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Tornado outbreak sequence of June 1966

A photograph of the F5 Topeka, Kansas tornado.
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	June 3–12
Tornadoes confirmed	57
Max. rating	F5 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak	~11 days
Fatalities	18 fatalities, 543 injuries
Damage	$250 million (1966 USD) $2,348 million (2023 USD)
Areas affected	Southern and Midwestern United States, Great Plains
Part of the tornado outbreaks of 1966 Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale Time from first tornado to last tornado

The Tornado outbreak sequence of June 1966 was a series of tornado outbreaks which occurred between June 2 and June 12. 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 destructive tornado of this event occurred on the early evening of Wednesday, June 8, 1966, 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

June 3 event

June 4 event

June 5 event

June 6 event

June 7 event

June 8 event

June 9 event

June 10 event

June 11 event

June 12 event

Topeka, Kansas

Topeka, Kansas

Heavy structural damage in the capital city of Topeka, Kansas.
Meteorological history
Formed	June 8, 1966 (7:03 PM CST)
Dissipated	June 8, 1966 (7:29 PM CST)
Duration	26 minutes
F5 tornado
on the Fujita scale
Highest winds	>261 mph (420 km/h)
Overall effects
Casualties	556
Fatalities	16
Injuries	550
Damage	$100,000,000 (1966 USD)
Areas affected	Downtown Topeka, Kansas

A violent tornado began developing at 6:55 p.m. Central Time on June 8, touching down 8 miles (13 km) 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 22 miles (35 km) of the city, with a damage path width of 1⁄2 mile (800 m). 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 250 feet (76 m) 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

See also

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

References

1. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
2. Schneider, Russell S.; Harold E. Brooks; Joseph T. Schaefer. "Tornado Outbreak Day Sequences: Historic Events and Climatology (1875-2003)" (PDF). Norman, Oklahoma: Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
3. "NCDC Storm Events-Select State". Archived from the original on 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
4. US Department of Commerce, NOAA. "Tornado Listing". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
5. "City Officials set Damage at $5 Million". Topeka Capital-Journal. 1966-06-10. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
6. "For God's Sake:" Bill Kurtis recalls delivering 1966 warning. 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2024-08-07 – via www.wibw.com.
7. ^ "Twist of Fate Topeka tornado 50 years later Bill Kurtis". YouTube.
8. "Episode 7: The 1966 Topeka Tornado". YouTube.
9. ^ "Stories of the 1966 Topeka Tornado". Washburn.edu. Washburn University. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
10. extremeplanet (2013-03-11). "Analysis of Violent Tornadoes that have Struck Downtown Areas |". Extremeplanet.me. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
11. "Washburn university Devastation and Recovery". Washburn.edu. Washburn University. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
12. "Episode 7: The 1966 Topeka Tornado". YouTube.
13. Archived November 14, 2005, at the Wayback Machine

Notes

1. 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) modern records that began in 1950, is defined as, at most, two (one) consecutive days without at least one significant (F2 or stronger) tornado.
2. All damage totals are in 1966 United States dollars unless otherwise noted.

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

1. US Department of Commerce, NOAA. "June 8th 1966 Topeka Tornado". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 2024-11-15.

• F5 tornadoes
• Tornadoes of 1966
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• Tornadoes in Wisconsin
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• Tornadoes in Oklahoma
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• Tornadoes in Florida
• Tornadoes in Kansas
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• Shawnee County, Kansas
• 1966 natural disasters in the United States
• June 1966 events in the United States