June 1966 tornado outbreak sequence

June 1966 tornado outbreak sequence

A photograph of the F5 Topeka, Kansas tornado.
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	June 3–12
Tornadoes confirmed	57
Max rating1	F5 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	~11 days
Damage	$250.603 million (1966 USD) $694.79 million (2008 USD)
Casualties	18 fatalities, 543 injuries
Areas affected	Southern and Midwestern United States, Great Plains
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

¹Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The June 1966 tornado outbreak sequence was a series of tornado outbreaks which occurred between June 2 and June 12.

The most destructive tornado of this event occurred on the early evening of June 8, 1966, when Topeka, Kansas was struck by an F5 rated tornado. It started on the southwest side of town, moving northeast, passing through several subdivisions and over a local landmark named Burnett's Mound. 57 tornadoes were confirmed during the 11-day span, which left 18 people dead and 543 injured.

According to a local Native American legend, Burnet's Mound (a local landmark that was named after Potawatomi Indian chief Abram Burnett, and also believed to be an ancient Native American burial ground) was thought to protect the city from tornadoes, suggesting that the 250 feet (76 m) hill would cause a tornado that was approaching Topeka to disintegrate. A few years earlier, a water tower had been built directly on the mound, which sparked controversy among many Topeka residents as they felt it would negatively affect the mound's ability to keep the city safe from tornadic activity. However, ten other tornadoes had struck the city since Kansas state tornado records were first kept in 1889. The 1966 tornado was significantly stronger than the other ten tornadoes that struck Topeka prior to June 8.

The Topeka tornado began developing at 6:55 p.m. Central Time on June 8, touching down 8 miles (13 km) west of the city. The National Weather Service could not detect the developing tornado on radar as the Topeka forecast office used a modified military radar that was donated by the U.S. government following World War II. While it was considered state-of-the-art for its time, it had a limited ability to detect tornadic activity, compared to the Doppler weather radar of the present day. Around 7:30 p.m., a 1/4 to 1/2-mile (400–800 m) wide tornado tracked into the southwest side of town, moving northeast, and passed over Burnett's Mound. Bill Kurtis, then a reporter for WIBW-TV (channel 13; then a hybrid CBS/ABC/NBC affiliate, now only affiliated with CBS) wanted to get people the message to take shelter from the devastating storm, ultimately advising viewers to get to safety by urging in a calm but stern manner, "for God's sake, take cover!"