The old "Wayman Ranch" barn, a true Albany,  Missouri  landmark,  sat majestically south of town on a ridge overlooking the Grand River Valley to the west .  This 3-story barn is seen here back on May 4, 2003 with a complex of thunderstorms to its southeast.  This complex of storms was  part of the same weather system that produced  the  tornadoes that tore apart areas of North Kansas City, Gladstone, Liberty, and Richmond to the south on that day.  Ironically,  one year and 20 days after this photo was taken the Wayman Ranch Barn would no longer exist  having also been destroyed by a  tornado.  This view is from the northwest. Dan Bush

The 2004 severe weather season will be remembered by the citizens of Albany, Missouri as one of the stormiest and most destructive ever endured by this small town of 2000 people.  From May to June,  Albany and surrounding areas were impacted by no less than four severe storms including an F2 tornado within the city limits and a severe hail storm that affected the entire town.   The look of Albany and surrounding areas was changed forever due to these storms.  Some of our most familiar landmarks  such as the old "Wayman Ranch" barn shown above or many of our most beautiful trees  were either destroyed or altered in some way.  Due to our Storm Readiness  and a little luck nobody was killed in our town but some were not as fortunate elsewhere in the region during this time.

Presented here are a few images of the storms that occurred during the 2004 severe weather season.  Most of the images depict the storms as they were happening with some of them  taken under very adverse conditions.   Choose a date below to view some of the images.
 

• May 24, 2004:  Albany Tornado
• May 29, 2004:  Weatherby Tornadic Storm
• June 11, 2004:  Picturesque Thunderstorm to the West
• June 12, 2004:  Severe Hail Storm
• June 13, 2004:  Super Cell Thunderstorm Passes over Albany

You won't find very many images of storm damage on this web site.  Hundreds if not thousands of images were taken of the town in the aftermath of the storm documenting the destruction.  I have chosen to display only a few here.  I did not spend much time taking photos of the damage.   After all, this web site  is called Missouri "Skies", so I am concentrating on how the skies looked during this time.  I have also included a few web links that will take you to more information on these storms.