Black Friday Tornado: Ep 2 Finger of God

F4 Tornado Rips Through Capital City of Alberta - 1987

This is the continuation of the story of the deadliest natural disaster to hit Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

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Welcome to Edmonton Alberta (my hometown) in the year of '87.

This second episode follows the Black Friday Tornado as it hits peak intensity as an F4 tornado, barrelling through a populated industrial area.

Sources for this series on the Black Friday Tornado:

• Wikipedia:

• Fujita Scale

• Edmonton Tornado

• Edmonton Sun:

  • Commemorative edition Black Friday print with proceeds to tornado relief fund - Paul Stanway

  • Black Friday - It was Like We got Bombed

  • Family Taken by Tornado

  • Black Friday - Survivor Seeks Strangers Who Came to Her Aid

• Edmonton Journal

  • Survivors Scars Slowly Heal

• CTV Edmonton

  • Black Friday Remembered - Still Feared 25 Years Later

• CBC

  • Tornado's Miracle Baby Thanks The Man Who Saved Her

• UPI Archives

  • Trailer Park Devastated by Tornado

  • Hundreds of tornado survivors Sunday began assessing damages already...

  • Tornado Talk - Edmonton, Alberta F4 Tornado July 31, 1987

• Telus Storyhive - Tornado '87 - 30 Years Later

• Canadian History Ehx

Refinery Row

It’s 3:30 pm and the tornado is now on the path toward a populated 3 block wide, 20 block long industrial area known as Refinery Row as well as an industrial area of Strathcona County, a hamlet just East of Edmonton. 

It's grown in intensity, now hitting F4 classification, the second highest classification for a tornado.

Only 2% of tornadoes are recorded this high on the Fujita Scale. An F4 tornado is classified as “devastating” damage. Winds ranging from 333-418 km/hr (or 207-260 mph).

The damage to the industrial park is significant as everything it's picking up is now a projectile, slamming into everything in sight.

To get a sense of its power, below is a photo of a multi-ton oil storage tank that’s been tossed, sitting upside down and crumpled.

Oil storage tank thrown and crumpled. Photo credit: Robert Taylor

Finger of God

In 1987, the classification system used for tornados was the "Fujita Scale". It's since been replaced by the "Enhanced Fujita Scale". There is speculation that if the "EF" scale had been used at this time, it's possible the intensity and damage of the Black Friday Tornado could have been classified as an "EF5".

This term "Finger of God" is equated with the highest classification of tornado. From an aerial view, it gives you the visualization of the level of destruction being carved into the Earth from this tornado. Popularized by the 1996 film, Twister.

Here are some aerial images of Refinery Row to get a sense of the destruction along the tornado's path provided byAlberta Public Safety Services.

Remember to kiss, squeeze, hug your loved ones. And stay tuned for the next episode as the Black Friday tornado hits the vulnerable community of Evergreen Mobile Park.