Tornado outbreak sequence of June 1966

The tornado outbreak sequence of June 1966 was a series of large and devastating tornado outbreaks which occurred between June 2 and June 12, 1966. The nearly two week event of severe weather was mainly concentrated in the Midwestern (Great Plains) region of the United States, but was widely spread out to areas as far south as Texas and Florida, and as far east as New York.

The most powerful and destructive tornado of this event occurred on the early evening of Wednesday, June 8, when Topeka, Kansas was struck by an F5 rated tornado. It started on the southwest side of town, moving northeast, passing through several subdivisions and over a local landmark named Burnett's Mound. 57 tornadoes were confirmed during the 11-day span, which left 18 people dead and 543 injured (17 of the 18 deaths and 450 of the injuries were attributed to the Topeka tornado).

Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating

FU	F0	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	Total
5	12	17	18	2	2	1	57

June 3 event

List of reported tornadoes - Friday, June 3, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
South Dakota
F?	Aurora		2300		Brief touchdown, no damage reported. Tornado was confirmed but was not given a rating.
F0	Yankton		0200		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
Sources: [2]Template:Category handler,

June 4 event

List of reported tornadoes - Saturday, June 4, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Colorado
F0	Logan		2300		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
Wisconsin
F2	Oconto		0100		First of the F2 triplet tornadoes in Oconto County. Barns were destroyed.
F2	Oconto		0100		Second of the F2 triplet tornadoes in Oconto County.
F2	Oconto		0100		Last of the F2 triplet tornadoes in Oconto County.
Nebraska
F?	Morrill		0148		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
South Dakota
F2	Gregory		330		1.5 mile wide tornado caused severe damage.

June 5 event

List of reported tornadoes - Sunday, June 5, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Nebraska
F2	Boone		0608		1 Injury – Brief touchdown injured one person.
F?	Madison		0612		Brief touchdown, no damage reported. Tornado was confirmed but was not given an F-Scale intensity.
Minnesota
F0	Pipestone		1200		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
Oklahoma
F0	Baine		2300		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F2	Kay		2350		1 Injury – A house was pushed 12 feet off of its foundation and another was badly damaged. Barns were destroyed as well.
F0	Garfield		0030		No damage reported. First of four tornadoes to hit Garfield County in only 30 minutes.
F1	Grant		0030		Quarter-mile-wide tornado caused damage to structures.
F2	Garfield		0035		6 Injuries – Tornado struck Enid and caused $250,000 in damages. 3 trailers were destroyed and 3 others were damaged. 11 homes had their roofs torn off and 112 others were damaged. Boxcars were overturned and a truck garage was destroyed. Second of four tornadoes to hit Garfield County in only 30 minutes.
F0	Garfield		0055		Third of four tornadoes to hit Garfield County in only 30 minutes.
F1	Garfield		0100		Last of four tornadoes to hit Garfield County in only 30 minutes.
Missouri
F1	Gentry		0000		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
Iowa
F2	Linn		0430

June 6 event

List of reported tornadoes - Monday, June 6, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Kentucky
F2	McCracken, Madison		1800		Strong tornado injured two. Grazulis did not list this event, impling that the damage was actually caused by straight-line winds.
Florida
F1	Pinellas		2030		Brief touchdown injured one.

June 7 event

List of reported tornadoes - Tuesday, June 7, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Kansas
F?	Wallace		2310		Brief touchdown, no damage reported. Tornado was confirmed but was not given an F-Scale intensity.
F0	McPherson		2330		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
F?	Ellis		0100		Brief touchdown caused minor damage. Tornado was confirmed but was not given an F-Scale intensity.
Missouri
F0	Stoddard		2330		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
Oklahoma
F0	Ellis		0000		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.

June 8 event

List of reported tornadoes - Wednesday, June 8, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Florida
F0	Miami-Dade		1200		No damage reported.
F1	Miami-Dade		1700		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
Kansas
F0	Rice		2118		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F2	Clay		2337		Caused damage to farms.
F3	Riley		0000		At least 65 Injuries – Enormous 1.2 mile wide tornado, caused $5 million in damage in Manhattan. KSU campus sustained $1,850,000 in damage alone. 11 homes were destroyed and others were unroofed. An apartment building and 66 trailers were destroyed as well.
F5	Shawnee		0100		17 Deaths 500+ Injuries – See section on this tornado
F2	Leavenworth		0115		Trailers were destroyed and a home was unroofed. First of two tornadoes to hit Leavenworth County.
F4	Leavenworth		0200		1 Death 2 Injuries – One home was leveled and a car was thrown and destroyed. Second of two tornadoes to hit Leavenworth County.
Oklahoma
F1	Caddo		2330		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
F0	Washita		0000		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F0	Caddo		0120		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.

June 9 event

List of reported tornadoes - Thursday, June 9, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Illinois
F0	Cook		1110		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F2	Cook		1115		Brief touchdown.
F2	Cook		1120		1 Death 30 Injuries – Tornado unroofed homes and apartment buildings in the area. A trailer was destroyed as well.
Florida
F1	Jackson		1200		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
F?	Jackson		1605		Brief touchdown, no damage reported. Tornado was confirmed but was not given an F-Scale intensity.
Michigan
F2	Barry		1400		Tornado caused moderate damage in the area.
New York
F0	Erie		2200		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.

June 10 event

List of reported tornadoes - Friday, June 10, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Texas
F2	Swisher		0130		Long track tornado.
F1	Swisher		0130		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F0	Swisher		0130		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.

June 11 event

List of reported tornadoes - Saturday, June 11, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Minnesota
F1	Minnesota		2115		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
F4	Crow Wing, Cass		2300		Very long track half-mile-wide tornado completely leveled several farms, and damaged at least 20 others. Two homes sustained near F5-damage with only clean slabs remaining. Thousands of trees were snapped and 3 people were injured.
Iowa
F2	Polk		2345
F2	Mitchell		0100
F1	Marshall		0145		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
F2	Boone		0230
F1	Story		0300		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.

June 12 event

List of reported tornadoes - Sunday, June 12, 1966
F#	County	Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Kansas
F1	Douglas		2201		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
Missouri
F0	Clay		2245		Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F1	Monroe		2330		Brief touchdown caused minor damage.
Texas
F3	Denton		0045

Topeka, Kansas

This violent tornado began developing at 6:55 p.m. Central Time on June 8, touching down west of the city. The National Weather Service could not detect the developing tornado on radar as the Topeka forecast office used a modified military radar that was donated by the U.S. government after World War II. While it was state-of-the-art for the time, it had limited ability to detect tornadic activity compared to Doppler weather radar. Around 7:30 p.m., a 1/4 to 1/2-mile (400–800 m) wide tornado tracked into the southwest side of town, moving northeast, and passed over Burnett's Mound. Bill Kurtis, then a fill-in reporter at WIBW-TV (channel 13; then a hybrid CBS/ABC/NBC affiliate, now CBS) delivered the message to take shelter from the devastating storm by telling viewers calmly but sternly, "for God's sake, take cover!"

After broadcasting a take-cover report on the air while driving down the winding road on Burnett's Mound with the tornado approaching his direction, Rick Douglass, a reporter for radio station WREN (1250 AM, now KYYS), attempted to take shelter under an overpass, while trying to do a second live report on the storm. Douglass was carried by the tornado, becoming airborne for a few seconds, and was dropped over one block away. Douglass, whose clothes were ripped from his body, was pushed by the strong winds along the ground until the tornado passed on to make a six-block swath across Topeka. Douglass was found with dirt and debris covering his body. When he arrived at an area hospital, a nurse placed a cover over Douglass's face – believing he had perished. In an interview with The History Channel's Wrath of God, Douglass stated that he then pulled off the cover, resulting in the attending nurse wincing in reaction, Douglass found shards of debris in his skin for several years after the tornado and was left with a smell he described in the interview as "a mix of blood, guts, wood and metal" for several weeks.

The tornado first struck residential areas, cleanly sweeping away entire rows of homes and hurling vehicles hundreds of yards through the air. Grass was scoured from the ground according to eyewitnesses. Washburn University took a direct hit, and many large stone buildings on campus were badly damaged or destroyed. A 300-pound section of stone wall was torn from one building and thrown two miles away. One vehicle on campus was reportedly lofted over the top of the university's ROTC building, before coming to rest on the 50-yard line of the football field. The tornado ripped through the central part of the city, hitting the downtown area. Buses were crushed when the transportation barn was collapsed by the tornado, and trains on the Santa Fe Railway were overturned. Most of the downtown buildings were badly damaged or had windows blown out. Cars were flipped and tossed, and streets were blocked with debris. Many workers at the AT&T building downtown took shelter after a co-worker warned them of the approaching tornado, which could not be heard through the soundproof operator's room. The building incurred only light damage. The Kansas State Capitol building was also damaged when debris struck the dome removing one of the copper panels.

As the storm raged through the downtown area, meteorologists at the National Weather Service Topeka forecast office, located at Philip Billard Municipal Airport, took shelter as the tornado tracked through the airport, flipping over several airplanes. At 7:29 p.m., 34 minutes after it touched down, the tornado dissipated after ripping through the airport. By this time, the tornado had traversed of the city, with a damage path width of . The most intense damage occurred in residential areas on the east side of town, due to the closely spaced housing units. Homes and other buildings along the tornado's path were obliterated, and the National Weather Service Topeka forecast office years later rated the tornado at F5 on the Fujita scale.

Then-mayor Chuck Wright later issued a decree that those caught looting would be shot on sight. The Kansas National Guard was called in. Streets in devastated areas of the city were filled with sightseers checking out the ruins of homes and businesses, which hampered efforts from first responders to find those missing under rubble. Families of victims also came to the scene to try to find them.

A total of 820 homes were destroyed and 3,000 others were damaged. 250 businesses were destroyed and 2,390 were damaged including a major shopping center. 330 of the damaged homes and businesses suffered major damage and the other 5,000 received lesser degrees of damage. Hundreds of apartments were destroyed. Many government buildings, public buildings, other structures and much other property were damaged or destroyed.

Overall, 16 people were killed, and many others were injured. However, it is believed that had the tornado hit during school and work hours or during the night, that as many as 5,000 people would have been killed. Bill Kurtis was credited for saving many lives with his urgent message to take cover.

According to a local Native American legend, Burnett's Mound (a local landmark that was named after Potawatomi Indian chief Abram Burnett, and also believed to be an ancient Native American burial ground) was thought to protect the city from tornadoes, suggesting that the hill would cause a tornado that was approaching Topeka to disintegrate. A few years earlier, a water tower had been built directly on the mound, which sparked controversy among Topeka residents who felt it could impede the mound's reputed protective effect. Ten other tornadoes had struck the city since state records began in 1889, but the 1966 tornado was worse than any of the others.

Casualties

Outbreak death toll

State	Total	County	County total
Kansas	17	Leavenworth	1
		Shawnee	16
Illinois	1	Cook	1
Totals	18
All deaths were tornado-related

See also

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• List of tornadoes striking downtown areas

External links

• Tornado Damage Patterns in Topeka, Kansas, June 8, 1966 (Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 95, No. 6)
  • Comments on “Tornado Damage Patterns in Topeka, Kansas, June 8, 1966” (Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 96, No. 3)
  • Reply (Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 96, No. 3)
• NWS Topeka page
• Topeka Capital-Journal online
• Access Menninger photographs and documents on Kansas Memory, the Kansas State Historical Society's digital portal
• The Topeka Tornado of 1966: Never Before Published Damage Photos