1967 Southern Minnesota tornado outbreak

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1967 Southern Minnesota tornado outbreak
A home leveled to its foundation in Waseca, Minnesota
A home leveled to its foundation in Waseca, Minnesota
Date of tornado outbreak: April 30, 1967
Duration1: 2 hours, 5 minutes
Maximum rated tornado2: F4 tornado
Tornadoes caused: 21
Damages: $9 million dollars
Fatalities: 13 (80 injured)
Areas affected: South central and southeast Minnesota and northern Iowa

1Time from first tornado to last tornado
2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita Scale

The 1967 Southern Minnesota tornado outbreak was a tornado outbreak that affected portions of south central and southeast Minnesota on April 30, 1967. The outbreak spawned a total of nine tornadoes resulting in thirteen deaths and eighty injuries. Local area residents refer to the day as "Black Sunday".

Contents

[edit] Meteorological synopsis

By mid-afternoon on April 30, a surface low pressure area was centered in Pierre, South Dakota. Several fronts stretched from the low pressure area with a stationary front located from north of Sioux Falls, South Dakota to near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. A warm front extended from south of Sioux Falls to near Des Moines, Iowa and St. Louis, Missouri. Between the two fronts, air temperatures had warmed into the 60s and low 70s and dew points in the 60s. Winds were quite strong in the area, with speeds from 15 to 25 mph from the east-southeast. By early evening, the warm front had moved to near the Minnesota-Iowa border. By 6:00 pm CDT, tornadoes began to develop along and just north of the warm front as it moved northward through northern Iowa and into southern Minnesota.

The towns of Albert Lea and Waseca were hardest hit.

[edit] Confirmed tornadoes

Table of confirmed tornadoes - after surveys by local weather service offices

[edit] Tornado table

Confirmed
Total		 Confirmed
F0		 Confirmed
F1		 Confirmed
F2		 Confirmed
F3		 Confirmed
F4		 Confirmed
F5
21 0 4 10 3 4 0
F# Location County Time (UTC) Path length Damage
South Dakota
F1 NW of De Smet Kingsbury 2115 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
Iowa
F2 W of Eagle Grove Webster 2150 6.8 miles
(10.9 km)
F2 E of Estherville Emmet 2200 8.2 miles
(13.1 km)
F2 Emmetsburg to W of Ringsted Palo Alto, Emmet 2210 14 miles
(22.4 km)
F2 Crystal Lake Hancock 2230 4.3 miles
(6.9 km)
F2 NE of Gruver Emmet 2233 1 miles
(1.6 km)
F3 Clear Lake area Cerro Gordo 2305 7.7 miles
(12.3 km)
F2 Fort Madison area Lee 2320 2.3 miles
(3.7 km)
F4 NE of Manly to NE of Carpenter Worth 2328 13.3 miles
(21.3 km)
F3 S of Kensett, IA to N of London, MN Worth, IA, Freeborn, MN 2330 17.2 miles
(27.5 km)		 About a half dozen farms were extensively damaged, with at least two farm homes destroyed.
F4 E of Northwood, IA to E of Myrtle, MN Worth, IA Freeborn, MN 0020 7.6 miles
(12.2 km)		 This tornado destroyed about 10 farms, leveling at least three of them in near-F5 fashion. Ten other farms, mostly in Iowa, were extensively damaged.
F1 NW of Littleton Buchanan 0100 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F1 NW of Montezuma Poweshiek 0100 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F2 SE of Epworth Dubuque 0300 2 miles
(3.2 km)
Minnesota
F2 E of Waseca Waseca 0000 9.2 miles
(14.7 km)		 Destroyed barns were noted west of Lemond and Meriden.
F3 NW of Alden Freeborn and Waseca 0005 14 miles
(22.4 km)		 2 deaths - Farm damage was near-F4 in the first part of the path. Homes and barns were destroyed.
F1 E of Ellendale Steele 0005 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)
F4 N of Twin Lakes to Owatonna Freeborn and Steele 0023 38.7 miles
(61.9 km)		 5 deaths - Farms were leveled at a half dozen locations along the path. There was $2,000,000 damage in Albert Lea, where 26 homes were destroyed and 64 were badly damaged.
F4 W of Hartland to NE of Waseca Freeborn and Waseca 0052 20.1 miles
(32.2 km)		 6 deaths - This tornado followed Hwy-67 into Waseca, destroying or damaging farm buildings on both sides of the road. It cut a four-block-wide swath in town, destroying 16 homes, six of which were leveled, and 25 more were heavily damaged.
F2 SE of Austin Mower 0115 3.8 miles
(6.1 km)		 At least two barns and one home were unroofed and torn apart.
F2 E of Marion Olmsted 0210 6.8 miles
(10.9 km)		 A trailer and a barn were destroyed.
Source: Tornado History Project - April 30, 1967 Storm Data

[edit] See also

[edit] References