1886 was the most active year on record for US hurricanes and it brought lots of other extreme weather – like a tornado outbreak on April 14. According to NASA, 1886 was one of the coldest years on record.
“Perry County Democrat (Wed, April 21, 1886, Page 2):
THE WORK OF THE TORNADO.
Scenes of Devastation and Death in three Minnesota Towns.
Seventy-four Persons Killed and Two Hundred or more Injured in St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids and Rice’s Station—Two of the Towns Nearly Destroyed—Loss of Life and Property in Iowa and Missouri Also.
ST. CLOUD, Minnesota, April 15.—The ghastly effects of the tornado which visited this city and Sauk Rapids yesterday have never been equalled since the harvest of death at New Ulm and Rochester a few years ago. A few minutes after 4 p. m. the skies became overcast with a dark cloud, and a great black mass rose over the hills southwest of the city, and coming with terrible velocity toward the western outskirts, in the direct line for the Manitoba freight yards. The clouds hung low, and rolled over and over like smoke on a battlefield, and were accompanied by a loud roaring and crackling sound that resembled a conflagration. The cloud was funnel-shaped, and the point dragged along the ground like the tail of a huge beast, lashing to pieces everything that came in its path. Citizens had hardly time to flee to their cellars and seek other points of refuge, before the whirlwind was on them, and the air was filled with flying boards, shingles, bricks and other debris. The utmost excitement prevailed.”
Apr 21, 1886, page 2 – The Perry County Democrat at Newspapers.com
“Cyclone Views: Pictures Sauk Rapids Cyclone” by Brown and Riley
Global Temperature | Vital Signs – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet
