Chandler–Lake Wilson Tornado, 1992

On June 16, 1992, an F5 tornado devastated the towns of Chandler and Lake Wilson in Murray County. It was the most powerful tornado recorded in the US that year and the eighth F5 to touch down in Minnesota, reaching wind speeds in excess of 260 miles per hour and causing over $50 million in property damage. It was one of 170 twisters that hit the Northern Great Plains during the June 1992 tornado outbreak, one of the largest such outbreaks in US history.

The most powerful tornado in the United States in 1992 first touched down around five o’clock in the evening in northwest Nobles County, near the town of Leota. After destroying several rural residences and farm sites, it continued northward to Murray County, growing in size and strength.

When the tornado hit Chandler at 5:18 p.m. it was an F5. At the time, meteorologists ranked tornadoes based on estimated wind speeds using the Fujita scale. An F5 tornado was the top of the scale, with wind speeds of 260 to 320 miles per hour. (In 2007 the scale was recalibrated and became known as the Enhanced Fujita scale. On this recalibrated scale, EF5 tornadoes are those with wind speeds greater than 200 miles per hour. However, tornadoes measured on the old scale were not reclassified, so the Chandler–Lake Wilson tornado remains an F5 storm.)

The twister that hit the town of Chandler (population 316) was three-quarters of a mile wide, with wind speeds greater than 260 miles per hour. Nearly every structure in the town sustained some sort of damage. Twenty-five homes were completely destroyed and another ninety were severely damaged, as were ten businesses, a church, and much of the Chandler-Lake Wilson (C-LW) High School.

After the storm, the high school was rendered unusable. Rather than rebuild, the C-LW school district consolidated with nearby Slayton to form Murray County Central. The remaining portion of the high school building was repaired and sold to Chandler Christian Elementary School in 1993.

After striking Chandler, the tornado traveled another five miles north and hit the town of Lake Wilson (population 319). Although by this time it had decreased in intensity to an F4 tornado, it was still a powerful storm. Many buildings were damaged and twenty-nine of Lake Wilson’s 137 homes were destroyed.

The tornado decreased to an F2 but remained on the ground for another twenty miles before dissipating in southeast Lyon County, just south of the town of Garvin. In total, the tornado remained on the ground for over an hour, traversing nearly forty miles through three counties. It caused over $50 million in property damage and was responsible for one death and many than thirty injured persons.

The storm was part of a massive tornado outbreak on the Northern Great Plains, one of 170 twisters that occurred over a five-day period in mid-June 1992. It was one of the largest tornado outbreaks in US history.

The storm also made the record books in Minnesota. It was one of twenty-seven tornadoes that touched down in the state that day, setting a new record. (This record was broken on June 17, 2010, when forty-eight tornadoes hit the state in a single day.) The Chandler–Lake Wilson tornado was the eighth EF/F5 tornado to occur in Minnesota. Less than one-tenth of one percent of all tornadoes in the United States are EF5 tornadoes.