Tuesday, June 3,1980 marked one of the most unique tornado events to ever impact Nebraska. A massive supercell moved over Grand Island and produced seven tornadoes that swallowed up much of the city. The event was also unusual for producing three tornadoes that rotated clockwise. This is rare in the northern hemisphere, where over 99 percent of tornadoes rotate counter-clockwise.
More than 200 people were injured, five were killed, and the damage was estimated to be almost $200 million (in 1980 dollars). Yet out of that tragedy, the town rose and quickly rebuilt. Today, you would hardly know that such a horrific event ever took place here…except for one reminder, which the town has turned into a positive for everyone.
What is that reminder? It is Tornado Hill
Tornado Hill, in Ryder Park, is one of the greatest spots for sledding, snowboarding, and biking in the whole city. What is now a 40-foot tall hill used to be an eight-foot deep, 200-foot diameter hole in the ground.
With landfill space in short supply, city officials decided to take the refuse from the tornadoes and create a sledding hill in Ryder Park.
That was a several-step process, however.
The first step was simply cleaning up destroyed homes, businesses and trees. Numerous contractors were hired to pick up the debris that homeowners had dragged to the curbside.
Eventually, the mound was covered over with dirt to create a solid hill. At some point well after it was originally finished, additional dirt was added to the mound to ensure a greater degree of debris cover and a much taller hill. The tall "mountain" stands out among the rest of Grand Island's landscape.
I grew up in Grand Island. On June 3, 1980 I was 15 days away from my 4th birthday. I don't remember that day but my mom said we don't have cake on my birthday because we didn't have electric power. As a kid my family would go sledding in the winter. In the summer my sister would play softball in Ryder Park and my brother and I would climb the hill many times. Now you can climb Tornado HIll. It is a little easier if you climb from the north side of the hill by the tennis courts.
Requirements: You must climb to the top of Tornado Hill to the posted coordinates. At the posted coordinate is a light pole with a sign and a yellow tag with some numbers. To log this virtual cache as a find you must email or message me 1} What is the number on the yellow tag? 2} What does the sign on the pole say? and 3} post a picture in your log of yourself or your GPS device at the top of the hill or a picture from GZ that show the background of the city of Grand Island. Do not post pictures of the pole or give any clues to the answer.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.