Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
July 18, 1986 was a hot, sultry afternoon in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. A supercell thunderstorm and eventual tornado developed rapidly in the northern suburbs between Fridley and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota that afternoon. NBC affiliate KARE-TV "Sky 11" helicopter pilot Max Messmer and on-board photojournalist Tom Empey were in route to a different assignment when they caught view of the developing tornado and recorded a rare viewpoint of nearly the entire tornado lifecycle. The slow moving F2 tornado caused minor structural damage and remained over mostly rural areas near the Springbrook Nature Center, ripping large trees from the ground and tossing them like matchsticks.
KARE-TV broadcast the images live during it's late afternoon newscast as it happened and forever cemented this event in broadcast weather history. From a mesoscale meteorology standpoint, it remains the most detailed aerial viewpoint of vortex evolution chronicled to date. Contrast this video to laboratory models of the late 20th century and the similarities are eerily identical.
For comparison, Neil Ward's early laboratory vortex models can be viewed here: youtu.be/sLYJzfC-S_4
This raw unedited videotape begins with a ground perspective from a separate KARE-TV news crew in the vicinity of Fridley, featuring dozens of curious observers watching the tornado from a local Target store. Note how low contrast this view was relative to the more fluid news helicopter perspective.
The second half is the aerial view recorded by Tom Empey from the helicopter. This was the era of ENG news broadcasting where an actual photographer accompanied a pilot and operated a full-size video camera pointed out a side window or door. The video was stabilized by the incorporated Gyrocam™ lens adaptor that attached to a bayonet-style lens mount on a Sony BVP-style broadcast video camera, allowing for stable telephoto viewpoints. Occasional live dialogue between helicopter pilot Max Messmer, then KARE 11 chief meteorologist Paul Douglas, station anchors and production personnel can be heard occasionally during the live transmissions. Another television helicopter from WCCO-TV also captured video of this tornado as it occurred, but from a greater distance than the KARE 11 traffic crew. Lack of audio in spots reflects how the original videotape was recorded.
This was not the first time a tornado was broadcast live from a TV news helicopter. That feat goes to KWTV 9, the CBS affiliate in Oklahoma City, near Clinton, Oklahoma on May 22, 1981.
A KARE 11 broadcast special, "Unheard Sirens" with many of the stories from this day can be viewed here: youtu.be/T9LbELUzM6k
A full article on the event via the Minnesota Post here: minnpost.com/politics-policy/2011/07/25-years-ago-tornado-made-broadcasting-history-twin-cities
All video courtesy and © KARE 11, All Rights Reserved.
July 18, 1986 was a hot, sultry afternoon in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. A supercell thunderstorm and eventual tornado developed rapidly in the northern suburbs between Fridley and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota that afternoon. NBC affiliate KARE-TV "Sky 11" helicopter pilot Max Messmer and on-board photojournalist Tom Empey were in route to a different assignment when they caught view of the developing tornado and recorded a rare viewpoint of nearly the entire tornado lifecycle. The slow moving F2 tornado caused minor structural damage and remained over mostly rural areas near the Springbrook Nature Center, ripping large trees from the ground and tossing them like matchsticks.
KARE-TV broadcast the images live during it's late afternoon newscast as it happened and forever cemented this event in broadcast weather history. From a mesoscale meteorology standpoint, it remains the most detailed aerial viewpoint of vortex evolution chronicled to date. Contrast this video to laboratory models of the late 20th century and the similarities are eerily identical.
For comparison, Neil Ward's early laboratory vortex models can be viewed here: youtu.be/sLYJzfC-S_4
This raw unedited videotape begins with a ground perspective from a separate KARE-TV news crew in the vicinity of Fridley, featuring dozens of curious observers watching the tornado from a local Target store. Note how low contrast this view was relative to the more fluid news helicopter perspective.
The second half is the aerial view recorded by Tom Empey from the helicopter. This was the era of ENG news broadcasting where an actual photographer accompanied a pilot and operated a full-size video camera pointed out a side window or door. The video was stabilized by the incorporated Gyrocam™ lens adaptor that attached to a bayonet-style lens mount on a Sony BVP-style broadcast video camera, allowing for stable telephoto viewpoints. Occasional live dialogue between helicopter pilot Max Messmer, then KARE 11 chief meteorologist Paul Douglas, station anchors and production personnel can be heard occasionally during the live transmissions. Another television helicopter from WCCO-TV also captured video of this tornado as it occurred, but from a greater distance than the KARE 11 traffic crew. Lack of audio in spots reflects how the original videotape was recorded.
This was not the first time a tornado was broadcast live from a TV news helicopter. That feat goes to KWTV 9, the CBS affiliate in Oklahoma City, near Clinton, Oklahoma on May 22, 1981.
A KARE 11 broadcast special, "Unheard Sirens" with many of the stories from this day can be viewed here: youtu.be/T9LbELUzM6k
A full article on the event via the Minnesota Post here: minnpost.com/politics-policy/2011/07/25-years-ago-tornado-made-broadcasting-history-twin-cities
All video courtesy and © KARE 11, All Rights Reserved.
