The June 29, 1904 tornado in Russia was one of only two disastrous tornadoes that occurred in central Russia in recorded history (the other occurred June 9, 1984 in Ivanovo and Yaroslavl regions). The 1904 disaster started as a thunderstorm in Tula region. It travelled northward, passing through eastern suburbs of Moscow into Yaroslavl region. When the cloud approached remote Moscow suburbs, it formed a tornado funnel, destroying suburban settlements and Lefortovo district within the city itself. A tornado in central Oklahoma. ... June 9 is the 160th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (161st in leap years), with 205 days remaining. ... Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar). ... Ivanovo (Russian: Ива́ново) is the administrative center of Ivanovo Oblast, Russia. ... Yaroslavl (Russian: ) is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, located 250 km north-east of Moscow at . ... Places named Tula include: Tula, Tula Oblast, Russia Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico Tula, Tamaulipas, Mexico Tula, Mississippi, USA Tula, Sardinia, Italy Tula, Kenya Other uses: Tula is the professional name of transsexual model/actress Caroline Cossey. ... Position of Moscow in Europe Coordinates: Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Government  - Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Area  - City 1,081 km²  (417. ...

Contemporary reports

The tornado was recorded by thousands of witnesses in Moscow, but very few outside of the city. The Dean of Sukhanovo church reported that the cloud has passed some 18 kilometers west from his town, through the villages of Kapotnya (200 homes destroyed), Chagino (65 out of 67 homes) and Khokhlovka; all three of these settlements are now within Moscow city limits. Nearer suburbs of Lyublino and Karacharovo were completely demolished too. A kilometer (Commonwealth spelling: kilometre), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1,000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ... Name on the wall Lyublino (Russian: ) is a station on the Moscow Metros Lyublinskaya Line. ...

Many witnesses in Moscow, including the famous journalist Vladimir Gilyarovsky, report the same picture of advancing storm: an unusual black cloud, 15-20 kilometers wide, advanced from south-east at estimated 25 meters per second (no instrumental wind readings were made). The tornado was preceded by a hailstorm and a sudden drop in temperature. Two black funnels, one from the skies, another from the ground, merged into a wide tornado with a yellow fire-like light in the middle. Witnesses mistook this light for an explosion at oil reservoirs that, indeed, were close to the path of tornado, but were spared from destruction. Category: Possible copyright violations ... A kilometer (Commonwealth spelling: kilometre), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1,000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

The tornado broke into the city proper in Lefortovo District, destroying the freight yard of Kursk railroad, then literally shaving off the Annenhof Forest - an old, neglected park in Lefortovo (north from present-day Aviamotornaya) subway station). It passed through Lefortovo barracks, tearing roofs from masonry buildings, passed over Basmanny District into Sokolniki park and left the city in due northward direction. Apparently, the tornado faded down, thus destruction in densely populated Basmanny was far less than in Lefortovo. edit Sokolniki (Russian: ) was one of the original thirteen stations of the Moscow Metro. ...

Present-day assessment

Modern scientists rate 1904 tornado at F2–F3 in Fujita scale. The Fujita scale (F-Scale), or Fujita-Pearson scale, rates a tornados intensity by the damage it inflicts on human-built structures and sometimes on vegetation. ...

Total damage is estimated at 3,000 single-family homes (Razuvaev), while the loss of life was not properly counted (Gilyarovsky reported seeing only one dead). The disaster occurred in the middle of infamous Russo-Japanese War, and clearing the rubble and counting the bodies was not on top priority list; police reports and formal damage assessment were not published due to war-time censorship. Many of the victims are presumed to be squatters of suburban parks and Annenhof Forest, which was cleared from fallen trees years after the accident. Combatants Russian Empire Montenegro Empire of Japan Commanders Emperor Nicholas II Aleksey Kuropatkin Stepan Makarov† Emperor Meiji Oyama Iwao Heihachiro Togo Greater Manchuria, Russian (outer) Manchuria is region to upper right in lighter Red; Liaodong Peninsula is the wedge extending into the Yellow Sea The Russo–Japanese War (February 10... Censorship is defined as the removal and withholding of information from the public by a controlling group or body. ... This article is about occupying land without permission. ...

References

(Russian):

• V.Razuvaev. Weather in Russia, 20th century
• V. A. Gilyarovsky, The Hurricane
• V. A. Gilyarovsky, Russkoye Slovo
• 1904 hurricane assessment
• A. S. Nikulin. 1904 hurricane