Tornadoes have a way of cementing themselves in a town's history, big or small. Towns often have a "before the tornado" and "after the tornado" markers as ways to cement dates, from an old time to a new life in the city. One such example is what occurred in 1965 in the small town of Primrose in Boone County, between Grand Island and Norfolk. At 4:55pm on May 8, an F-4 tornado nearly wiped out the town of around 100, killing 4 and destroying much of the town.
The Primrose tornado was one of a series of devastating tornadoes to affect the upper Midwest during the first few days of May 1965, from tornadoes in Minneapolis to central Nebraska, the outbreak is considered one of the largest in the state's history. In this installment of This Week in Weather History, we look back at the meteorology and the tornadoes of May 6-8, 1965.
THE SET-UP
Prior to early May 1965, the United States had been put on edge for tornadoes. On April 11, Palm Sunday, a slew of tornadoes struck parts of the Midwest. In particular, states such as Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio bore the brunt of the tornadoes. 37 tornadoes touched down on that Sunday, many of them being long-tracked and violent.
The catalyst for this renewed tornadic activity in early May began on May 5, when a large low-pressure system spun over South Dakota lifting due north into North Dakota and Canada. A warm front passed across Minnesota and Wisconsin, and a cold front passed through Nebraska. Ahead of this, multiple strong tornadoes touched down in Iowa and Minnesota.
By May 6, the low pressure system was weakening over Canada with the front towards Minneapolis. Southwest of this front, the prior cold front over Nebraska stalled to become a stationary front as other low-pressure systems began to form in Colorado. This set-up was prime for multiple violent tornadoes in the Minneapolis metro area.
May 7 was a transition day, where the second low-pressure system over Colorado began to strengthen as it slowly moved into northwest Kansas. That stationary front now became a warm front, situated over Nebraska. A few isolated tornadoes touched down in Kansas.
Then came May 8, the big day for Nebraska. That second low-pressure system began to lift north and intensify over Nebraska. A cold front was plowing east across the central part of the state, where temperatures were in the 80s ahead of it. By the afternoon, multiple large supercells developed and tracked north-northeast across central Nebraska into southern South Dakota.
MAY 6, 1975: THE "LONGEST NIGHT"
It's not often that a metropolitan area is hit by a violent tornado, let alone multiple. That is what happened in Minneapolis-St. Paul on the night of May 6. Known as the "Longest Night" by the locals. At least four, likely more tornadoes ripped through the western and northern suburbs of Minneapolis. The area which bore the brunt of the tornadoes was Fridley, a suburb north of Minneapolis. The town was hit by not one, not two, but three tornadoes that night! In the Twin Cities, 13 people were killed and caused $51,000,000 in damages (roughly 500 million today).
THE TORNADOES OF MAY 8
Official tornado count for May 8 in Nebraska is at least a dozen. However, it is likely more than official tornado counts due to the fact that many of the tornadoes were in reality "tornado families" meaning they touched down multiple times. So while it might seen many of these tornadoes were long-tracked, it is likely they were multiple tornadoes from one supercell. Many of them were violent however, with significant damage done to many counties and cities.
The first tornado touched down in the Sandhills north of North Platte, near the town of Stapleton. This tornado, likely not overly strong in the F-1 to F-2 range, skipped northward to near Valentine, doing "major damage" to a few farmsteads near Thedford.
The next series of tornadoes formed further east in Brown, Rock, and Keya Paha Counties. At least three tornadoes passed through these counties. Two of the tornadoes narrowly missed Ainsworth to the west and east, destroying homes and farmsteads over northern Brown County. A third tornado touched down south of Bassett in Rock County, passing to the north missing the county seat to the east, more farms were destroyed. All these tornadoes crossed the Niobrara River into Keya Paha County, missing Springview but hitting several farmsteads across the county. One home was "disintegrated" after being thrown 75 feet, leading some tornado experts to believe one of the tornadoes was violent. The tornadoes likely land in the F-2 to F-3 range across the three counties.
Just north of the Nebraska border, the strongest tornado of the event touched down in Tripp County, South Dakota. This F-5 tornado swept three homes completely away near Colome, where it did not even look like any homes were there. The Tripp County F-5 remains the strongest tornado in South Dakota history, and the only F-5 since official records have been kept in 1950.
Further east, in Holt County, an F-3 tornado touched down in the southwest corner of the county, heading in the general direction of Atkinson. Warning was given ahead of time, so many took shelter as the tornado missed the city by 4 miles to the east. Those in that region did not fare so well, as multiple homes were significantly damaged by the tornado. It lifted before reaching Boyd County, although a brief tornado touched down in the eastern section of the county.
In eastern Nebraska, other tornadoes occurred across the area. An F-2 tornado crossed from near Columbus to northern Colfax County, a few barns and homesteads were damaged. Near Hebron, an F-3 skipped across Thayer, Fillmore, Saline, and Seward Counties damaging a few homes and businesses. Finally, an F-1 touched down south of Wayne and crossed areas of Dixon and Dakota Counties, ending near Sioux City.
By far, the strongest tornadoes were two strings of tornadoes which crossed over central Nebraska north of Grand Island. The first of these F-4 tornadoes touched down in Howard County, southwest of St. Paul. This tornado touched down several times on it's 80 mile path through Howard, Greeley, Wheeler, Holt, and Antelope Counties. It narrowly missed the larger population centers, including Greeley proper. Though the structures it managed to hit suffered extensive damage. Although it likely was not on the ground the entire time, survey data suggests much of the path was spent on the ground.
The second violent tornado would ultimately be it's most famous was the tornado which hit Primrose in Boone County, a town of 117 people who lined a main street filled with trees. The tornado first touched down west of Grand Island, narrowly missing St. Paul as it barreled towards Primrose. Clocks stopped at 4:55pm as the tornado went right up Commerical St, the main road in town. As this magnificent video shows, the tornado changed form as it moved into the town. Nearly 90% of Primrose was destroyed, and four people unfortunately lost their lives in the tornado, the only fatalities of the tornadoes of May 8.
In terms of numbers, the May 8 1965 tornado outbreak constitutes as one of Nebraska's largest outbreaks, rivaled by that of March 23, 1913 or May 22, 2004. Damage was placed around $6,000,000 in 1965 money ($60,000,000 today).
