Portal:Tornadoes/Anniversaries/June 17

June 17

• 1944 – A significant tornado outbreak affected the Upper Midwest. An F5 tornado obliterated farms near Wilmot, South Dakota, killing eight people. An F4 tornado destroyed more farms near Henry and Florence, South Dakota and passed through Long Lake, killing three people. An F3 tornado destroyed 20 buildings and unroofed a school in Bath, South Dakota, leaving two dead. The tornadoes from this outbreak are only listed as windstorms in official records, even though well-defined funnels were spotted.
• 1946 – An F4 tornado touched down in Melvindale, Michigan and crossed the Detroit River, killing at least 15 people as it moved through Windsor and Tecumseh, Ontario.
• 1978 – An F1 tornado moved across Pomona Lake in Osage County, Kansas and capsized the tour boat Whippoorwill, drowning 16 of the 58 people on board and injuring 3 others. This was the deadliest tornado on record to receive a "weak" (F0 or F1) rating on the Fujita scale.