Weather History

This Day In Weather History

In 1896, an F5 tornado roared across four counties of extreme Northeast Kansas. The massive vortex ran a 100 mile marathon that averaged around three fourths of a mile wide. The tornado began in extreme South Central Washington County and tore northeast through Marshall, Nemaha and Brown Counties. When it barreled through Brown County, the monstrous vortex reached almost TWO AND A HALF MILES WIDE, and was visible for about half an hour as it passed one mile south of Frankfort in Central Marshall County. It no doubt caused incredible devastation in Nemaha County, where Seneca and Sabetha took direct hits. In Seneca, the courthouse and a new school were totally destroyed and the Opera House was leveled and swept from its foundation. Many farms vanished. In Northeast Kansas, 21 were killed and 200 were injured. The twister finally lifted near Falls City, Nebraska where four more were killed. This brought the final death toll to 25 people.

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