The Day The Sky Turned Green – The 2008 Parkersburg Tornado

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What would you do if the sky above your neighborhood suddenly turned green? Not the gray of a rainy afternoon or the dark purple of a thunderstorm, but an eerie, glowing green that seemed to pulse with energy from within the clouds themselves. On May 25th, 2008, the residents of Parkersburg, Iowa saw exactly that. And they had about five minutes to decide what to do before one of the most powerful tornadoes in American history tore their town in half.

Parkersburg was a quiet farming community of about 1,800 people in northeast Iowa. The kind of place where everyone knew everyone, where kids rode bikes down tree-lined streets, and where Memorial Day weekend meant family barbecues and camping trips. But in less than 20 minutes on that late May afternoon, an EF5 tornado would erase entire neighborhoods from existence, claim nine lives, and destroy 288 homes. This is the story of the day the sky turned green.

Timestamps: ⏰
0:00 - OPENING: THE GREEN SKY
1:02 - A PERFECT DAY TURNS DEADLY
3:15 - THE SCIENCE OF THE GREEN SKY
5:28 - THE TORNADO TOUCHES DOWN
7:01 - THE TORNADO STRIKES PARKERSBURG
10:50 - INSIDE THE STORM: PERSONAL STORIES
13:11 - NEW HARTFORD: THE TORNADO CONTINUES
14:35 - THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH