What the record says
On 16 September 1962, a tornado touched down near Rochester, Minnesota. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 0.5 miles long and up to 33 yards wide, rated F4 on the Fujita (F) scale. It injured 34 people.
- F4Fujita rating
- 0deaths
- 34injuries
- 0.5 mipath length
- 33 ydmaximum width
It has its own page because it was rated 4 or 5.
This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.
Counties it crossed
The start point was at 43.97, -92.45. The record has no end point for this tornado, so it is drawn as a dot.
How to read this path
The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.
Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.
Other notable tornadoes in Minnesota
- Manhattan Beach, Minnesota tornado6 August 1969, F4, 12 deaths, 70 injuries, 32.3 miles long
- Fargo, North Dakota tornado20 June 1957, F5, 10 deaths, 103 injuries, 52.4 miles long
- Garvin, Minnesota tornado13 June 1968, F5, 9 deaths, 150 injuries, 9.1 miles long
- Hartland, Minnesota tornado30 April 1967, F4, 6 deaths, 22 injuries, 20.1 miles long
- Minneapolis, Minnesota tornado6 May 1965, F4, 6 deaths, 158 injuries, 17.3 miles long
- Hollandale, Minnesota tornado10 May 1953, F2, 6 deaths, 3 injuries, 6.9 miles long
Other notable tornadoes of 1962
- Pace, Florida tornado31 March 1962, F3, 17 deaths, 100 injuries, 6.9 miles long
- Parma, Ohio tornado20 August 1962, F2, 4 deaths, 20 injuries, 0.5 miles long
- Waterbury, Connecticut tornado24 May 1962, F3, 1 death, 50 injuries, 11.6 miles long
- Anson, Texas tornado25 May 1962, F3, 1 death, 1 injury, 4.1 miles long
- Lynch, Nebraska tornado29 May 1962, F4, 24.2 miles long
All tornadoes of 1962 · Minnesota tornado history · All notable tornadoes