Grand Island, Nebraska Tornado Outbreak

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The Grand Island, Nebraska Tornado Outbreak of June 3, 1980 is also known as "The Night of the Twisters". This name is more associated with this event, as it was semi-fictionalized by the book of the same name by author Ivy Ruckman and inspired a 1996 made-for-TV movie seen on ABC Family.

A total of seven tornadoes struck the city that night, three of which were anti-cyclonic. Ninety-nine percent of tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere spin cyclonic, or counter-clockwise. It is thus rare for any tornado to spin anticyclonic, or clockwise, and for three such tornadoes in the same system (nearly half the total) is exceedingly rare.

Five people died and about 200 people were injured as a result of the storms. Tornado warnings allowed people to get to safety in time, which prevented a higher death toll. The area of Grand Island that was hit the hardest was South Locust Street, which was struck by the fifth tornado of the night (an F4 tornado). The outbreak caused $300 million damage.