Regina Cyclone
Encyclopedia
The Regina Cyclone is the popular name for a tornado
that devastated the city of Regina
, Saskatchewan
, Canada
on June 30, 1912. At about 4:50 p.m., green funnel clouds formed and touched down south of the city, tearing a swath through the residential area between Wascana Lake
and Victoria Avenue and the downtown business district. It remains the deadliest tornado in Canadian history.
The tornado formed 18 kilometres (11.2 mi) south of the city and continued for another 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north before dissipating. It was approximately 150 metres (492.1 ft) wide. The tornado's wind velocity has been estimated at 800 kilometres per hour (497.1 mph), though this conflicts with the F4 Fujita scale
estimate based on reports of damage and historical photographs.
. The tornado killed 28 people, injured hundreds, and left 2500 people homeless. Around 500 buildings were destroyed or damaged. Property damage was quantified at $1.2 million CAD, and it would be forty years before the $4.5 million CAD private and public debt incurred to rebuild and repair was repaid. The worst damage was in the central business district, with many buildings entirely destroyed; the affluent residential area to the south was substantially diminished, but the tornado left houses untouched here and there immediately adjacent to houses which were flattened.
The city charged those rendered homeless by the disaster nightly for cots set up in schools and city parks. They also charged homeowners for the removal of rubble from their homes. Debris was cleaned up quickly and the only remaining "souvenir" of this event are different-coloured bricks on the north wall of Regina's Knox-Metropolitan United Church, showing where the wall collapsed and was rebuilt.
actor William Henry Pratt was appearing in a play in Regina at the time of the storm. In the aftermath, he volunteered as a rescue worker. Years later, he would move to Hollywood and change his name to Boris Karloff
. In the 1960s, Karloff appeared on the talk and game show Front Page Challenge
where he was featured not because of his notoriety in horror films, but because of his involvement in the Regina Cyclone of 1912.
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
that devastated the city of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on June 30, 1912. At about 4:50 p.m., green funnel clouds formed and touched down south of the city, tearing a swath through the residential area between Wascana Lake
Wascana Centre
Wascana Centre is a 9.3 square kilometre park built around Wascana Lake in Regina, Saskatchewan. It brings together lands and buildings owned by the City of Regina, University of Regina, and Province of Saskatchewan, each of which is represented on the board of directors, and contains government,...
and Victoria Avenue and the downtown business district. It remains the deadliest tornado in Canadian history.
Meteorological synopsis
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
estimate based on reports of damage and historical photographs.
Confirmed tornadoes
| F# Fujita scale The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation... |
Location | Time (UTC) | Path length | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F4 | Regina, Saskatchewan Regina, Saskatchewan Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox... |
2350 | 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) | Violent and destructive tornado spawned south of the city and went through residential areas near Wascana Lake and the downtown. |
Aftermath
Damage from the tornado is estimated to be F4 on the Fujita scaleFujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
. The tornado killed 28 people, injured hundreds, and left 2500 people homeless. Around 500 buildings were destroyed or damaged. Property damage was quantified at $1.2 million CAD, and it would be forty years before the $4.5 million CAD private and public debt incurred to rebuild and repair was repaid. The worst damage was in the central business district, with many buildings entirely destroyed; the affluent residential area to the south was substantially diminished, but the tornado left houses untouched here and there immediately adjacent to houses which were flattened.
The city charged those rendered homeless by the disaster nightly for cots set up in schools and city parks. They also charged homeowners for the removal of rubble from their homes. Debris was cleaned up quickly and the only remaining "souvenir" of this event are different-coloured bricks on the north wall of Regina's Knox-Metropolitan United Church, showing where the wall collapsed and was rebuilt.
Records
The Regina Cyclone is the deadliest tornado in Canadian history, with a total of 28 fatalities.Oddities
BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor William Henry Pratt was appearing in a play in Regina at the time of the storm. In the aftermath, he volunteered as a rescue worker. Years later, he would move to Hollywood and change his name to Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
. In the 1960s, Karloff appeared on the talk and game show Front Page Challenge
Front Page Challenge
Front Page Challenge was a long-running Canadian panel game about current events and history. Created by comedy writer/performer John Aylesworth and produced and aired by CBC Television, the series ran from 1957 to 1995.-Synopsis:The series featured notable journalists attempting to guess the...
where he was featured not because of his notoriety in horror films, but because of his involvement in the Regina Cyclone of 1912.
See also
- Tornadoes of 1912
- List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks