| It Could Happen Tomorrow | |
| Format | Documentary |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 23 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | The Weather Channel |
| Picture format | 480i (SD) |
| Original run | January 15, 2006 - July 29, 2007 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
It Could Happen Tomorrow is a television series that premiered on January 15, 2006 on The Weather Channel. It explores the possibilities of various weather and other natural phenomena severely damaging or destroying America's cities. This includes: a Category 3 hurricane hitting New York City, an F5 tornado destroying Downtown Dallas, dormant volcano Mount Rainier re-activating and destroying towns in the surrounding valleys, a tsunami flooding the Pacific Northwest coast, an intraplate earthquake impacting Memphis, Tennessee, wildfires spreading into the heart of San Diego, a huge earthquake leveling San Francisco, a flash flood in Boulder, Colorado, and a flood in Sacramento, California. Newer episodes that were aired included an earthquake in Las Vegas, Nevada, an F5 tornado ripping its way through Chicago and St. Louis, and more.
Plot[]
Each episode is broken into several segments: "It Did Happen"-this segment talks about similar disasters happening in other parts of America (or even earlier in the target city featured); "When It Happens/How It Would Happen"-this talks about how the disaster would unfold; and a third segment about how to prepare for the disaster, and interviews with residents in the threatened areas about what they think of the disaster threat. Sometimes there is a segment called "Before It Happens", which shows what's being done to prepare for the disaster.
Production[]
"It Could Happen Tomorrow" was produced by Atlas Media Corporation. Executive Producer: Bruce David Klein. Supervising Producer: Cheryl Houser.
Episode list[]
Season 1[]
| Number | Event | Location | Based On | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Category 3 Hurricane | New York City | New England Hurricane of 1938 | January 15, 2006 |
| 2 | F5 Tornado | Dallas, Texas | 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak | January 22, 2006 |
| 3 | Mount Rainier | Orting, Washington | 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens | January 29, 2006 |
| 4 | Tsunami | Pacific Northwest Coast | Good Friday Earthquake | February 4, 2006 |
| 5 | Earthquake | Memphis, Tennessee | New Madrid earthquake & 1994 Northridge earthquake |
March 12, 2006 |
| 6 | Flood | Sacramento, California | Hurricane Katrina | March 19, 2006 |
| 7 | Wildfire | San Diego, California | Cedar Fire | March 26, 2006 |
| 8 | Earthquake | San Francisco, California | 1906 San Francisco Earthquake | April 9, 2006 |
| 9 | Flash flood | Boulder, Colorado | Big Thompson Canyon Flood | April 16, 2006 |
| 10 | Hurricane Katrina† | New Orleans, Louisiana | June 4, 2006 |
†Hour long special, see Katrina episode section below
Season 2[]
| Number | Event | Location | Based On | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | F5 Tornado | Chicago | Plainfield Tornado | January 7, 2007 |
| 12 | Hurricane | Houston, Texas | Hurricane Carla | January 7, 2007 |
| 13 | F5 Tornado | St. Louis, Missouri | Super Outbreak | January 21, 2007 |
| 14 | Tsunami] | Hawaii | April Fool's Day Tsunami | January 21, 2007 |
| 15 | Earthquake | Seattle, Washington | Loma Prieta earthquake | January 28, 2007 |
| 16 | Wildfire] | Austin, Texas | Oakland Hills firestorm | January 28, 2007 |
| 17 | Earthquake | Las Vegas, Nevada | 1971 San Fernando earthquake | February 11, 2007 |
| 18 | F4 Tornado | Washington, D.C. | La Plata, Maryland Tornado of 2002 | March 11, 2007 |
| 19 | Category 5 Hurricane | Miami | Hurricane Andrew | June 3, 2007 |
| 20 | Category 4 Hurricane | Savannah, Georgia | Hurricane Hugo | June 10, 2007 |
| 21 | Earthquake | Charleston, South Carolina | Charleston Earthquake of 1886 | July 1, 2007 |
| 22 | Wildfire | Los Angeles | 1993 Malibu wildfire | July 8, 2007 |
| 23 | Category 4 Hurricane | Tampa Bay Area | Hurricane Charley | July 29, 2007 |
Katrina episode[]
Ironically, the original Category 5 hurricane episode was to involve New Orleans. It was conceived and scripted months before Hurricane Katrina ever struck New Orleans. After Katrina, the debut episode was changed to instead show such a storm striking New York City (reducing the storm to a Category 3 as it is believed that is the strongest such storm that would strike the city; such a storm in 1938 missed New York City by just 75 miles, and historical records also show that a similar storm directly hit the city in 1821). On June 4, 2006 The Weather Channel aired this episode, titled "Katrina: The Lost Episode." Unlike most episodes, this episode was one hour in length and combined clips of the "lost" episode with a Storm Stories-style retelling of Katrina's effects.
Schedule[]
No longer Airing.