A 40th anniversary recap of the Super Outbreak of tornadoes from the National Weather Service from Wilmington Ohio notes how much “storm tracking” has changed since that terrible day:
Storms on the radar screen were traced onto thin paper maps, and meteorologists heavily relied on the manifestation of hook echoes as well as spotter reports when issuing tornado warnings. WSO Dayton did not have a radar of its own but utilized a facsimile machine tied into Cincinnati’s WSR-57 (also known by its identifier: CVG) display.
When the CVG radar displayed hook echoes and other impressive storm features outside WSO Cincinnati’s warning area on April 3, meteorologists there made calls to the appropriate neighboring offices. At one point, the CVG radar screen displayed five distinct hook echoes–more than meteorologists there had ever seen before. Shortly after 4:30 PM, a call was made by WSO Cincinnati to WSO Dayton to ensure they had seen the hook echoes, of which one was quickly approaching Xenia.
This is a 1978 documentary of the Super Outbreak, showing actual footage of tornadoes as they struck Xenia, Cincinnati, and Louisville, causing massive damage and numerous deaths. Some of the re-enactments are pretty corny, but still many interesting stories from Back In The Day.
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