'57 Dallas Tornado

Today is the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Dallas tornado. Descending from the sky without warning around 4:30 in the afternoon, this twister killed 10 people and caused extensive damage in Oak Cliff and the Trinity River bottom area near Parkland Hospital before dissipating northwest of Love Field.

Although the death and damage tolls from this tornado weren’t off the charts, the fact that it moved along a northerly course just west of downtown Dallas made it the most photographed and filmed tornado in history up to that point. You still see ’57 Dallas tornado film used as stock footage today. Film from this storm also helped meteorologists advance the science of tornado forecasting.