Whenever you look at tornado statistics, you may often see that tornado data is labeled as "since 1950." This is because 1950 is when the National Weather Service began systematically surveying and classifying tornadoes in the monthly "Storm Data Publication" papers. Before this, tornadoes, if they had been documented at all, were sparse. Reasons for this vary, including the Weather Bureau's dissatisfaction with tornado research (until the 1940s, the word "tornado" was banned from weather forecasts; read about why here), sparse population, and a lack of organized tornado damage. Thus, since 1950, we have enough reliable tornado data to keep in the database.
Yet, long-time readers of This Week in Weather History may notice that many tornadoes documented before 1950 also have extensive data, including ratings. This is almost solely due to the work of one meteorologist, Thomas Grazulis. Beginning in 1979, he took a cross-country trip to create a database of tornadoes that date before 1950. He read newspaper accounts, visited local libraries, and talked to residents. His seminal work, Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991, achieved significant success both inside and outside the world of weather. It is due to his backbreaking research that we have a comprehensive database of tornadoes before 1950.
In his studies, he attempted to assign a modern tornado rating based on accounts and photographs. If he is uncertain about a rating, he puts it in the narrative of the tornado specified.
Take, for example, two classified F-4 tornadoes (in his view) that occurred in Pottawattamie & Harrison Counties in western Iowa. Both tornadoes tore parallel tracks within a few miles of each other, levelling homes as they went along. Yet the rating is disputed by Grazulis: "Both events may have produced F-5 damage, but that cannot be known for certain," and "Both tornadoes may have been F-5, but F-5 appearances may be the result of a house hit twice by tornadoes of lesser intensity."
Therefore, in this installment of This Week in Weather History, we will examine these twin F-4s (or F-5s) to see the damage they caused to rural areas between Neola & Persia.
THE SET-UP
The tornadoes of June 1925 did not occur in a single afternoon, but over two days. Multi-day tornado outbreaks in the same location are rare, but they can happen.
1925 weather data is sparse, but we can gather a picture of what happened based on 1925 observations, combined with computer reanalysis. The daily weather map from 1925 shows a large low-pressure system over western Nebraska. Ahead of this system lay hot and humid air; the high temperature in Omaha was 82. The trigger for storms was a cold front moving through eastern Nebraska. This is a typical severe weather setup for the region.
By June 3, the daily weather map shows the first storm system being whisked away into the Great Lakes. Normally, this would signal the end of severe weather, but not this time. Off to the west, a second storm system was over Utah and quickly pushing east. The lack of a strong cold front meant that the hot and humid airmass from the day before was still over Nebraska and Iowa. This set the stage for a second wave of severe weather the afternoon of June 3, including the violent tornadoes over Harrison County.
THE JUNE 2 TORNADOES
The June 2 tornadoes were more numerous and widespread than the following day. According to records, eastern Nebraska and western Iowa had at least 8 tornadoes, but likely more that are unaccounted for. Of these 8 tornadoes, 3 are classified as F-4, or violent. In total, it's one of the most widespread tornado events in the early 20th century for the region.
The first tornado, rated F-2, damaged a few farmsteads north of Clarkson in Stanton County. No one was killed or injured by this tornado.
To the west, the first violent tornado began west of Madison. This tornado was short-lived, a few miles long, but it produced major damage. At one home, Rev. Henry Zinnecker, from the Methodist Church in Tilden, was driving to Beemer when the tornado hit. He ran for the basement of the home, but he did not make it in time, and was killed when debris hit him. Next door, the wife of Robert Scheer was home alone when the tornado hit. The home was lifted and thrown 50 feet from the foundation, killing her and a hired farm hand. More homes were damaged farther east, but the tornado quickly lifted.
As the storms continued over northeast Nebraska, attention swung down to Otoe County, where an estimated F-3 tornado began northeast of Douglas. The tornado missed Unadilla to the west by less than a mile. Residents witnessed the tornado pass by, destroying homes in the open farmland. The tornado likely lifted before reaching Cass County, though several more tornadoes may have continued southeast of Weeping Water, where several homes were damaged.
By evening, the storms began to move into western Iowa. In Monona County, a tornado crossed over Blue Lake west of Onawa, damaging some homes. The second violent tornado then began in the Little Sioux Valley near Ticonic. This tornado destroyed several homes around Rodney before moving into Woodbury County.
It was likely the same storm that produced the tornado near Unadilla that dropped another south of Plattsmouth. This one made a beeline for Glenwood and Silver City. In Glenwood, several homes were damaged, a roof was blown off a hotel, and the Methodist Church sustained damage. The business district was spared from the tornado. North of town, three people were injured when the tornado blew their home away. The tornado continued to do damage on the outskirts of Silver City before lifting.
In neighboring Montgomery County, an estimated F-3 tornado began in the Nishabotna River Valley on the north edge of Red Oak. One home was destroyed northeast of town. The tornado did more damage to barns before lifting west of Morton Mills.
Finally, the third violent tornado began in Cass County, just north of Anita. This tornado did its worst damage in neighboring Guthrie County, where a father and two daughters were killed.
8 tornadoes, 3 dead, dozens injured, and thousands in property damage. It was a devastating day, but the event was not over yet.
JUNE 3, PART 1, OMAHA WIND
All accounts show that the events on June 3rd were less widespread than the previous day. The damage was likely done by a single storm. This storm developed right over the Omaha metro. Hail up to the size of eggs fell, shattering windshields and damaging siding. The rain was so heavy that some roads were flooded. Then came the wind.
The roof of a dance hall was ripped off in Millard. Beginning at Aksarben Field (present-day Aksarben Village), a high wind event occurred. There is no official documentation that a tornado went through the western side of Omaha (at the time, Omaha's borders only extended to 60th Street). But it is certainly possible it was a weak one. Whether it was straight-line wind or a tornado, the damage it did was significant.
The wind moved due north, crossing over Elmwood Park, the Fairacres Neighborhood, and Benson. At Krug Park, along Maple St, multiple people were injured by debris. Several homes suffered major damage near 48th and Grant in North Omaha, with a few more injuries. In this Omaha "tornado", no one was killed.
JUNE 3, PART 2, THE DOUBLE F-4(5?)s
As this storm moved into western Iowa, it produced not one, but two violent tornadoes. This is exceptionally rare. Another example of this happening is with the Pilger tornadoes in June 2014 over northeast Nebraska. Newspaper accounts mention the first tornado began after 5, with the second one beginning 10 minutes later.
The exact track of the tornadoes is unclear. Based on this author's research, the tornadoes began in the same spot, two miles north of Neola. The families on the farms sheltered in the basement when the first tornado hit, sweeping away the home and other buildings. Then, once the families emerged from the shelter, the second tornado hit and swept away the debris from the first. Three people were injured on these farms.
The first tornado moved northeast into Harrison County, striking the village of Yorkshire head-on. Home to a half-dozen structures, Yorkshire was leveled. The merchandise store was destroyed, the railroad depot split in two, and homes were torn from their foundations. The damage was so severe, Thomas Grazulis has plausibly claimed the tornado achieved F-5 intensity near Yorkshire. The tornado continued northeast before lifting by the Shelby County line.
The second tornado, also plausibly an F-5 according to Grazulis, took a more northward track toward Persia. Like its twin, homes were leveled west of Yorkshire. As the tornado approached the south side of Persia, it took a life, the only life in these twin tornadoes. At the Archie Hammond residence, his family was in the home when the tornado hit. His wife was holding their two-month-old baby when she was thrown into a tree. The family suffered major injuries, and tragically, the two-month-old died. The tornado razed farm homes to the ground east of Persia before lifting.
The tornado produced a weaker tornado, an F-2, over Shelby County that damaged homes east of Tennant. More damage occurred to the east near Kimballton, but this was likely non-tornadic winds.
In total, 44 farm homes were destroyed in Pottawattamie & Harrison Counties. 23 people were injured, and one person died. Within days, help arrived from across Iowa and surrounding regions. The damage from both tornadoes was estimated at $750,000, $13 million today.
100 years later, the tornado is little remembered except in stories passed down through those who witnessed it. Yet, these two tornadoes remain some of the most intense tornadoes ever to impact western Iowa. F-4 or F-5, it was an experience that no one in Pottawattamie or Harrison Counties soon forgot.
