On This Day in Texas History, Two Horrific Tornadoes Touch Down

May 11th is an historic day in Texas tornado history and the craziness behind these storms will never be forgotten.

Although these two tornadoes happened years apart, they are considered some of the most important in Texas history. Let's delve into the oldest of the two tornadoes first. First, we head to Waco, Texas.

May 11, 1953 Deadliest Tornado in Texas History

Just after 4PM on this date in 1953, a F5 tornado would touch down in Lorena, Texas before making it's way to Waco. The storm caused heavy rainfall and many did not see the tornado coming because of the heavy rain. The tornado was about a 1/3 of a mile wide causing destruction for almost fifteen miles. 114 people were killed and 600 were injured. All these years later, it remains the deadliest tornado in Texas history.

May 11, 1970 The Extremely Rare F6 Tornado in Texas?

You have probably heard of the Fujita scale when it comes to how powerful a tornado is. That was created by a man named Tetsuya Theodore Fujita who helped create the science for measuring the power of a tornado. Nowadays, we know a F5 as the most powerful tornado. However, before this was finalized, two tornadoes were given F6 categories. The 1974 Xenia tornado in Ohio and this one in Lubbock.

Tetsuya Theodore Fujita would abandon the F6 category saying that wind speeds would need to reach over 319 miles per hour and the damage it would cause would be inconceivable. Still, this 1970 tornado in Lubbock is considered one of the strongest in the history of the state. You can check out the top ten deadliest tornadoes in Texas history below.