1984 Barneveld tornado facts for kids
The 1984 Barneveld tornado occurred in Barneveld, Wisconsin on June 8, 1984.
Tornadoes began braking out on the afternoon of June 7 across North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. Three people were killed in Missouri by a tornado and one person was killed in Iowa just after 9:00 p.m. CDT. The severe weather then shifted into Wisconsin where a tornado watch went out at 11:00 p.m. CDT, but most of Barneveld had gone to bed that night.
A supercell thunderstorm which produced a tornado in Iowa at 9:00 p.m. CT entered Wisconsin from the Iowa/Illinois border at midnight. At 12:30 a.m., the first tornado touched down in Lafayette County. At 12:41 a.m., the tornado drove through Barneveld. A sharp bolt of lightning as well as a loud clap of thunder cut the power to the city, awakening residents. Other tornadoes broke out before dissipating after 3:00 a.m. CDT.
The tornado was rated an F5 and killed 9 people and injured 200 others as well as $25 million in damage. It was the last F5 tornado to occur at night until the Birmingham, Alabama tornado in April 1998.
