Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Restored silent and sound color Super 8mm movies taken while on chase by Dr. Erik Rasmussen of the Ellis, Woodruff to Agra, Kansas tornadoes on May 10, 1985. A cyclic tornadic supercell produced multiple significant F3 to F4 tornadoes as it proceeded north into Southern Nebraska. Rasmussen was one of only a few meteorologists and storm chasers to witness and document the event.
These films were provided by Dr. Rasmussen and never incorporated into the Storm Chasing Anthology documentary. I eventually had the reels professionally scanned at the facilities of the Chicago Film Archives in 2023. The films have never before been released until now. The original films are permanently archived at Texas Tech University within the Southwest Collections Library.
The film begins with a low contrast rope out of the Ellis, Kansas tornado. The full tornado life cycle from a different perspective looking west/northwest recorded by a KAYS TV (KWCH) reporter can be viewed here: youtu.be/Md_Z1TKa5Z0
Films courtesy and copyright © Dr. Erik Rasmussen, All Rights Reserved.
Scan by the Chicago Film Archives.
Restored silent and sound color Super 8mm movies taken while on chase by Dr. Erik Rasmussen of the Ellis, Woodruff to Agra, Kansas tornadoes on May 10, 1985. A cyclic tornadic supercell produced multiple significant F3 to F4 tornadoes as it proceeded north into Southern Nebraska. Rasmussen was one of only a few meteorologists and storm chasers to witness and document the event.
These films were provided by Dr. Rasmussen and never incorporated into the Storm Chasing Anthology documentary. I eventually had the reels professionally scanned at the facilities of the Chicago Film Archives in 2023. The films have never before been released until now. The original films are permanently archived at Texas Tech University within the Southwest Collections Library.
The film begins with a low contrast rope out of the Ellis, Kansas tornado. The full tornado life cycle from a different perspective looking west/northwest recorded by a KAYS TV (KWCH) reporter can be viewed here: youtu.be/Md_Z1TKa5Z0
Films courtesy and copyright © Dr. Erik Rasmussen, All Rights Reserved.
Scan by the Chicago Film Archives.
![Tornado Alley [1997] The History Channel, Documentary](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dX4p5ATd6UA/mqdefault.jpg "Tornado Alley [1997] The History Channel, Documentary
Tornado Alley [1997] Part of the Wrath of God documentary series, this production features several historical United States tornado events that transpired in the 19th and 20th centuries with stories primarily focused around the March 18, 1925 tri-state tornado in southern Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Eyewitnesses and survivors recount that event in original interviews in one of the last broadcast productions to present such original stories. At times the program takes visual liberties with stock tornado video and photos that are completely unrelated to actual events, incorporated for dramatic effect. Produced by Towers Productions for The History Channel, Tornado Alley aired during the peak of a tornado program boom for cable and television networks in the later part of the 1990s and was eventually marketed by A&E Home Video. This is remastered from an original production videotape and presented in high definition.
Additional information on the March 18, 1925 tri-state tornado: https://www.weather.gov/pah/1925Tornado_ss
Video © 1996, 1997 Towers Productions, The History Channel, All Rights Reserved.")
