This picture postcard shows just a fraction of the damage suffered by the town of Yuma on May 20, 1916. National Weather Service records show that two tornadoes touched down in Yuma that day, one at 1:30 p.m. and the other at 2:30 p.m. The Oakland Tribune reported on May 21, 1916, that the tornadoes cut a swath through the center of town, damaging eighteen residences and six business structures. It reported eighteen people injured, five critically. Fortunately, there were no deaths.
Yuma County is no stranger to tornadoes. The National Weather Service reports that there were 81 tornadoes in Yuma County in the period from January 1, 1950, to September 21, 2012.
The term “cyclone” written on the front of this postcard was commonly used in the Midwest in earlier days, but it has pretty much given way to the more accurate term “tornado.” “Cyclone” refers to a hurricane which develops in the south Pacific. The use of the term “cyclone” to describe a tornado may have gained significant traction when L. Frank Baum, author of the “Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” published in 1900, described the twister that lifted Dorothy out of Kansas as a “cyclone.”
Note the “Perkins Windmills” sign on the building to the left of center. Windmills, used to pump water, were an important part of agricultural life.
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Such an interesting photograph and story! Keep the wonderful posts coming, Jack!
Will do!