KTTC Rochester, Austin, Mason City News, Weather and SportsA Twist of Fate

A Twist of Fate

ROCHESTER, MN (KTTC-TV) -- 125 years ago on August 21st, the face of Rochester was changed forever.

A deadly twister bore down on the city, with an outcome no one expected.

Cheryl Finnegan, an educator with the Olmsted County Historical Society, says, "The cyclone came in the evening. Um, 6 o'clock, the clouds turned green. And it hit Cascade Creek and destroyed Lower Town."

The Lower town Chery Finnegan is talking about is north Rochester. And what looks like this today, looked like this on August 21, 1883. An F-5 twister, the strongest rating a tornado can have, tore through the northern side of town.

Cheryl says, "It was devastating. 29 people were killed."

According to the National Weather Service, the tornado touched down on the outskirts of Hayfield, travelling northeast, it skimmed the southeast corner of Byron, before barreling into the northern side of Rochester.

Cheryl says, "The cyclone came so fast. And it was over in 10 minutes, and afterwards the sky was clear."

But the damage had been done. According to historians, much of the northern side of Rochester was destroyed. And no one was warned the storm was coming. All they heard, was a loud roar.

Steph says, "For such a tremendous twister with no warning at all, you're amazed how more people weren't killed by it."

Cheryl says, "Yeah. They didn't have a warning. Just what instinct told them."

Instinct also told them that they needed a hospital after seeing all the injured. Thanks to the partnership of W.W. Mayo, his two sons, and the sisters of St. Francis, who all cared for the injured afterwards, Mayo Clinic would eventually be formed. All because the sky turned black.

The tornado that hit Rochester was one of three that Meteorologists say hit Southeast Minnesota that day. The two others affected Pleasant Grove and St. Charles. 3 people were killed in those and 29 were injured.