SPC Stats
Path length: 3.8 miles
Width: 60 yards
Fatalities: 1
Injuries: 15
Rating: F3
County: Stearns
A total of 9 tornadoes are a part of the SPC Database for September 3, 1980. Four were in Stearns County, MN with the strongest an F3 that skipped from 5 miles SW of St. Cloud, passing through the city and lifting NE of town. There was tremendous damage at Bel Clare Acres. 13 mobile homes were destroyed and there was 1 fatality: A 15-month-old girl.
Storm Data Entry
A tornado, moving from southwest to northeast, first touched down at a mobile home park, Bel Clare Acres, located five miles southwest of St. Cloud. Returning aloft for two miles, the tornado again touched down at Angus Acres, a subdivision three miles southwest of St. Cloud at 6:40pm. At this point, the tornado again returned to the cloud, continuing northeast for two miles more before touching down once again in western St. Cloud at 6:44pm. The tornado then skipped across, partially aloft, through northeastern St. Cloud. Damage was extensive and included the following: At Bel Clare Acres, 13 mobile homes were destroyed and many other damaged, there was 1 death and 15 injuries; at Angus Acres in Waite Park, 165 homes were damaged with 6 single family homes, 14 mobile homes and 16 apartments destroyed; in St. Cloud 60 homes were damaged. Total dollar amount in damages in the St. Cloud metropolitan area was near $9 million.
Tornado Path
Click Map To Enlarge
SPC coordinates: Start: 45.53 / -94.22 End: 45.58 / -94.15
Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.
Newspaper Clippings
Discrepancies:
We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the September 1980 Storm Data Publication and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:
Path Length:
- SPC/NCDC have a 3.8 mile path length.
- Grazulis and Storm Data have a length at 5 miles.
Sources:
September 1980 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 1227.
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