SPC Stats
Path length: 15.3 miles
Width: 400 yards
Fatalities: 2
Injuries: 50
Rating: F4
County: Polk
An estimated F4 tornado made its way from Ankeny, IA (northern Des Moines suburb) and moved southeast ending near Runnels. It was a devastating event for the town of Ankeny. Two people were killed in their home and there were at least 50 injuries. Approx. 100 homes, a church, a drive-in restaurant and a shopping center was destroyed. The path length was recorded in the SPC database as 15.3 miles, the Storm Data Narrative listed a 25 mile path.
Tornado Path
Click Map To Enlarge
SPC coordinates: Start: 41.73 / -93.62 End: 41.52 / -93.53
Here is the path based on the SPC Coordinates. The ending coordinates are incorrect. The tornado ended east near Runnells. I have a corrected map with the lat/lon ending near Runnells. See below.
Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.
Videos
Newspaper Clippings
Discrepancies:
We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the June 1974 Storm Data Publication and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:
Path Length:
- SPC/NCDC have a 15.3 mile path length.
- Storm Data has the length at 25 miles.
- Grazulis has a 19 mile length.
Sources:
June 1974 Storm Data Publication
Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Page 1166.
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