Significant Tornado Events

[locomusic01]

Yeah Tupelo is basically Smithville but after dark & going through a densely populated area packed with full capacity of people.


This article has numerous colorized photos where the granulation of debris is clear as can be:

April 5–6, 1936 — The Tupelo–Gainesville Outbreak

Note: I’m trying something a bit different for this article: many of the photos have been colorized. In addition to the visual impact, I think adding color can help bring out details that mig…

stormstalker.wordpress.com

I really need to go back and redo those colorized photos. I haven't gone back over the article since I wrote it and I didn't realize how bad they actually turned out lol.

I've been doing some research into the horrific Tupelo, MS event on April 5th, 1936 and have come across several interesting photographs of the damage it left behind on newspapers.com. From the images I've seen, it appears that the tornado gradually intensified as it moved through Tupelo, peaking in strength as it obliterated the Gum Pond subdivision at the northeastern end of town. My hypothesis is that because the Tupelo tornado picked up a ton of debris as it passed through the city, the gigantic mass of debris that encircled the vortex when it entered the Gum Pond area may have contributed additionally to the devastating effects that took place there. I also noticed that the damage intensity contour was not well-defined and was not perfectly straight either. It appeared to wobble out and then back in from time to time and had an obvious multiple-vortex structure to it. In addition, this tornado could not have struck at a worse time. It struck on a warm Sunday evening, where residents were either out on the town or entire families were at home spending time together and eating dinner. Every single structure in the path of the tornado probably had people inside of them, waiting to meet death.

Looking out towards the contour of F5 damage. The multiple-vortex nature of the tornado is very obvious in this image and the EF3+ damage contour appears to be erratic until it consolidates further down in the photograph. I would like to find this picture in HD because it's still pretty difficult to tell what's going on here, but nonetheless very impressive.

View attachment 16130

Nice summary! The only thing I'd nitpick is the tornado gradually strengthening through town; many of the fine, relatively well-built (for the time) homes in Willis Heights on the southwest side of town were completely obliterated and 200 people were killed in that ~1.5 mile stretch. A whole block of homes along Madison St, half a mile SW of Gum Pond, was also swept cleanly away. It's hard to say where the tornado actually peaked because the path is so complex, as you noted.

Anywho, here's another shot from this same general area, just taken from a different angle. You can see some pretty significant debarking on the right side of the photo if you enlarge it:

View attachment 16138

Man, that freakin' photo lol (edit: referring to the final wide aerial shot). I spent a couple solid days digging around and emailing and calling and whatnot trying to track down an original, higher-res version but to no avail. Probably still out there somewhere, but what a waste of time that ended up being. For the life of me I can't remember when it was taken, but it was quite a while after the tornado.

 

[locomusic01]

Comparison of six extremely wide and complex multi-vortex path through towns.
Tri state
View attachment 16144
Tupelo
View attachment 16147
woodward
View attachment 16145
Wichita falls
View attachment 16148
Greensburg
View attachment 16146
Mayfield
View attachment 16143

Speaking of which, Worcester was wonky like that as well. In some places everything is just demolished, but in many other places it's much more random (no doubt partly due to differing construction quality, but likely also a changing multivortex structure):

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

Speaking of which, Worcester was wonky like that as well. In some places everything is just demolished, but in many other places it's much more random (no doubt partly due to differing construction quality, but likely also a changing multivortex structure):

COMIC SANNNNSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Sawmaster]

Man, that freakin' photo lol. I spent a couple solid days digging around and emailing and calling and whatnot trying to track down an original, higher-res version but to no avail. Probably still out there somewhere, but what a waste of time that ended up being. For the life of me I can't remember when it was taken, but it was quite a while after the tornado.

All anyone can do is try. Any authentic photo or vid is better than none so you did well

 

[Austin Dawg]

Yeah Tupelo is basically Smithville but after dark & going through a densely populated area packed with full capacity of people.


This article has numerous colorized photos where the granulation of debris is clear as can be:

April 5–6, 1936 — The Tupelo–Gainesville Outbreak

Note: I’m trying something a bit different for this article: many of the photos have been colorized. In addition to the visual impact, I think adding color can help bring out details that mig…

stormstalker.wordpress.com

I think that's a pretty good comparison, it with the things that always stuck in my head with the Smithville tornado that if it happened in any place with a more dense population, it could've been even more catastrophic, and the death toll would certainly have been larger. I really think the primary difference between the Smithville, Hackleburg, and the Tri-State tornadoes other than the distance traveled is where they actually happened. I'm not too uncertain that if you put the Smithville or Hackleburg tornado in the middle of Joplin, you would've seen a much different result than you did with the Joplin F5 storm.

It seems though everything I've read about the Tupelo tornado has mentioned the Gum Pond area. The consensus of everything I've read, or heard was that they probably did not really know how many people were killed in that area because the damage was so catastrophic. After looking at these photographs, it's a lot easier to see what they were talking about.

One thing I've always remembered and I can't remember exactly where I read it at is what an eyewitnesses said in an interview about the storm. They said it came rolling over town I a big black, boiling mass of lightning and wind. Doesn't that kind of sound like Hackleburg to you when you start watching this video at the 5:25 mark?

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I think that's a pretty good comparison, it with the things that always stuck in my head with the Smithville tornado that if it happened in any place with a more dense population, it could've been even more catastrophic, and the death toll would certainly have been larger. I really think the primary difference between the Smithville, Hackleburg, and the Tri-State tornadoes other than the distance traveled is where they actually happened. I'm not too uncertain that if you put the Smithville or Hackleburg tornado in the middle of Joplin, you would've seen a much different result than you did with the Joplin F5 storm.

It seems though everything I've read about the Tupelo tornado has mentioned the Gum Pond area. The consensus of everything I've read, or heard was that they probably did not really know how many people were killed in that area because the damage was so catastrophic. After looking at these photographs, it's a lot easier to see what they were talking about.

One thing I've always remembered and I can't remember exactly where I read it at is what an eyewitnesses said in an interview about the storm. They said it came rolling over town I a big black, boiling mass of lightning and wind. Doesn't that kind of sound like Hackleburg to you when you start watching this video at the 5:25 mark?

A lot of Dixie tornado have the "black, boling mass of lighting and wind" look, due to the being rain-wrapped and spawned from low hanging cloud bases. Also Tupelo happened at night so gotta take the lower visibility into account.
That vid of Hackleburg reminds me mostly of eyewitness descriptions of the Tri-State Tornado as it was coming through, although I wonder if the "rolling fog bank" that happened with Atlantic and Tionesta from 5/31/85 was something like this.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

So I emailed TornadoTalk about the Crown Victoria thrown a mile into someone's pond and finally got an answer. Looks like the feat was somewhat exaggerated by a newspaper article but impressive nonetheless.

A screenshot of the email:



Given the 400 yards, my guess is "nearly a quarter of a mile" got warped into a full mile for some article. Can't find the newspaper article (assuming there even is any) mentioning that but this is the answer I got.

 

[Lake Martin EF4]

A lot of Dixie tornado have the "black, boling mass of lighting and wind" look, due to the being rain-wrapped and spawned from low hanging cloud bases. Also Tupelo happened at night so gotta take the lower visibility into account.
That vid of Hackleburg reminds me mostly of eyewitness descriptions of the Tri-State Tornado as it was coming through, although I wonder if the "rolling fog bank" that happened with Kane, Atlantic and another tornado from 5/31/85 was something like this.

Happened with Atlantic and Tionesta. Kane was described as basically Tuscaloosa once it was near Birmingham.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Happened with Atlantic and Tionesta. Kane was described as basically Tuscaloosa once it was near Birmingham.

Fixed that, thanks.

 

[locomusic01]

So I emailed TornadoTalk about the Crown Victoria thrown a mile into someone's pond and finally got an answer. Looks like the feat was somewhat exaggerated by a newspaper article but impressive nonetheless.

Incidentally, this is what a car actually thrown (very nearly) a mile into a pond looks like:

I included these in my Bridge Creek-Moore article but I don't remember if I ever posted them here. This was in Moore near Eastern Ave & SW 94th St, just east of I-35.

Edit: Here's a view of where the car originated (red arrow) and where it ended up (green arrow).

According to Google Earth, it's actually just slightly over a mile.

 

[Sawmaster]

"Don't worry, it'll probably buff out".

Sorry I just had to say that I still can't wrap my head around just how much energy it takes to do this, nor can I forget the images of the two pick-up trucks being lofted at the same time in Pampa.

 

[locomusic01]

"Don't worry, it'll probably buff out".

Sorry I just had to say that I still can't wrap my head around just how much energy it takes to do this, nor can I forget the images of the two pick-up trucks being lofted at the same time in Pampa.

It really is incredible. I can't help wondering just how far a tornado is capable of throwing a vehicle under the right circumstances. I've been able to verify a few that were right around a mile, which is more or less in line with most of the other relatively well-substantiated cases I've seen, so I've always used that as kind of a rough credibility threshold. Who knows, though.

Edit: Also, while I'm on the topic, another thing that blew my mind about the area where that car was. Don't remember if I mentioned it in the article or not, but the ground was scoured so deep in parts of the golf course that it exposed the underground irrigation lines. One of the ball washers was also ripped out with such force that it pulled some of the piping out of the ground.

Edit 2: This area is also directly next to the famous "textbook F5" house that may or may not have actually been swept away by the tornado:

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

It really is incredible. I can't help wondering just how far a tornado is capable of throwing a vehicle under the right circumstances. I've been able to verify a few that were right around a mile, which is more or less in line with most of the other relatively well-substantiated cases I've seen, so I've always used that as kind of a rough credibility threshold. Who knows, though.

Edit: Also, while I'm on the topic, another thing that blew my mind about the area where that car was. Don't remember if I mentioned it in the article or not, but the ground was scoured so deep in parts of the golf course that it exposed the underground irrigation lines. One of the ball washers was also ripped out with such force that it pulled some of the piping out of the ground.

I think either Allison or Kellerville, TX from the 6/8/95 outbreak carried a couple automobiles for up to 2 miles; of course given that the area they were in was all flat desert or ranchland it isn't that surprising. The incredible feats attributed to Bakersfield Valley (oil tanks up to 3 miles) are likely due to the remote, flat terrain with no structures around to impede their progress.
Of course, I wonder in cases like this were these objects lofted that distance in a single throw or centrifuged for a significant portion of the journey before being centrifuged outwards from the funnel. Probably be difficult to ascertain all of that, just a thought.

 

[locomusic01]

I think either Allison or Kellerville, TX from the 6/8/95 outbreak carried a couple automobiles for up to 2 miles; of course given that the area they were in was all flat desert or ranchland it isn't that surprising. The incredible feats attributed to Bakersfield Valley (oil tanks up to 3 miles) are likely due to the remote, flat terrain with no structures around to impede their progress.
Of course, I wonder in cases like this were these objects lofted that distance in a single throw or centrifuged for a significant portion of the journey before being centrifuged outwards from the funnel. Probably be difficult to ascertain all of that, just a thought.

Yeah, Kellerville. I've seen that claim a bunch of times but I don't think it's ever been substantiated as far as I know. What a fascinating tornado, though. I would love to get my hands on the hundreds of aerial photos from the damage survey.

 

[Oakhurst_Wx]

I really need to go back and redo those colorized photos. I haven't gone back over the article since I wrote it and I didn't realize how bad they actually turned out lol.


Nice summary! The only thing I'd nitpick is the tornado gradually strengthening through town; many of the fine, relatively well-built (for the time) homes in Willis Heights on the southwest side of town were completely obliterated and 200 people were killed in that ~1.5 mile stretch. A whole block of homes along Madison St, half a mile SW of Gum Pond, was also swept cleanly away. It's hard to say where the tornado actually peaked because the path is so complex, as you noted.

Anywho, here's another shot from this same general area, just taken from a different angle. You can see some pretty significant debarking on the right side of the photo if you enlarge it:

Man, that freakin' photo lol (edit: referring to the final wide aerial shot). I spent a couple solid days digging around and emailing and calling and whatnot trying to track down an original, higher-res version but to no avail. Probably still out there somewhere, but what a waste of time that ended up being. For the life of me I can't remember when it was taken, but it was quite a while after the tornado.

I was wondering if you had any other high-quality aerials or shots of damage within Tupelo that you didn't post in the article?

 

[locomusic01]

I was wondering if you had any other high-quality aerials or shots of damage within Tupelo that you didn't post in the article?

I think there are a few other high-res photos I didn't include but IIRC they're not all that interesting. I'll double check in a bit and post if there's anything good.

 

[locomusic01]

I do have these that I forgot about. I contacted the Nashville Public Library to see if they had anything in their collections from the outbreak and they sent me a few contact sheets, but I didn't end up using them because it wasn't worth paying the fees. Nothing really new anyway:

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

I do have these that I forgot about. I contacted the Nashville Public Library to see if they had anything in their collections from the outbreak and they sent me a few contact sheets, but I didn't end up using them because it wasn't worth paying the fees. Nothing really new anyway:

How widespead do you think this outbreak (1936) was? Was it largely confined to a few states or was it rather widespread, based on the info you've managed to dig up?

 

[locomusic01]

How widespead do you think this outbreak (1936) was? Was it largely confined to a few states or was it rather widespread, based on the info you've managed to dig up?

I found a few other tornadoes (the tracks are kinda obscured by the little diamond shapes because I forgot to turn some of the damage markers off - too lazy to redo it lol) but that's about it. There were a few incidences of damage in Kentucky, southern Indiana and western North Carolina that possibly could've been tornadic, but nothing conclusive enough to include them.

Edit: I always forget I can just link to the Google Maps version. Tornadoes are listed on the left (probably self-explanatory, but the +/- indicate I personally consider the tornado stronger/weaker than its official rating).

April 5-6, 1936 Tornado Outbreak - Google My Maps

April 5-6, 1936 Tornado Outbreak

www.google.com

 

[Robinson lee]

I haven't seen you for a long time. I don't think I have spoken here for a while. I think you have known about the violent tornado that occurred in Liaoning, China, on June 10, 2005. The tornado caused very violent scouring, tree damage and vehicle damage. Although the tornado moved slowly, I still think it is one of the strongest tornadoes in China under the Funing tornado in 2016, Stronger than Baochang Tornado in 2021 and Kaiyuan Tornado in 2019