Type Tornado outbreak Tornadoes confirmed 72 Damage Estimated $51 Million | Duration May 5–8, 1965 Max rating Start date May 6, 1965 | |
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Duration of tornado outbreak 3 days, 7 hours, 2 minutes Similar 1965 Palm Sunday tornado o, Mid‑June 1992 tornado o, June 1966 tornado outbreak, 1996 Oakfield tornado, May 1968 tornado outbreak | ||
1965 twin cities tornado outbreak wcco am 830 coverage pt 1
The early-May 1965 tornado outbreak sequence was a major severe weather event that affected much of the Central United States on May 5–8, 1965. For four consecutive days, tornado outbreaks produced at least three significant (F2+) tornadoes each day, and at least two violent (F4–F5) tornadoes on three of the four days. The entire sequence generated 37 significant tornadoes, including at least nine violent tornadoes, one of which was rated F5. On May 5, two F4s struck Iowa, including a long-tracked tornado family that injured 11 people. On May 6, an outbreak of six strong tornadoes, four of them violent F4s, affected Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, and has been nicknamed "The Longest Night", killing 13 people and causing major damages—at the time the most damaging single weather event in Minnesota history. Three of the six tornadoes occurred on the ground simultaneously, and two of them hit the section of Minnesota State Highway 100 (now Interstate 694) and University Avenue in the city of Fridley. Both Fridley tornadoes damaged 1,100 homes and destroyed about 425; total losses reached $14.5 million, $5 million of which was to the Fridley school system.
Contents
- 1965 twin cities tornado outbreak wcco am 830 coverage pt 1
- Meteorological synopsis
- Fridley Minnesota two tornadoes
- Gregory South Dakota
- Aftermath
- References
On May 7, three significant tornadoes hit portions of the Upper Midwest, and beginning early on May 8, a major tornado outbreak affected the Great Plains states, particularly in Nebraska and South Dakota. The outbreak on May 8 produced numerous significant, long-lived tornadoes, including at least three violent tornadoes, two of which were actually long-tracked tornado families. A very large F5 tornado struck Tripp County in South Dakota, and two major F4s tracked across parts of Greeley and Antelope Counties in Nebraska. One of the F4s struck the small village of Primrose, almost totally destroying the settlement, causing possible F5 damage, and killing four people. Additionally, a high-end F3 obliterated a farm in Gregory County, South Dakota, and may have been an F4 as well. Many of the individual tornadoes on May 8 moved north and northwest, an unusual trajectory for supercells in this part of the Great Plains. Many of the long-tracked tornadoes on this date, rather than single tornadoes, were probably tornado families like the two long-lived F4s.
Meteorological synopsis
Temperatures on May 6 were in the upper 70s °F with high dew points, which was considered to be unusual for early May in Minnesota. A strong low pressure area associated with an upper-level system moving in from the southwest and a nearby slow-moving cold front helped spark the storms. These storms formed as training supercells—an atmospheric phenomenon that is extremely rare in Minnesota. Because of the training, the same general areas from Sibley County through Carver and Hennepin and into northwestern Ramsey counties kept getting the brunt of these cells.
Fridley, Minnesota (two tornadoes)
Two tornadoes touched down in Fridley, just over an hour apart. In all, six people were killed in the Fridley tornadoes and over 180 were injured. Over 450 homes were destroyed in Fridley, and neighboring Mounds View also sustained heavy damage. A man who called WCCO radio after the first Fridley tornado claimed on air that he had been in his car when the tornado hit and that the tornado blew out his car windows. Although he is widely believed to have been killed by the second Fridley twister later that night (which did kill a 26-year-old man with a similar name), the caller was actually a teacher at Fridley Junior High School who survived. The tornado also damaged the sign adorning the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. In all, both Fridley tornadoes damaged 1,100 homes and destroyed about 425; total losses reached $14.5 million, $5 million of which was to the Fridley school system. Photographs for the earlier Deephaven and second Fridley tornado were published in the Minneapolis Tribune (now Star Tribune) newspaper. Early radar images showed the supercells as they moved through the area.
Gregory, South Dakota
On May 8th, an F5 tornado tore through the town of Gregory, South Dakota, and became the only tornado to be rated as such in South Dakota's history. On the ground for around 30 miles, the tornado reached a mile wide and destroyed 7 farms, 3 of which were swept away. Fortunately, it resulted in no deaths.
Aftermath
The outbreak in Minnesota on May 6 was voted a tie by the Minnesota Climatology Office for the "fifth most significant Minnesota Weather Event of the 20th Century" with the 1965 Mississippi & Minnesota River Flooding. Considering this outbreak occurred just three weeks after the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, quick and successful warnings from the U.S. Weather Bureau and transmission from WCCO Radio kept the death toll relatively low. This was also the first time in Minnesota state history where civil defense sirens were used for severe weather purposes.