On October 27 1913, South Wales experienced a tornado which was described as 'unusually destructive'. The following account was supplied for an official Meteorological Office report of 1914, by the Headmaster of the Senior Boys' School:

'At 5:15PM a dead calm set in... it was a "troubled' sky". Rain began to fall at 5:20PM... The rain ceased in about 10 minutes... at 5:50PM we heard a noise resembling the hissing of an express locomotive... the panes of our window were broken by stones, tiles, slates, dried cement and splintered timber... after the crashing had ceased... rain fell in torrents. The lightning set fire to the tar which had been sprayed some three weeks previously on the main Cardiff to Merthyr road.'

Although the storm was short, damage in the area was extensive. The storm reached its climax at Edwardsville: houses destroyed, windows blown in, tombstones flattened, trees uprooted. A man and a little boy were killed. It was a terrifying experience for all concerned.