The Joplin Tornado: What Our Meteorologists Remember Most 15 Years Later

Today is the 15-year anniversary of the Joplin, Missouri, EF5 tornado, the nation's deadliest in 64 years and record costliest. It wasn't the day's only tornado.

Surviving Enderlin EF5 as tornado claims lives of aunt and uncle next door: Tyler’s story from Summer of Tornadoes documentary

Exceprt from the Summer of Tornadoes documentary. Homes were destroyed along Highway 46 by the Enderlin EF5 tornado on June 20, 2025, including Tyler Pfaff’s residence as well as his aunt and uncle's ...

Tornado taught Joplin small acts of kindness are powerful acts of defiance | Opinion

In the aftermath of disaster, neighbors came together to rebuild their community safer, stronger and better. | Opinion ...

Operation BBQ Relief Returns to Joplin, Missouri, to Honor 15th Anniversary of Deadly Tornado and Founding of the Organization During National Barbecue Month

On Friday, May 22, 2026, Operation BBQ Relief® (OBR) will return to the city where its mission began, setting up at Cunningham Park in Joplin, Mo. to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 2011 ...

Former police chief reflects on Joplin’s devastating EF5 tornado 15 years later

Friday marks 15 years since a deadly EF5 tornado tore through Joplin, Missouri. Former Joplin Police Chief Lane Roberts and ...
Opinion
Psychology TodayOpinion

The Resilience of a Small Town in Kansas

What do you do—as an individual or community—when your plans, way of life, and everything you know is destroyed overnight?
WUSA

What the tornado EF scale means

Measuring tornado winds at the ground level is notoriously difficult. Instead, meteorologists look at the damage, using on or more of 28 key indicators to determine how strong the tornado likely was ...