On this day in 1984: Deadly tornado struck Barneveld, Wisconsin, wiping out 90% of the village

Shortly before 1 a.m. on this day in 1984, a powerful tornado struck Barneveld, Wisconsin, killing nine people and destroying about 90% of the village in its wake.

On June 8, 1984, a series of tornadoes impacted southern Wisconsin as part of a severe weather outbreak that spanned eight states across the Midwest. Barneveld’s tornado was the strongest of the outbreak, beginning southwest of Barneveld at 12:41 a.m. local time and hitting the village just before 1 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. Its maximum wind speeds were estimated to be over 300 mph, the Wisconsin State Climatology Office reports.

In Barneveld, the tornado left nine people dead and 200 injured.

A tornado watch was issued to prepare people in the area for the possible development of a tornado; however, there was no tornado warning. A watch is the first step in the alert warning system and is issued when there is potential for a tornado to develop from a severe storm. A warning is issued by a local forecast office when a tornado is sighted or indicated by radar, according to the NWS, and suggests that there is “imminent danger to life and property.”

The Barneveld tornado demolished 93 homes and damaged 64, as well as razed 17 of the village’s 18 businesses and public buildings. It destroyed approximately 90% of Barneveld before the NWS says it dissipated around 1:40 a.m. local time in northern Dane County.

“I got to my hallway, end of the bathroom, and opened the door to their hallway, and it was gone,” said one individual in archival footage from sister station WISN. “It wasn’t even there.”

In total, the tornado, considered by current standards to be an EF5, traveled approximately 36 miles and had a maximum path width of 450 yards, according to the NWS, which states that a typical tornado’s path length is about 1 or 2 miles with a width of around 50 yards. While a typical tornado is on the ground for five to 10 minutes, the 1984 tornado lasted for much longer, clocking a ground time of 59 minutes, says the NWS.

Almost three years after the tornado, a resident whose home was cut in two during the outbreak reflected on the village’s attitude toward severe storms.

“I guess we all realize what can happen,” the resident said in archival footage from sister station WISN. “The warning comes; it can be very dangerous. So, we do take heed. We don’t brush it off like we might have a few years back. We don’t get paranoid about it, but we do proceed with caution and listen up.”

The tornado caused about $40 million of damage, with around $25 million of that total occurring in Barneveld alone. To this day, the 1984 tornado is the second costliest in Wisconsin’s history.