Posted in North Dakota Nature June 06, 2016 by

A Terrifying, Deadly Storm Struck North Dakota In 1957… And No One Saw It Coming

No one could imagine what was coming on June 20, 1957, and how that day would go down in history and in science for the future of storms to come all over the world. While North Dakota is not unheard of as a tornado spawning ground during the early and late summer months, it certainly wasn’t prepared for this. Millions of dollars in damages and the loss of 10 lives resulted from this storm and it will never be forgotten.

Dr. Ted Fujita/Wikimedia
This was the third of five tornados that spawned from this storm and was by far the most destructive. It is known simply as the Fargo tornado. 329 homes were completely destroyed, another 1035 damaged as a result of this storm. Not to mention the hundreds of other buildings that were affected, too. At one point, the tornado was nearly a mile wide and traveled for an hour along a path of over 50 miles.

This tornado, however, was also a cornerstone to today's modern Fujita Scale. This picture of the tornado nearing the Hector Airport in Fargo was taken by Dr. Ted Fujita himself. It was the first ever tornado to gain the classification of an "F5" tornado, which is considered the most devastating. There have only been two F5 tornados ever recorded in North Dakota, and this one ranks the worst.

This is the scale that the Fargo tornado was fundamental in creating:
Dr. Ted Fujita/Wikimedia
This scale is now used globally for all tornados, calculating them based on damage, loss of life, windspeed, and other factors. The Fargo tornado set the standards for the highest any tornado can reach on the scale.

The storm showed no mercy in its path and probably, hopefully, will not be matched for many years to come. Take a look at this original video footage of the twister and some of its aftermath from 1957:

It’s been almost 59 years since, and I can’t imagine what it was like to go through. Were you there, or did you have family there when this happened?

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