On April 14–15, 1886, a destructive tornado outbreak affected portions of the Midwestern and Southern United States. The outbreak generated at least 18 tornadoes, four of which were violent, including the St. Cloud–Sauk Rapids tornado, an F4 tornado that tore through the cities of St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids, and Rice, Minnesota, on April 14, destroying much of the town of Sauk Rapids and killing 72 people along its path. It is the deadliest tornado on record in Minnesota. Other tornadoes occurred in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas on the same day, suggesting the possibility of a large outbreak. In all, the entire outbreak killed at least 87 people and injured at least 324.[1][nb 2][nb 3][nb 4]
 Destruction in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, after the F4 tornado of April 14, 1886 | |
| Type | Tornado outbreak |
|---|---|
| Duration | April 14–15, 1886 |
| Tornadoes confirmed | ≥ 18 confirmed |
| Max. rating1 | F4 tornado |
| Fatalities | ≥ 87 fatalities, ≥ 324 injuries |
| Damage | [nb 1] |
| Areas affected | Midwestern and Southern United States |
| 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale | |
Confirmed tornadoes
editThe ratings for these tornadoes were done by tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis and are not official ratings.
| FU | F0 | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | F5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ? | ? | ? | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 18 |
April 14 event
edit| F# | Location | County / Parish | State | Time (UTC) | Path length | Max. width | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F2 | Shubert | Richardson | NE | 21:00–? | 5 miles (8.0 km) | 100 yards (91 m) | 1 death – Tornado injured 10 people and destroyed or damaged three or more homes.[12] |
| F2 | Lake Reno to Lake Mary | Pope, Douglas | MN | 21:00–? | 9 miles (14 km) | Unknown | Tornado destroyed or damaged six barns on five farmsteads. A few homes lost their roofs or tipped onto their sides.[12] |
| F4 | S of Griswold to NNE of Coon Rapids | Cass, Audubon, Guthrie, Carroll | IA | 21:00–? | 55 miles (89 km) | 400 yards (370 m) | 3 deaths – Long-tracked tornado family destroyed or damaged 70 farmhouses, several of which were swept clean of debris, leaving only foundations behind. Hundreds of cattle were killed and a train was thrown off its tracks. Tornado also destroyed 32 structures in Coon Rapids, nine of which were homes. 18 injuries were reported along the path and losses were estimated at $100,000.[12] |
| F4 | SSW of St. Cloud to Sauk Rapids to SSE of Rice | Stearns, Benton | MN | 22:20–? | 25 miles (40 km) | 800 yards (730 m) | 72 deaths – See section on this tornado – 213 people were injured and losses totaled $400,000.[12] |
| F2 | ESE of Oneida | Nemaha | KS | 22:30–? | 3 miles (4.8 km) | 200 yards (180 m) | Tornado injured four children and destroyed several homes.[12] |
| F2 | E of Hubbard to E of Park Rapids | Hubbard | MN | 22:30–? | 10 miles (16 km) | 200 yards (180 m) | Tornado injured seven people, downed hundreds of trees, unroofed a few farmhouses, and destroyed a number of barns. As the tornado crossed Long Lake it tossed water 100 ft (30 m) high.[12] |
| F4 | SW of Little Rock to SW of Buckman | Benton, Morrison | MN | 22:50–? | 14 miles (23 km) | 200 yards (180 m) | 2 deaths – Tornado formed from the same supercell as the St. Cloud–Sauk Rapids F4. Two entire farms were obliterated and seven people were injured. "Tons" of debris from St. Cloud littered the landscape.[13] |
| F2 | E of Story City | Story | IA | 23:00–? | 3 miles (4.8 km) | 70 yards (64 m) | Tornado caused one injury and unroofed or partly destroyed three homes, one of which lost its upper story. Several barns were destroyed as well.[13] |
| F2 | N of Circleville to E of Wetmore | Jackson, Nemaha | KS | 23:30–? | 7 miles (11 km) | 50 yards (46 m) | Tornado injured four people and destroyed four homes, along with stables and barns.[13][14] |
| F2 | NW of Churdan | Greene | IA | 00:00–? | Unknown | Unknown | Tornado destroyed several barns.[13] |
| F3 | Lickskillet to Strahan to Wheeler Grove | Fremont, Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie | IA | 00:15–? | 45 miles (72 km) | 100 yards (91 m) | Long-tracked tornado family destroyed at least 15 homes. Tornado began south of Thurman and passed west of Sidney. Near Sidney a school was destroyed and scattered for 2 mi (3.2 km). At Strahan the tornado destroyed a church and a store. Five homes, a church, and several other structures were damaged or destroyed in Wheeler Grove. Five injuries occurred along the path.[13][14] |
| F4 | N of Mound City to Burlington Junction | Holt, Nodaway | MO | 01:30–? | 15 miles (24 km) | 300 yards (270 m) | 6 deaths – Tornado destroyed structures on 15 farmsteads, including four homes that were leveled. 20 injuries were reported.[13] |
| F3 | NW of Bedford to Prescott | Taylor, Adams | IA | 01:45–? | 20 miles (32 km) | 200 yards (180 m) | Tornado injured 15 people and destroyed several homes, leaving only scattered pieces of lumber behind.[13] |
| F2 | Blodgett | Scott | MO | 03:00–? | Unknown | Unknown | 3 deaths – Tornado injured two people and destroyed three farmhouses.[13] |
| F2 | W of Orient to E of Greenfield | Adair | IA | 03:00–? | 5 miles (8.0 km) | 100 yards (91 m) | Tornado injured two people and destroyed three farmhouses.[13] |
| F3 | S of Rhome | Wise, Denton | TX | 03:45–? | 15 miles (24 km) | 300 yards (270 m) | Tornado produced possible F4–F5 damage to five farmsteads, but little information was available with which to assign a rating higher than F3. 13 injuries were reported along the path, and total losses reached $100,000. One death may have occurred.[13] |
| F3 | SW of Terrell | Kaufman | TX | 04:00–? | 4 miles (6.4 km) | 200 yards (180 m) | Farms were obliterated, possibly at F4 intensity, but information was insufficient with which to assign a rating higher than F3.[13] |
April 15 event
edit| F# | Location | County / Parish | State | Time (UTC) | Path length | Max. width | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F2 | Island Ford | Rutherford | NC | 23:00–? | 5 miles (8.0 km) | Unknown | Tornado injured five people and destroyed a few homes.[13] |
St. Cloud–Sauk Rapids, Minnesota
edit| F4 tornado | |
|---|---|
 The Sauk Rapids courthouse in ruins | |
| Formed | April 14, 1886 4:20 p.m. CST (UTC−06:00) Stearns County, Minnesota |
| Max. rating1 | F4 tornado |
| Fatalities | 72 fatalities, 213 injuries |
| Damage | $400,000 (1886 USD) $13.6 million (2024 USD) |
| Areas affected | Central Minnesota, United States |
| 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale | |
At 4:20 p.m., a tornado of approximately F4 intensity cut through the heart of Sauk Rapids. It was one of at least four tornadoes that affected the region between 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. that day. It had a maximum width of 1⁄2 mi (0.80 km) and covered an area of 14 mi (23 km).[15] As the storm moved across the Mississippi River, it temporarily sucked the river dry.[15] Some of the structures the tornado destroyed included an iron truss bridge spanning the Mississippi River, the post office, the courthouse, a flour mill, a school, and two churches.[15][14] 15 railcars were demolished, and iron rails from the train track were pulled up and mangled.[14] After passing through Sauk Rapids, the tornado moved on to Rice, where it killed 11 people in a wedding party, including the groom, when the home they were occupying was destroyed. In all, 72 people were killed by the twister, including 38 in Sauk Rapids and 20 in St. Cloud. Over 200 more were injured.[16][17][18]
Impact, aftermath, and recovery
edit
St. Benedict's Hospital in St. Cloud, which was spared by the tornado, became the center of relief efforts following the destruction. The Benedictine nuns who operated the hospital worked 48 hours straight until aid arrived from the nearby towns of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Over 50 patients were taken to St. Mary's school and convent in St. Joseph, where the teaching sisters served as nurses.[19]
Before the tornado struck, Sauk Rapids was considered one of the most important towns in Minnesota and a center of business for central Minnesota.[20][21] It was a blossoming community located on the Mississippi River. However, the tornado changed the economic structure of the entire area, destroying at least 109 commercial and public buildings in Sauk Rapids alone, including every business on Main Street, and causing over $400,000 ($13,564,000 in 2024) in damages.[21][22] After the tornado, St. Cloud became the dominant business center in the region.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ All losses are in 1886 USD unless otherwise noted.
- ^ An outbreak is generally defined as a group of at least six tornadoes (the number sometimes varies slightly according to local climatology) with no more than a six-hour gap between individual tornadoes. An outbreak sequence, prior to (after) the start of modern records in 1950, is defined as a period of no more than two (one) consecutive days without at least one significant (F2 or stronger) tornado.[2]
- ^ The Fujita scale was devised under the aegis of scientist T. Theodore Fujita in the early 1970s. Prior to the advent of the scale in 1971, tornadoes in the United States were officially unrated.[3][4] While the Fujita scale has been superseded by the Enhanced Fujita scale in the U.S. since February 1, 2007,[5] Canada utilized the old scale until April 1, 2013;[6] nations elsewhere, like the United Kingdom, apply other classifications such as the TORRO scale.[7]
- ^ Historically, the number of tornadoes globally and in the United States was and is likely underrepresented: research by Grazulis on annual tornado activity suggests that, as of 2001, only 53% of yearly U.S. tornadoes were officially recorded. Documentation of tornadoes outside the United States was historically less exhaustive, owing to the lack of monitors in many nations and, in some cases, to internal political controls on public information.[8] Most countries only recorded tornadoes that produced severe damage or loss of life.[9] Significant low biases in U.S. tornado counts likely occurred through the early 1990s, when advanced NEXRAD was first installed and the National Weather Service began comprehensively verifying tornado occurrences.[10]
- ^ a b All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time and dates are split at midnight CST/CDT for consistency.
- ^ a b Prior to 1994, only the average widths of tornado paths were officially listed.[11]
References
edit- ^ Zurek 2002
- ^ Schneider, Russell S.; Brooks, Harold E.; Schaefer, Joseph T. (2004). Tornado Outbreak Day Sequences: Historic Events and Climatology (1875-2003) (PDF). 22nd Conf. Severe Local Storms. Hyannis, Massachusetts: American Meteorological Society. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 141.
- ^ Grazulis 2001a, p. 131.
- ^ Edwards, Roger (5 March 2015). "Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage". The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC). Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale)". Environment and Climate Change Canada. 6 June 2013. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "The International Tornado Intensity Scale". Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. 2016. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ Grazulis 2001a, pp. 251–4.
- ^ Edwards, Roger (5 March 2015). "The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC)". Storm Prediction Center: Frequently Asked Questions about Tornadoes. Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ Cook, A. R.; Schaefer, J. T. (August 2008). Written at Norman, Oklahoma. "The Relation of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to Winter Tornado Outbreaks". Monthly Weather Review. 136 (8). Boston: American Meteorological Society: 3135. Bibcode:2008MWRv..136.3121C. doi:10.1175/2007MWR2171.1.
- ^ Brooks, Harold E. (April 2004). "On the Relationship of Tornado Path Length and Width to Intensity". Weather and Forecasting. 19 (2). Boston: American Meteorological Society: 310. Bibcode:2004WtFor..19..310B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019<0310:OTROTP>2.0.CO;2.
- ^ a b c d e f Grazulis 1993, p. 637.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Grazulis 1993, p. 639.
- ^ a b c d USASC 1886, p. 101.
- ^ a b c Seeley, Mark W. (2006). Minnesota Weather Almanac. Minnesota Historical Society press. ISBN 0-87351-554-4.
- ^ Hill 2019
- ^ "Minnesota Tornado History and Statistics".
- ^ Welter 2013
- ^ Dominik, John J. (1986). That You May Find Healing. St. Cloud, Minn: St. Cloud Hospital. p. 8.
- ^ "Sauk Rapids History". City of Sauk Rapids. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
- ^ a b "Communities In Crisis". Stearns County History Museum. Archived from the original on 2011-03-23. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
- ^ "April in the Upper Midwest". Intellicast. Archived from the original on 2006-08-15. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1886 Sauk Rapids tornado.
Sources
edit- "Winds". Monthly Weather Review. 14 (4). Washington, D.C.: United States Army Signal Corps: 100–1. April 1886. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1886)14[100b:W]2.0.CO;2.
- Hill, E. S. (2019). "SBM.05d Aftermath of the cyclone in St. Cloud that left 58 dead and hundreds injured, April 14, 1886". St. Cloud, MN: Image Collection of the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- Grazulis, Thomas P. (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-03-1.
- Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001a). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0.
- Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001b). F5-F6 Tornadoes. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films.
- Welter, Ben (May 6, 2013). "April 15, 1886: St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids in ruins". Star Tribune. OCLC 43369847. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- Zurek, Ronald Christopher (2002). Sauk Rapids and Benton County. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738519609. - Total pages: 128
External links
edit- Section of With Lamps Burning discussing the cyclone from the book With Lamps Burning, an early history of the Saint Benedict's Monastery, by Grace McDonald. Made available online by the College of Saint Benedict Archives.