The U.S. Weather Bureau banned the word "tornado" from public forecasts in 1887. Officials figured warnings would cause more panic than the storms. That policy held for over sixty years.
The ban broke from outside the bureau. On March 20, 1948, an unforecasted tornado hit Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, destroying 54 aircraft. The base commander asked his two meteorologists a question the bureau wouldn't touch: Can you predict these?
Five days later, Captains Fawbush and Miller saw the same weather pattern forming and issued a forecast at 2:50 p.m. The tornado struck at 5:58.
Their forecast covered the base. Civilians across Oklahoma City got nothing. The bureau didn't lift its public ban until 1950, and only built a warning center after Congress forced them to in 1952.
1887: Army Signal Corps bans "tornado" from forecasts, shuts down its prediction program
1905: Weather Bureau codifies the ban in station regulations
Mar 20, 1948: Unforecasted tornado hits Tinker AFB; $10.25M in damage, 54 aircraft destroyed
Mar 25, 1948: Fawbush and Miller issue first successful tornado forecast — base personnel only
1949: The pair issue 18 forecasts within the Air Force; all 18 verify
Jul 1950: Bureau chief lifts the public ban
Feb 1951: Air Force opens Severe Weather Warning Center at Tinker
Jun 1953: Weather Bureau's severe weather unit begins permanent operation