Excessive Rainfall and Tropical Storm in the South; Severe Thunderstorms in the Midwest

Excessive rainfall may produce considerable, potentially life-threatening, flooding across the lower Mississippi River Valley and central Great Lakes region through tonight. Tropical Storm Arthur will move northeastward along the Texas coast today and then move inland over southwestern Louisiana by tonight. An outbreak of severe thunderstorms is expected across portions of Illinois and Indiana. Read More >

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

Overview | Maps | List | Discussions | Photos

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