- 1969 Minnesota tornado outbreak
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1969 Minnesota tornado outbreak Date of tornado outbreak: August 6, 1969 Duration1: 6 hours Maximum rated tornado2: F4 tornado Tornadoes caused: 13 Damages: $88.4 million (2006 USD) Fatalities: 15 Areas affected: Central and Northern Minnesota 1Time from first tornado to last tornado
2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita ScaleThe 1969 Minnesota tornado outbreak was a tornado outbreak that affected portions of north central Minnesota on August 6, 1969. There were 13 confirmed tornadoes from the outbreak, 15 people were killed and 109 were injured.
Contents
Meteorological synopsis
Very warm, humid summertime air had pushed into central on southern Minnesota on August 6, 1969. Minneapolis saw a high temperature of 93 °F (34 °C) with dew points near 70 °F (21 °C).[1] Meanwhile, strong upper level winds over northern Minnesota and an approaching cold front from the west added the needed ingredient for the strong storms.[2]
Outbreak description
Thirteen tornadoes touched down that day, killing 15 and injuring 109. The first tornado of the day, an F0, touched down at 12:15 pm CDT in Beltrami County.[3] The main tornado event started about three hours later in Cass County when an F3 tornado touched down southwest of Backus, injuring four people.[4]
Outbreak death toll State Total County County
totalMinnesota 15 Aitkin 1 Cass 12 St. Louis 2 Totals 15 All deaths were tornado-related The most damaging tornado of the outbreak touched down at 3:48 pm in Crow Wing County. It achieved F4 strength, traveling 38 miles (61 km) through Crow Wing, Cass and Aitkin counties. The area around Outing was especially hard hit by this tornado, where 11 deaths and 40 injuries occurred on the shores of Roosevelt Lake.[5]
Several more strong tornadoes touched down over the next two hours, killing one person near Jacobson and two people near Two Harbors.[5] Damage and casualties were limited however because most of the twisters struck rural areas.
Confirmed tornadoes
- Table of confirmed tornadoes - after surveys by local weather service offices[6]
Confirmed
TotalConfirmed
F0Confirmed
F1Confirmed
F2Confirmed
F3Confirmed
F4Confirmed
F513 2 0 3 7 1 0 F# Location County Time (UTC) Path length Damage Minnesota F0 Bemidji Beltrami 1815 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)No Damage Reported. F3 Backus area Cass 2120 17.3 miles
(27.7 km)$2.5 Million in damages, 4 injuries. 5 miles NE of Nimrod to 4 mi ENE of Backus. F4 Outing area Crow Wing, Cass and Aitkin 2148 32.3 miles
(51.7 km)12 deaths occurred with 70 injuries, $7.5 Million in damages. Large F4 tornado hit the town of Outing at 1602 resulting in heavy damage. F3 NE of Chisholm St. Louis 2225 10 miles
(16 km)$2.5 million in damage. 9 injured F3 S of Jacobson Aitkin 2250 12.5 miles
(20 km)1 death 3 injured, $250k in damage. F2 S of Tower (1st tornado) St. Louis 2300 2 miles
(3.2 km)$25k in damage F2 S of Tower (2nd tornado) St. Louis 2300 1 mile
(1.6 km)$25k in damage F3 E of Tower St. Louis 2300 7.2 miles
(11.5 km)$250k in damage F3 Floodwood area St. Louis 2300 18.4 miles
(29.4 km)$2.5 million in damage. 20 injured F3 E of Soudan St. Louis 2315 3.8 miles
(6.1 km)$250k in damage F2 S of Ely St. Louis 2335 1.9 miles
(3 km)$25k in damage F3 N of Duluth to Two Harbors St. Louis, Lake 2350 17.2 miles
(27.5 km)2 deaths 3 injured, $250k in damage in St. Louis County. $2.5 k in damage in Lake County. Nebraska F0 NE of Monroe Platte 0140 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)Source: Tornado History Project - August 6, 1969 Storm Data See also
References
- ^ "Daily Weather Records for the Twin Cities: 1960's". NOAA. http://climate.umn.edu/doc/twin_cities/msp1960's.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
- ^ "Daily Weather Maps" (DJVU). U.S. Weather Bureau. 1969-08-10. http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/dwm/1969. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
- ^ "Event Record Details - Beltrami County F2". National Climatic Data Center. August 6, 1969. http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~73922. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Event Record Details - Cass County F3". National Climatic Data Center. August 6, 1969. http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~73924. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- ^ a b "Memorable Northland Storms". NOAA. 2005-09-14. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dlh/science/event_archive/arrowhead/arrowhead_svr.php. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
- ^ "Storm Events". National Climatic Data Center. http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwEvent~Storms. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
External links
Categories:- F4 tornadoes
- Tornadoes of 1969
- Tornadoes in Minnesota
- 1969 in Minnesota
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