Tornadoes have long been a feature of Spring weather in the Plains. On April 21, 1889, twenty-one people were killed and 250 injured when a tornado that touched down in Kansas moved across the east central part of the state into Missouri. The track was identified as going 60 miles through Anderson and Linn counties in Kansas into Bates county in Missouri. Total damage was 1 million dollars. That makes it one of the few million dollar tornadoes in the 19th century. Remember at that the number of people in the area was low, with cities, towns and buildings more disperse. Also, the ability to send warnings and alerts was extremely limited.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu