Earliest Tornadoes in a Year

Tornadoes in northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and southwest & central Wisconsin
Background Information	Statistics (1850-Present)	Records (1850-Present)

Ten Earliest Tornadoes During the Year in Southeast Minnesota, Northeast Iowa, & Western Wisconsin 1850 to Present
Rank	Date	Time	Location	Counties Affected	Length (miles)	Width (yards)	Deaths	Injuries	EF-Scale
1	3/6/2017	2046-2050 CST	West Salem Airport 1S to West Salem 1.3S	None	2.6	200	0	0	EF0
	A weak tornado touched down west of Nashua. The tornado moved through rural areas producing only some crop damage. This tornaado caused $3,000 in property damage and $3,000 in crop damage.
2	3/10/1876	1630 CST	Hazel Green	Grant, WI	5	200	9	50	F3
	"A solid mass of heavy rubbish" moved east northeast across Hazel Green destroying a large part of the town. Parts of church steeple were carried more than 3 miles. Several people were "crushed beyond recognition" in their homes. Two children were carried 400 yards and set down. They were badly bruised, but they were alive. It was reported that two horses were carried to a height of 60 feet and set down 600 yards from their former site of the barn "unbruised but stone dead 20 feet apart". The village hearse was "carried off" and a coffin handle was found eight miles to the northeast. Southwest of Hazel Green "a furrow 600 feet long, 4 feet wide, and several feet deep was plowed." Newspapers reported that "Hazel Green will never be resurrected....23 homes (were) ground finer than grist from the mills of the Gods." During the 3 years prior, Hazel Green had weathered several damaging wind storms, a nitro-glycerine explosion, and a plague of scarlet fever.
3	3/24/1988	1515 CST	Nora Springs 1E	Floyd, IA	1	20	0	0	F0
	Structural damage was reported during this brief touchdown.
	3/24/1988	1622 CST	Riceville 1S	Mitchell, IA	0.1	15	0	0	F0
	A machine shed was destroyed.
	3/24/1988	1715 CST	Waucoma to Calmar 2W	Fayette, IA Winneshiek, IA	9	100	0	0	F2
	Considerable damage to farm buildings in the path of the tornado was reported; some were almost completely destroyed.
6	3/27/1968	1820 CST	Whitehall 5SW to Whitehall 3E	Trempealeau, WI	8	100	0	1	F2
	Several wood frame barns and a concrete block barn were destroyed.
	3/27/1968	1930 CST	Medford 8SW	Taylor, WI	2	??	0	1	F3
	A farmhouse and barn were "obliterated" from this tornado moving east-northeast.
8	3/28/2020	1730-1736 CST	Oelwein 2SSW to Oelwein 2N	None					EF1
	Damage to trees, farm buildings, and several apartment buildings. Went through west side of Oelwein city limits.
	3/28/2020	1740-1742 CST	Maynard 2SE to Maynard 2NE	None					EF0
	Several farms sustained damage.
	3/28/2020	1935-1941 CST	Potosi 1N to Ellenboro 2WNW	None					EF1
	Damage to trees, power lines, and several farm buildings.

Last Updated Thursday, April 30, 2020 - Jeff Boyne