VOL. III. No. 2. DES MOINES, Iowa, JULY, 1897. THIRD SERIES.

THE GRINNELL CYCLONE OF JUNE 17, 1882.

BY S. H. HERRICK.

Viewed from a purely scientific or meteorological standpoint, the cyclone* which occasioned the greater part of the destruction of property and loss of life at Grinnell, Iowa, on the evening of June 17, 1882, was no very great affair. In its disastrous results it may be considered a calamity of the greatest magnitude. I use the words "greater part" advisedly, for I believe we have evidence that Grinnell was visited by two independent cyclones at the same time, both doing great damage, the shorter one striking the town first and on its western borders, the other coming from the northwest and entering the town on its northern border about midway between its east and west boundaries. The former had its origin less than a dozen miles southwest of Grinnell and caused no damage beyond this point. The latter had travelled fully ninety miles and continued on its course of devastation more than a hundred miles further. It was not the equal of the cyclone of 1860 which passed through the State for a distance of more than two hundred miles and crossed the Mississippi River near Camanche, in Clinton county, where forty-two persons, or one in twenty of the population, lost

their lives.

From an examination of the signal service reports for June 17, 1882, we find that an area of low barometric pres

*The writer uses the words "cyclone" and "tornado" to indicate the same phenomena, without any attempt to explain or keep separate the scientific differences of these terms. In fact, each is treated by many authorities as a synonym for the other.

sure included the entire upper Mississippi valley and a portion of the Dakotas, and that an immense storm wave moved through Iowa from the northwest toward the southeast corner of the State. This storm wave was the center of various and independent cyclonic formations and disturbances. The storm area was extensive, being not less than a hundred miles in width-possibly, at times, much wider—and passed through the State at a speed of from forty-five to sixty miles an hour. This area presented to view a boiling, surging mass of clouds, especially near its center, where all the separate cyclones had their origin. The inception of the most damaging of the Grinnell cyclones was at a point not far from the town of Kellogg, Jasper county, at about half past eight o'clock in the evening. Kellogg lies about ten miles from Grinnell in a direct line, a little south of west. Mr. T. R. Phipps, who witnessed the beginning of this cyclone, testifies as follows:

At the date of the cyclone I was living seven miles west of Grinnell, the exact direction being one mile north of west. My father lived a half mile south. My day's work was done and I was sitting in the house reading, when some one of the family called my attention to the strange clouds in the southwest. I went out of the house and saw two immense clouds of brilliant and peculiar hue rolling and tumbling and approaching each other at a rapid rate. It could not have been five minutes before they united, when the single mass seemed to be in the most violent agitation, out of which in less than a minute was formed a distinct funnel-shaped cloud, black and angry-looking. I thought at the time that this cloud must have formed just about over the town of Kellogg, some six miles to the southwest. From the fact that a single house was completely destroyed at that place, I have always thought that at the meeting of the clouds there must have been a dropping and a sudden rebounding of this cloud, which would account for the destruction of a single house. In fact, I could see such a dropping at the moment when the cyclonic cloud was forming. The cyclone, for I at once recognized it as such, seemed to be coming directly towards us, and as my position was on an elevation from which I could see the whole surrounding country, I had a full view of its course until it struck a belt of timber about two miles from my location. The roar and crash were plainly heard, and the family, with the exception of myself, sought safety in the cellar. The wind, which had been blowing a gale from the south, suddenly changed to the north, blowing with increasing fury so that small trees were bent nearly to the ground. Soon rain began to fall, hiding everything from view. From the formation of the cyclone cloud to the beginning of the rain not more than two minutes could