Tuesday marks 60 years since deadly Twin Cities tornado outbreak
Tuesday marks 60 years since one of the worst tornado outbreaks in Minnesota history.
On May 6, 1965, six tornadoes touched down in different parts of the Twin Cities, killing 13 people and injuring more than 500 others.
"I believe there was a count of about 1,300 people left homeless after the event," said Tyler Hasenstein, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
That day had just about everything in terms of severe weather. An unseasonably warm day gave way to an evening of rain, hail, lightning and then multiple tornadoes, beginning in Carver County, not far from where the National Weather Service is today.
"There has not been another documented instance of this many F4 or higher tornadoes in Minnesota since this date," Hasenstein said.
He said four of the tornadoes were F4s, meaning their wind speeds reached well over 200 mph. As the storms moved east, pictures show a home destroyed in Chanhassen, a mangled car in a tree near Waconia and a trailer park decimated in Fridley.
Fridley may have been hit the worst. Two F4 tornadoes touched down in the city within an hour and a half of each other.
"That's something that you really do not see very often at all," Hasenstein said.
A roof was also ripped off a Fridley school building.
"This was actually the first event where the outdoor warning sirens were used for severe weather," he said.
Because radar was primitive back then, Hasenstein said WCCO Radio played a big role in getting the word out so people could take cover. Still, after the weather cleared, 13 people were dead and $51 million in damage had been done.
"In terms of just the overall strength of the tornadoes that did happen, it would be considered one of, if not the worst, in Minnesota history," he said.
In all, the National Weather Service says six counties around the Twin Cities were impacted by that outbreak.
