A little humid perhaps, but not hot. The skies were clear, and forecasts called for only a slight chance of thundershowers -- a 20 percent probability for Tuesday night.

The weather had been unstable for several days, and severe thunderstorms had been forecast over the weekend. In fact they brought almost two inches of rain in storms Saturday and Sunday. But in the words of Weather Service meteorologist George Grimm, most of the ingredients for severe weather were missing.

People were to tell later of dogs cowering in corners and whimpering all day. But science didn't expect what happened.

When it came, it came suddenly and right overhead.

On the evening of June 3, 1980, Grand Island was hit by a storm unlike any seen before on the Great Plains of North America. The disaster wiped out whole sections of the city's southern business district and hundreds of homes.

Since then, the event has become a book and a television movie. It has been studied by weather scientists and a special research program came to Grand Island after the storm.

We present here our coverage of the storm, the recovery and the people involved.

View our Twisters Photo Gallery Feel free to peruse the gallery and leave comments on photos already online.