April 11, 1965 was an unusual spring day in the Midwest. The temperatures soared to 83F. A storm system that formed on the Great Plains got picked up by the jet stream. This unstable and fast-moving air mass spawned a path of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak was the third worst in U.S. history. The worst outbreak was the Great Tri-State Tornado in 1925 and second was the 1974 Tornado Swarm.
Iowa Tornado Outbreak Palm Sunday 1965
- At 12:45pm, a funnel touched ground near Tipton in Cedar County Iowa. This tornado registered a F4 on the Fujita Scale. One death was recorded.
There was one additional F1 tornado in Iowa.
Wisconsin Tornado Outbreak Palm Sunday 1965
- At 3:30pm, a F2 tornado touched down west of Jefferson Wisconsin. When the funnel crossed a highway, it picked up two cars and tossed them into the air. Three people who were in the car were crushed and died instantly.
There were five additional F1 tornadoes in Wisconsin.
Illinois Tornado Outbreak Palm Sunday 1965
- At 3:37pm a F4 tornado started on the southwest side of Crystal Lake and traveled for 11 miles. It destroyed over 155 homes and a shopping center. There were five people killed. It destroyed the village of Island Lake one person was killed.
- At 3:40pm, a F2 tornado formed near Gurnee.
Two additional F1 tornadoes touched down in Illinois.
Indiana Tornado Outbreak Palm Sunday 1965
- Around 6:00pm, a F4 tornado touched down and damaged approximately 100 cottages at Koontz Lake. One man died when he was lifted into the air and thrown 600 feet.
- Another F4 tornado hit ground near South Bend and made its way to Goshen and Dunlap. This was the famous Elkhart twin funnel tornado. It demolished a trailer court, killing ten people.
- At 7:30pm, another F4 tornado touched down and struck Russiaville and destroyed 80 homes in Greentown. Ten people were killed.
- Another F4 tornado touched down near Valparaiso and destroyed homes in Wanatah and Kingsford Heights.
- A near-F5 tornado devastated part of Elkhart and Lagrange counties, passed through Shipshewana and flattened the communities at Shore and Rainbow Lake.
In total, 10 tornadoes landed in Indiana. Eight were a F4 and two were a F3.
Michigan Tornado Outbreak Palm Sunday 1965
- A tornado that formed near Orland Indiana crossed over to Michigan and hit the village of East Gilead and Coldwater Lake.
- Another tornado touched down near Kinderhook which was five miles away from the first one. Both of these F4 tornadoes followed each other and hit the same places. They struck Hillsdale and Manitou Lake. These two twisters killed 44 people and injured 612.
- A F4 tornado struck north of Grand Rapids. There were 150 people injured, 5 deaths, 34 homes were destroyed and nearly 200 others damaged.
There were 12 tornadoes in Michigan. Three were a F4, two were a F3, six were a F2, and one was a F1.
Ohio Tornado Outbreak Palm Sunday 1965
- A near-F5 tornado touched down on the northwest section of Toledo and destroyed at least 50 homes. It picked up a bus on the expressway and dropped it. The four passengers were killed. Near Lake Erie, the twister tossed cars and hurled boats out of the water.
- Another tornado that hit Shelby County at 10pm derailed almost every car in a 68-unit train.
- Then a F5 tornado touched down in Lorain County and killed seven people in Pittsfield. This tornado split in two.
- The final tornado occurred at 12:30 am Monday morning. This F2 tornado passed south of Columbus.
There were 10 tornadoes that struck Ohio. Four were a F4, one was a F3, one was a F2, and four were a F1.
According to the National Ocean Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “47 confirmed tornadoes resulted in 271 people killed and 3,400 people injured in just a twelve hour span. Damages from the storms mounted to more than 200 million dollars (1.1 billion/2003 dollars)”.
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