1980 Grand Island tornado

The 1980 Grand Island tornado occurred on June 3, 1980 in Grand Island, Nebraska.

Two tornadoes are seen here in this picture. The power flashes are seen in this picture being destroyed by the winds.

Damage from the Grand Island tornadoes.

The previous day tornadoes were reported in Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio. Several more tornadoes broke out on that day in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Nebraska. On the evening of Wednesday, June 3, a slow-moving supercell thunderstorm developed over Nebraska.

The result was the most unusual in American weather history: these storms moved at 8 mph, some of these tornadoes were anticyclonic, and they didn't move in a straight line, with some looping back around. Tornado warnings were issued.

5 people were killed and 200 were injured. June 3 is known as The Night of the Twisters, which is a book written by Ivy Ruckman in 1984, and a movie that premiered on February 14, 1996 on The Family Channel (now Freeform).