During the afternoon of June 16, 1992, a violent tornado, commonly known as the Chandler–Lake Wilson tornado, tore through the town of Chandler and city of Lake Wilson in Murray County, Minnesota. The damage in Chandler was extreme enough, for the local National Weather Service office to rate the damage F5 on the Fujita scale.
Tornado summary
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), "two violent twisters" caused catastrophic damage in the areas around town of Chandler and city of Lake Wilson in Murray County, Minnesota. Despite being officially referred to as two tornadoes, the tornadoes received a joint, single rating of F5 on the Fujita scale. The tornado touched down south of Leota and moved northeast as it rapidly intensified. Just east of Leota, two farmsteads were completely destroyed at F5 intensity. At approximately 5:18 pm, the tornado, which had intensified even further, struck Chandler, where it caused, leaving half of the town leveled. In Chandler, 36 people were injured, with one person dying from their injuries two months later. The National Weather Service referred to the tornado as a "maxi-tornado" as it struck Chandler. It was documented that in the towns of Chandler and Lake Wilson, the tornado caused at least $27 million (1992 USD), with another $17 million (1992 USD) in damage occurring in rural parts of Murray County. In total, the tornado killed one person, injured over 40 others, and caused at least $50 million (1992 USD) in damage along its track. The tornado had a maximum width of around the Chandler-Lake Wilson area. This was the only F5 tornado to occur in the United States in 1992.
In 2019, meteorologist Jen Narramore, who previously worked for The Weather Channel, found several discrepancies with the official publications and records from NOAA, with the National Climatic Data Center and Storm Prediction Center stating the tornado's path length was only , while the local National Weather Service office states the official path length was . In Narramore’s assessment, it was stated the path length was most likely to be approximately , but slightly different than what was listed by the Storm Prediction Center.