Disasters Explained

475,000 people watched a 23-minute tornado video.

Not a clip. A full 23-minute deep dive into types most people have never heard of.

The number one thing people kept timestamping in the comments?

A tornado called the "dead man walking."

It doesn't move like you expect. It doesn't look like you expect. And by the time people recognize it, there's usually no time left.

If you haven't watched this one, or watched it weeks ago — it holds up.

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Disasters Explained

If you HAD to live in the US and a tornado was guaranteed to hit your area every single year

Which state do you pick?

1 month ago | [YT] | 5

Disasters Explained

Someone in our comments pointed out that rope tornadoes can be EF5.
And they're right.

The thinnest EF5 ever recorded was only 35 yards wide. Basically the width of a four-lane road.

Most people assume thin means weak. Wide means dangerous.

But a rope tornado in its final stage can actually spin faster than it did at peak width.

Does knowing that change which tornado shape you'd consider most dangerous?

1 month ago | [YT] | 6

Disasters Explained

May 31, 2013.

Three expert meteorologists. A tornado that reversed direction without warning. 318 mph winds. 2.6 miles wide.

El Reno wasn't just the widest tornado ever recorded. It was the storm that proved that even the most experienced people on Earth can run out of options in under a minute.

We just published the full story.

Did you know about El Reno before today?

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Disasters Explained

One person in our comments wrote:

"why am i addicted to these explanation of tornadoes videos lol"

175 people liked that comment.

So clearly it's not just you.

What is it about tornado content that pulls you back? Like — what actually keeps you watching?

1 month ago | [YT] | 3

Disasters Explained

Radar showed nothing.

No rotation. No hook echo. No warning issued.

And then a tornado appeared from nowhere and destroyed a neighborhood.
This isn't a hypothetical. It's happened multiple times — and the reasons have almost nothing to do with poor equipment or bad meteorologists.

We broke down the most unsettling cases of tornadoes that appeared with zero advance warning.

Which case in this video disturbed you the most?

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

Disasters Explained

There are two kinds of people who find this channel.

Type 1: Lives somewhere tornadoes basically don't happen. Watches because it's fascinating from a completely safe distance.

Type 2: Lives in tornado country. Watches because they actually want to understand what could happen to them.

Which one are you?

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Disasters Explained

We're working on something different this week.

Not a list of 8 types. Not a breakdown of shapes.

One tornado. One day. Three people who didn't make it home.

It drops soon.

What's the most unsettling tornado story you've ever heard?

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Disasters Explained

A rope tornado can look like a dark thread hanging in the sky.

Thin. Wispy. The kind of thing you'd stop the car to photograph.
It can also be EF5.

We broke down every tornado shape that fools people — the ones that look harmless and aren't, the ones that look massive but barely touch down.

If you haven't seen this one yet, the deceptive shapes in the second half of the video are the ones that stay with you.

Which shape caught you the most off guard?

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

Disasters Explained

Night tornado VS Rain-wrapped tornado.

It's midday. Radar showed nothing unusual. You don't realize it's there until it's 100 yards from you.

Both have killed people who thought they had more time.

Which one is actually more dangerous — and why?

1 month ago | [YT] | 6