NWS Quad Cities Recap of Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak

Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak
(April 11, 1965)

For a complete regional overview of the outbreak, visit this NWS StoryMap.

For a recap from long time NWS Quad Cities Forecaster, John Haase, visit here.

Overview | Maps | List | Discussions | Photos

General Overview

What:	Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak in the Midwest/Great Lakes
When:	April 11-12, 1965
Tornadoes	51
Deaths	260 (1 in eastern Iowa)
Injuries	3148
Damage	$200+ million (1965) $1.4 billion (today)
Time	1 pm April 11 to 1 am April 12

Overview | Maps | List | Discussions | Photos

Storm Reports / Maps

Storm Reports

1 pm 4/11/65 through 1 am 4/12/65

County	St.	Time CST	Type	Magnitude	Fatalities	Property Damage
LEE CO.	IA	11:50	Thunderstorm Wind	63 kts.	0	0.0K
CEDAR CO.	IA	12:55	Tornado	F4	1	2.5M
DUBUQUE CO.	IA	13:30	Thunderstorm Wind	64 kts.	0	0.0K
DUBUQUE CO.	IA	14:00	Thunderstorm Wind	0 kts.	0	0.0K
DUBUQUE CO.	IA	14:00	Thunderstorm Wind	0 kts.	0	0.0K
JO DAVIESS CO.	IL	14:00	Thunderstorm Wind	0 kts.	0	0.0K
Totals:					1	2.5M

Tornado Report Summary

Event	Tornado
-- Scale	F4
-- Length	70.2 Miles
-- Width	200 Yards
State	IOWA
County/Area	CEDAR
NCDC Data Source	PUB
Begin Date	1965-04-11 12:55:00.0 CST
Begin Lat/Lon	41.85/-90.93
End Date	1965-04-11 12:55:00.0 CST
End Lat/Lon	42.87/-90.92
Deaths Direct/Indirect	1/0 (fatality details below, when available...)
Injuries Direct/Indirect	0/0
Property Damage	2.5M
Crop Damage	0

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Pre-Event Discussions and Maps


250 mb Wind Speed	500 mb Height	500 mb Temp/Height	500 mb Chart


700 mb Height	850 mb Equiv Potential Temp	850 mb Temp/Height	1000 mb BRN


Surface Chart	Surface Lifted Index	Surface LI (best) Composite Mean

Overview | Maps | List | Discussions | Photos

Post-Event Discussions / Newpaper Articles


Newspaper article:
Clinton Herald article from emergency manager