Tornadoes of 2021 documentary with a behind-the-scenes look into the storm chasers that dedicate much of their lives pursuing monster storms in Tornado Alley and elsewhere.


Though it turned out to be an above-average year in touchdowns,
A continuing deficit of photogenic tornadoes seemed to inflate the reverence for nebulous, weak, and rain-wrapped funnels. For most of the storm chasers, the surplus of incredible storm structures, lightning, and atmospheric colors made chasing in 2021 well worth all the challenges.

FREAK DECEMBER TORNADO OUTBREAKS of 2021
On the evening of December 10th and dark AM hours of the 11th, a deadly tornado outbreak devastated portions of the Ohio and mid-Mississippi river valleys. In horrifying darkness, multiple strong to violent, long-tracking tornadoes destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, some of which were completely leveled or swept from their foundations.

QUAD STATE TORNADO?
One long-lived supercell produced two EF4 tornadoes where Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky borders are in close proximity. Several media outlets prematurely hyped these tornadoes as ONE “quad state tornado," inaccurately claiming the longest tornado ever recorded. The first EF4 from this storm tracked “81 miles (130.7 km) killing seven people. With top wind speeds estimated at 190 mph” (306 km/h) The second tracked 165 miles (266.7 km) killing over 50 people. By sunrise on December 11th, 88 people had lost their lives.

*Data preliminary and subject to change

DECEMBER 15th DERECHO
Four days later, a long-lived and fast-moving, destructive wind storm
called a derecho spawned a swarm of tornadoes in the Upper Midwest. The highest rated were only EF2s and no tornado-related fatalities were reported. A freak December finished off 2021 with an additional 200 tornadoes. More than April and June combined.