June 28, 1924, dawned hot and sunny, with fluffy white clouds hovering
over a blue and inviting Lake Erie. For two Ohio communities, Lorain and
Sandusky, the day ended in unimaginable disaster. In the late afternoon,
the blue sky turned dark, and the wispy white puffs morphed into a mass
of black thunderclouds as a monster formed on the lake. An F4 tornado,
unexpected and not understood, was born from a thunderstorm on the now
turbulent waters of Lake Erie. It charged ashore, smashing into
Sandusky, retreated again to the lake and then headed east before
turning abruptly south to make landfall in Lorain. Before the massive
funnel lifted, it would destroy a city, create death records still
unbroken and change the lives of thousands of people.