corn Resident One of First to Capture Tornado on Motion Pictures 59 Years Ago". News9.com. 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
- 1 2 3 "Oklahoma Tornadoes in June (1950-Present)". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
- ↑ "Oklahoma Tornado – June 8, 1951". Lansing State Journal – Tornado Archive.
- ↑ "Western History Collections". legacy-westhist.libraries.ou.edu. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ "ArcGIS Web Application". apps.dat.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- 1 2 3 "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncei.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ "Climate at a Glance | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)". www.ncei.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ CLEM, L. (1951) The weather and circulation of June 1951, Ametsoc. Available at: https://journals.ametsoc.org/downloadpdf/journals/mwre/79/6/1520-0493_1951_079_0125_twacoj_2_0_co_2.pdf (Accessed: 30 April 2026).
- 1 2 "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncei.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- 1 2 "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncei.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ Climatological Data: National summary. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Data and Information Service, National Climatic Center. 1951.
- ↑ News 9 YouTube (2010-06-08). Oklahoman First in U.S. to Capture Tornado on Motion Pictures. Retrieved 2026-04-30 – via YouTube.
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ "The History of the Town of Corn, Oklahoma". mysite. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ Johnson, A.B (1964). "A Comparison Between The Direction of Tornado Movement And The Associated 500 mb. Level Wind Direction". Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science. 32 (1): 37–42 – via Digital Commons.
- ↑ "Washita County, OK Tornadoes (1875-Present)". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
