CHICAGO TRIBUNE, June 18, 1978 

* "Whippoorwill" showboat disaster
* Deadliest F1 tornado - 16 deaths 
* Pomona Lake in Osage County, Kansas

The front page has a heading that reads: "Twister tips showboat, killing nine" with related map. Coverage continues inside with related photo. (see images)  
Complete 1st section only with all 32 pages, minor margin wear, generally nice.

Background: The Whippoorwill Disaster of June 17, 1978, represents a harrowing and statistically unprecedented anomaly in meteorological history, where a minor, localized weather event culminated in an immense tragedy. On that evening, a tiny, fast-forming F1 tornado—with winds topping out around 112 mph—skun across Pomona Lake in Osage County, Kansas, as a waterspout and directly struck the Whippoorwill, a top-heavy, flat-bottomed paddlewheel showboat hosting a dinner theater cruise. The wind caught the upper deck like a sail, instantly capsizing the vessel and trapping many of its 58 passengers and crew underneath the hull, resulting in the drowning deaths of 16 people. The profound historical significance of this event lies in its grim record as the deadliest F1 tornado in United States history, fundamentally altering how meteorologists perceive and communicate public risk. Because the storm was too small to register on 1970s radar and was technically classified as "weak," its catastrophic outcome shattered the dangerous misconception that only high-end F4 or F5 tornadoes pose a threat to human life. Today, the Whippoorwill disaster remains a foundational National Weather Service training case study, illustrating how the intersection of minor weather phenomena with vulnerable human geography can produce a worst-case scenario, cementing the vital safety rule that all tornado warnings demand immediate action, regardless of predicted intensity.