IAPALOAL-L Archives

From: "Cathy Joynt Labath" <>
Subject: [IAPALOAL] The Iowa Tornado of 1882
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 20:14:58 -0500

Progressive Men of Iowa
THE TORNADO OF 1882.

The second great tornado passed over a portion of central Iowa on the early
evening of Saturday, June 17, 1882. It was first seen by the citizens of
Greene county about 4 o'clock. An eye witness at Angus, in Boone county,
writes that "It hungover us for nearly an hour, whirling and increasing in
volume as the clouds from the northwest met those from the southeast,
joining together and whirling as the huge mass started off southeast. The
column, after traveling rapidly for a few minutes, seemed to put forth a
pointer to the earth, and immediately there arose from the column a black,
seething mass, and it traveled rapidly towards Ogden. It was a grand and
fearful sight. I have seen waterspouts at sea and this looked exactly like
them." It seems first to have reached the ground on the west side of the Des
Moines river, some six miles northwest of Madrid, where the destruction
began, taking houses, barns, and trees, killing people and stock. Passing on
through Story county, about six miles south of Ames, and bearing southeast
into Jasper, and on to Poweshiek, sometimes raising from the ground for
several miles, and again descending to the earth, destroying everything in
its path. As the great black mass of clouds swept on in a general easterly
course, small whirlwinds seemed to be forming from time to time, some
suspended high in the air, and again lowering downward until they swept the
earth with irresistible force. Central Iowa seemed to be in a vast cyclone
pressure, as it developed terrific storms in Keokuk, Johnson, and Henry
counties, all doing more or less damage. The great storm cloud moved at the
rate of about forty-five miles an hour on its easterly course, and tornadoes
or whirlwinds were continually forming and disappearing. The velocity of the
wind in the whirlwinds, or rotary motion, was estimated to be 200 miles an
hour. The cyclone conditions continued until June 24th, doing great damage
in Buchanan, PALO ALTO, Clarke, Sioux, Clay, and other counties

This thread:

• [IAPALOAL] The Iowa Tornado of 1882 by "Cathy Joynt Labath" <>