Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This silent Super 8mm film by Mrs. Pat Berding documented a violent tri-state tornado as it crossed the Ohio River southwest of Cincinnati near Sayler Park, Ohio. The film was extensively analyzed by the University of Chicago atmospheric science department led by Dr. Ted Fujita in the weeks and months following the April 3-4, 1974 Super Outbreak of tornadoes across the Midwest, Southeast and Northeastern United States.
The Berding film at Sayler Park aided in narrowing down tornado wind speed estimates through photogrammetric study and was one of several dozen collected by the Fujita team around the Midwest.
This tornado was so widely photographed and documented on movie film that post cards and photographic puzzles were marketed of it years after the fact.
Super 8mm film courtesy Pat Berding, archived in the Fujita collection at Texas Tech University/Southwestern Special Collections Library. © 1974. This is a telecine film to videotape transfer.
Further information on the April 3-4, 1974 Super Outbreak in and around Cincinnati can be located here: weather.gov/iln/19740403
This silent Super 8mm film by Mrs. Pat Berding documented a violent tri-state tornado as it crossed the Ohio River southwest of Cincinnati near Sayler Park, Ohio. The film was extensively analyzed by the University of Chicago atmospheric science department led by Dr. Ted Fujita in the weeks and months following the April 3-4, 1974 Super Outbreak of tornadoes across the Midwest, Southeast and Northeastern United States.
The Berding film at Sayler Park aided in narrowing down tornado wind speed estimates through photogrammetric study and was one of several dozen collected by the Fujita team around the Midwest.
This tornado was so widely photographed and documented on movie film that post cards and photographic puzzles were marketed of it years after the fact.
Super 8mm film courtesy Pat Berding, archived in the Fujita collection at Texas Tech University/Southwestern Special Collections Library. © 1974. This is a telecine film to videotape transfer.
Further information on the April 3-4, 1974 Super Outbreak in and around Cincinnati can be located here: weather.gov/iln/19740403
