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The largest tornado ever recorded was in the Texas Panhandle near Gruver on June 9, 1971. The tornado expanded over 2 miles wide, with an average width of 2500 yards.

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I was in Austin that week, but I remember hearing about the tornadoes after the fact, but I had no idea that one was that big.

Also a bit about it here:

Cool stuff

In a word, "Yikes!"



Speaking of big gnarly tornadoes, does anyone here remember the large tornado that hit the Friona area on 2 June 1995? My wife and mother-in-law had a close encounter with that one. (at the time, my in-laws lived in Friona, just south of town on Main Street and RR2397). My wife and MIL were returning to Friona from Amarillo on US60 and saw what they thought was either an area of intense rainfall, a wall cloud, or possibly a very large tornado (it was the latter, which by then was at least a mile wide - click link below and scroll down to see pics). They had stopped by the side of the road to wait out the storm, which very likely saved their lives.

Tornadoes are freaky things. The storm blew out the windows of my in-laws' house but didn't cause any major structural damage; but the tornado nailed a feed mill and blew a freight train off the tracks. I believe it reached F4 strength at one point ...

LINK - Photos

Storm chase video

NOAA Friona Storm Track

Now that we live on the Gulf Coast, my wife says she prefers hurricanes to tornadoes, for the reason that you can see them coming (thanks to modern satellite & radar imaging, and computer projections) and get the heck out of the way. (Having taken part in 2 mandatory evacuations (Rita and Ike), I would have to say that a major hurricane is a large crisis that unfolds in slow motion. At least a tornado comes and goes in a relatively short time, and the swath of damage and inconvenience is considerably less that of a major hurricane. )



[This message has been edited by BrazosBendHorn (edited 1/6/2010 8:26a).]