1884 Howard, South Dakota tornado


The 1884 Howard, South Dakota tornado was a large tornado that occurred on August 28, 1884, near Howard, South Dakota, which was then part of the Dakota Territory.

Event

It demolished one farm, located south of Bridgewater, South Dakota. Four people were killed there and two injured. It was one of an outbreak of four very strong tornadoes in the area that day. Contemporary records and survivors' recollections indicate that the storms were F3 or F4 on the Fujita scale, but cannot currently be verified.
This was one of the first tornadoes of which there is a photograph. The photographer was F. N. Robinson, who observed the tornado from a street in the town of Howard, about east of the storm track.
There was also another photographer from Huron, South Dakota who took multiple photographs of the same tornado an hour earlier. However, they were unfortunately lost or destroyed during the engraving process.