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🌪️ Tornado Talk Updates!

It was very active with severe weather from Friday through Sunday and tragically there has been loss of life due to tornadoes. Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones in these events. They will be forever remembered.

The active weather started late Friday into Friday night as a complex storm system moved through parts of North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Around the Enderlin, ND area, three people lost their lives in two locations. They were Michael Dalton, 73, Katherine Ann Pfaff-Dehn, 73 and Marcario Machuca Lucio, 89.

Early Sunday morning, a line of severe storms spawned an EF1 tornado in Clarks Mills, Oneida County, NY. It caused trees to land on homes causing roofs to collapse. Tragically, three were killed. Two were 6-year-old twin sisters Emily and Kenni Bisson. In another home, Shelley Johnson, 50 lost her life.

🌪️ This Week In Tornado History

June 23, 1944 - West Virginia: A devastating outbreak of at least seven tornadoes ravaged portions of the Appalachian Mountains, from Ohio, through Southwestern Pennsylvania, across West Virginia, and into Maryland. An F4 occurred at Shinnston, WV, killing 100 people and injuring at least 381. It is the deadliest tornado in WV history, the 15th deadliest tornado in US history and only the second F4 tornado in West Virginia History. The only other one occurred during this outbreak.

June 24, 1914 - Wisconsin: An estimated F2 tornado destroyed a house and barn near Halder, WI. Per Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes, a wedding reception had been taking place when the storm started. The guests stayed late, waiting for the storm to end before heading home. There were five people killed, all in the barn, where the young people had gone to wait, and most of the 20 injuries were in the home. Barn debris was carried for over a mile.

June 25, 1902 - Kentucky: An F2 tornado across portions of Garrard and Madison Counties in Kentucky. An elderly man and a child were killed in a house 2 miles west of Berea. Two others died near Cartersville. At least 15 homes were destroyed.

June 26, 1994 - Tennessee/Alabama: Forty tornadoes were confirmed on this day per the Storm Prediction Center Tornado Database. One of the strongest pressed through parts of Southern Tennessee into Northern AL. The total path length was 38 miles, 35 of which was in TN. It began near the town of Lutts in Wayne County and moved southeast into Lawrence County. It tracked through through Iron City and the St. Joseph area. Approx. 75% of the buildings in Iron City were damaged and 19 people were injured. The tornado moved into Alabama causing significant damage to more than 14 homes in the Mary’s Chapel area.

June 27, 2015 - North Dakota: This EF2 tornado traveled three miles in Grand Forks County. Debris from this tornado was visible on radar. It snapped numerous trees in shelterbelts and partially debarked others. Peak winds were estimated at 120 mph.

June 28, 1979 - Iowa: 38 tornadoes occurred on this day, one was an F3 that barreled through the town of Algona, IA. It was photographed by John Cullen, a staff photographer for the Algona Upper Des Moines and the Kossuth County Advance Newspapers. There was damage to numerous farms and nearby crops before hitting Algona.In the town, 104 homes and 20 businesses were destroyed. 349 homes were damaged. Two women were killed in their homes. Per Thomas Grazulis, there was near-F4 damage to about 30 homes.

June 29, 1877 - Minnesota: Thomas Grazulis documents four tornadoes in Minnesota on this day. He gave a rating of F3 to three of them and one an F2 rating. There were three total fatalities. One F3 crossed through portions of Hennepin County. It was described as a “funnel shaped monster of the air….with a roar and rush of awful grandeur.” It moved at “Cold Spring”, 3 miles SW of Fort Snelling. Three homes and barns were lifted into the air. Pieces of furniture were carried six miles.

🌪️ Twister Time: Bonus Round

We continue to be impressed with the work done by The OTUS Project. They were chasing the tornadoes in North Dakota Friday night and captured night vision drone footage of a twister near Fort Ransom!

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