Significant Tornado Events

[Casuarina Head]

Yeah, the second Tanner tornado of 1974 went up into Tenn. Also in ‘74, the supercell that put down the first Tanner tornado went over Hackelburg and put down an F2 in Phil Campbell that was the precursor to Tanner1. There are just so many that are in that Corridor.

Even some Mississippi tornadoes, if you follow the path they were on will lead up into that area of Northern Alabama. Smithville leads up that way. Tupelo is another. Heck, the 1920 Hackelburg tornado started in Aberdeen.

And like you mentioned, others like the 1971 Delta and the Yazoo City occurrences… if you follow those paths up, eventually lead into Northwest AL.

The Tuscaloosa/Birmingham corridor also leads back to another area of MS that sees a lot of violent tornadoes: Neshoba county (Philadelphia) and Meridian.

It is like there are two pathways that run Northeast through MS and AL. One runs generally through the Philadelphia/Meridian region and then up to Tuscaloosa/Birmingham. The other from the Columbus/Aberdeen area up into far North AL in the Hackelburg/Russellville/Moultan/Tanner region.

Ive been interested in those two areas for a long time now.

There seems to be similar violent-tornado corridors in portions of Oklahoma. One runs along I-44 from Chickasha northeastward toward Moore and the southeastern OKC suburbs. Another extends from the Washington–Goldsby area past Norman–Noble, toward Lake Thunderbird and perhaps the Shawnee area. There is also a third possible corridor, though less well defined than the first two, near or just beyond the northwestern OKC suburbs, roughly from El Reno–Yukon to Piedmont–Bethany and thence to around Edmond–Seward or so, perhaps as far as Guthrie. But the southern OKC suburbs and areas southeastward seem by far to get hit hardest by (E)F4+ tornadoes, going back to the late nineteenth century.

For example, Moore was hit by a very large and violent tornado on 25 April 1893 that traveled anywhere from 15 (per Thomas P. Grazulis) to 45 mi (per NWS Norman), depending on sources, beginning southwst of the settlement and ending perhaps as far as Case, ~12 mi east of Moore. This was also a large wedge-type tornado that killed at least 31 people in and near the southern side of Moore. Signficant Tornadoes rated it F4, perhaps because mainly lightweight structures were destroyed, but at least some homes probably were leveled, and the tornado itself was part of a poorly-documented outbreak that also produced other significant, potentially underrated tornadoes, including near Goldsby (F2) and Guthrie (F4).

 

[HAwkmoon]

By the way, re: Sherman - I reached out to the Sherman Museum quite a while ago and they said that they were in the process of digitizing their collection, which includes photos from the tornado. Not sure how many, but it's possible they may have them digitized by now. Been meaning to follow up at some point.

Have you had a follow up from this? I would love to see the images of Sherman.

 

[TH2002]

Re: Palm Sunday: some of the damage from Crystal Lake, Rockaway, Lebanon/Sheridan, and Rainbow Lake was also rather impressive. Crystal Lake swept away anchor-bolted (and possibly newly-built?) homes as well. Rockaway tore up concrete bridge-railings, tossed heavy machinery, debarked trees and low-lying shrubbery, and may have done some ground scouring. Lebanon/Sheridan produced some rather noteworthy granulation, partial debarking of low-lying shrubbery, and possible (intense?) ground scouring. Rainbow Lake seems to have done some scouring and debarking of low-lying vegetation, along with intense vehicular damage. (Some have mentioned Toledo as another F5 candidate, but I haven’t personally seen other DIs to corroborate the impacts on housing, which may have been subpar in construction.)

Dunlap, Pittsfield, and Coldwater Lake/Manitou Beach #1 seem to have been fairly clear-cut F5s, or capable of F5 damage. The fact that Dunlap stubbed or debarked mature trees—which are typically harder to debark in Illinois than some other regions—is impressive, along with the other DIs such as granulation, intense ground scouring and wind-rowing, and mangling of a John Deere. Pittsfield also did extreme damage to vehicles, along with debarking and possible scouring. All in all, there were probably six to eight F5s or F5 candidates on Palm Sunday, not counting some lesser-documented events such as the Tipton/Springbrook IA F4(+?).


I do think Brandenburg had some characteristics in common with Smithville: the narrow contour of intense damage, the debarking/shredding of low-lying shrubbery, locally intense scouring, intense wind-rowing, and extreme vehicular damage. The fact that it tore out a poured concrete basement-wall is not only impressive in itself, but also noteworthy for the photographic evidence that the home itself was not in a densely urbanised area or in close proximity to other structures (a bit like the Parkersburg residence that also sustained the breaking of its poured-concrete basement wall). I suspect that Brandenburg was capable, however briefly, of being almost on a par with Smithville and similarly top-tier events like Parkersburg, Joplin, Chapman, or Chandler.

Yup. There is at least one home from Crystal Lake that stands out to me as an F5 candidate. Closely spaced anchor bolts with some of them bent, and almost total removal of sill plating. There was definitely a vehicle impact though, so I'm sure that was a consideration. If I'm not mistaken, a family of three actually died in this basement:

I'd need a refresher on some of the Palm Sunday '65 tornadoes but Sunnyside, Coldwater Lake and Pittsfield absolutely deserved F5 ratings. No need to be so conservative...

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Yup. There is at least one home from Crystal Lake that stands out to me as an F5 candidate. Closely spaced anchor bolts with some of them bent, and almost total removal of sill plating. There was definitely a vehicle impact though, so I'm sure that was a consideration. If I'm not mistaken, a family of three actually died in this basement:

I'd need a refresher on some of the Palm Sunday '65 tornadoes but Sunnyside, Coldwater Lake and Pittsfield absolutely deserved F5 ratings. No need to be so conservative...

There was easily 5-6 F5s that day. Why two of them were later downgraded is beyond me.
Both Dunlap/Elkhart tornadoes, Coldwater, Strongsville, and Toledo were F5 and La Paz, Indiana may have been F5 too.

 

[Casuarina Head]

There was easily 5-6 F5s that day. Why two of them were later downgraded is beyond me.
Both Dunlap/Elkhart tornadoes, Coldwater, Strongsville, and Toledo were F5 and La Paz, Indiana may have been F5 too.

Another thing that really stands about Palm Sunday is the fact that three supercells produced a dozen intense tornadoes. Of these tornadoes, all but one were easily F4+, including the Koontz Lake IN and Rockaway OH “F3s.” The parent supercells were plotted as “J,” “K,” and “L” by Dr. Fujita in his mapping of the outbreak. “J” was associated with the Koontz Lake and Midway/Goshen F4s, as well as the Rainbow Lake and Coldwater Lake/Manitou Beach #1 F4+ events (both plausible F5s). “K” produced the Dunlap (Sunnyside) F5 and the second Manitou Beach F4. “L” was the long-tracker that passed across the entirety of central IN and northern OH, spawning no fewer than six consecutive violent tornadoes, including the Pittsfield F5 and the Lebanon/Sheridan F4+, another F5 contender.

Not even the 1974 Super Outbreak produced more than five consecutive violent tornadoes associated with a single cell (the long-tracker that generated Depauw and Sayler Park); most of the cells only produced three. To my knowledge the 2011 Super Outbreak did not match Palm Sunday’s feat either. Another thing about 11 April 1965: not only were the parent cells prolific, consistent producers of violent tornadoes, but they also did so while moving extremely rapidly, making the damage on the ground even more striking. All in all, this strengthens the argument that Palm Sunday can almost be considered a super outbreak in its own right, especially if, as seems likely, it produced five or more actual or potential F5s. Only events like Enigma and the 1932 outbreak really come close, with some others a bit behind.

 

[CheeselandSkies]

Another thing that really stands about Palm Sunday is the fact that three supercells produced a dozen intense tornadoes. Of these tornadoes, all but one were easily F4+, including the Koontz Lake IN and Rockaway OH “F3s.” The parent supercells were plotted as “J,” “K,” and “L” by Dr. Fujita in his mapping of the outbreak. “J” was associated with the Koontz Lake and Midway/Goshen F4s, as well as the Rainbow Lake and Coldwater Lake/Manitou Beach #1 F4+ events (both plausible F5s). “K” produced the Dunlap (Sunnyside) F5 and the second Manitou Beach F4. “L” was the long-tracker that passed across the entirety of central IN and northern OH, spawning no fewer than six consecutive violent tornadoes, including the Pittsfield F5 and the Lebanon/Sheridan F4+, another F5 contender.

Not even the 1974 Super Outbreak produced more than five consecutive violent tornadoes associated with a single cell (the long-tracker that generated Depauw and Sayler Park); most of the cells only produced three. To my knowledge the 2011 Super Outbreak did not match Palm Sunday’s feat either. Another thing about 11 April 1965: not only were the parent cells prolific, consistent producers of violent tornadoes, but they also did so while moving extremely rapidly, making the damage on the ground even more striking. All in all, this strengthens the argument that Palm Sunday can almost be considered a super outbreak in its own right, especially if, as seems likely, it produced five or more actual or potential F5s. Only events like Enigma and the 1932 outbreak really come close, with some others a bit behind.

Palm Sunday '65 is sometimes overlooked because the total number of tornadoes was relatively low (although I think, like 1974, there were likely some lower-end ones that went unrecorded). However, the intensity and number of upper-echelon tornadoes is certainly comparable to the two Super Outbreaks. I think it was somewhat more similar to April 2011 than 1974, with a notably dense corridor of violent tornado activity over a relatively small area (basically it was to northern IN/OH-southern Lower MI what 4/27/11 was to eastern MS-northern AL).

What's also remarkable to me is the E-W breadth of the outbreak; with violent tornadoes occurring from Iowa all the way to western Lake Erie. Nothing comparable to that has really been seen in this region since. 3/31/23 might have come close if more of the early afternoon round of northern IL supercells had been able to produce.

 

[Tomcats Forever!]

Palm Sunday '65 is sometimes overlooked because the total number of tornadoes was relatively low (although I think, like 1974, there were likely some lower-end ones that went unrecorded). However, the intensity and number of upper-echelon tornadoes is certainly comparable to the two Super Outbreaks. I think it was somewhat more similar to April 2011 than 1974, with a notably dense corridor of violent tornado activity over a relatively small area (basically it was to northern IN/OH-southern Lower MI what 4/27/11 was to eastern MS-northern AL).

What's also remarkable to me is the E-W breadth of the outbreak; with violent tornadoes occurring from Iowa all the way to western Lake Erie. Nothing comparable to that has really been seen in this region since. 3/31/23 might have come close if more of the early afternoon round of northern IL supercells had been able to produce.

If someone was to call Palm Sunday 65 a super outbreak, I wouldn't get upset. Hey, the number of outbreaks that produces more violent tornadoes can be counted on 1... finger

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

If someone was to call Palm Sunday 65 a super outbreak, I wouldn't get upset. Hey, the number of outbreaks that produces more violent tornadoes can be counted on 1... finger

It doesn't have as wide a geographic extent, which is likely why it isn't considered "super".
Honestly, I think quite a bit of the Dixie outbreaks (1875, 1884, 1920, 1932, 1936, 1974, and 2011) are all "super outbreaks" and perhaps Palm Sunday 1965, 1991 Great Plains Outbreak and 2011 Plains Outbreak are all "supers" as well. They might be more common than we imagine.

 

[joshoctober16]

well first you would need to put some sort of rule of what a super outbreak is
i felt like it should be
Tornadoes:38+ (rule by using 1932 SO)
F2+:16+ (see the F2+ Ph average)
F3+:8+ (see the F3+ Ph average)
F4+:5+ (see the F4+ Ph average)
Tornado per hour average:1.583+ (rule by using 1932 SO)
F2+ per hour average:0.66+ (rule by using 2011 SO)
F3+ per hour average:0.33+ (rule by using 2011 SO)
F4+ per hour average:0.2+ (rule by using 2011 SO)

the events you get are
1932 march 21 SO
1965 april 10
1974 april 3 SO
1991 april 26
2008 Feb 5
2011 april 25 SO

events that are almost to that are these (reason why they are not in the list are listed)
1884 feb 19 (only 4 F4+, only 37 tornadoes)
1920 march 28 (only 37 tornadoes) it is to note that this one might be able to go with the bunch above
1952 march 21 (only 31 tornadoes, only 1.256 tornadoes per hour)

when it comes with events that match or are more extreme then (1932,1974,2011)
the only event is 1965 april 11 , infact... its beaten 1932 super outbreak in every way.

 

[joshoctober16]

It doesn't have as wide a geographic extent, which is likely why it isn't considered "super".
Honestly, I think quite a bit of the Dixie outbreaks (1876, 1884, 1920, 1932, 1936, 1974, and 2011) are all "super outbreaks" and perhaps Palm Sunday 1965, 1991 Great Plains Outbreak and 2011 Plains Outbreak are all "supers" as well. They might be more common than we imagine.

what 1936 and 1876 outbreak are you talking about?

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

what 1936 and 1876 outbreak are you talking about?

1876 was a typo for 1875, I corrected it.
1936 was the Tupelo-Gainesville outbreak.

 

[Casuarina Head]

It doesn't have as wide a geographic extent, which is likely why it isn't considered "super".
Honestly, I think quite a bit of the Dixie outbreaks (1875, 1884, 1920, 1932, 1936, 1974, and 2011) are all "super outbreaks" and perhaps Palm Sunday 1965, 1991 Great Plains Outbreak and 2011 Plains Outbreak are all "supers" as well. They might be more common than we imagine.

Speaking of super outbreaks in Dixie, I also wonder a lot about the outbreak of 22–3 April 1883. Per Significant Tornadoes, that outbreak likely produced a duo of long-lived F4+ tornadoes near Georgetown–Beauregard MS that collectively likely killed over 100 people. (The first event was assigned an F3 rating, the second an F4, but by available accounts the former was very likely violent and maybe even as intense as the second event, which seems to have been quite large and potent.) It also produced intense, long-tracked F3(+?) tornadoes in/near Rutherford Co. TN and Starkville–Aberdeen MS, as well as a state-crossing F3(+?) tornado family along the MS/LA border (Deer Park LA/Red Lick MS).

It also generated a duo of large F4s in GA, including at least one that occurred during the predawn hours of 23 April (Thomas P. Grazulis lists the first as occurring around mid-afternoon on 22 April, well ahead of the main activity, so the timing may be a typo; if so, perhaps this tornado also occurred around the time of the second). In addition to these events, Thomas P. Grazulis mentions that there were at least 10 other potentially significant tornadoes in MS that could not be documented, owing to a lack of local newspapers being preserved. There were likely also at least four additional tornadoes, possibly F2+, in AL. There were plenty of other significant tornadoes from AL eastward to Sampson Co. NC. (As an aside, there was also an F3 in Barber Co. KS very early on the initial day of the outbreak.)

This screenshot from Tornado Archive really captures the rather wide geographic scope of this outbreak as well:

20CR also shows a rather impressive synoptic-thermodynamic combination, with a broad warm sector (including 60°F dew points well north of St. Louis on the afternoon of 22 April), clockwise hodographs, broad/moist warm sector, deep surface low, moderate low-level jet, and negatively tilted, low-amplitude trough. For some reason there was relatively little activity, tornado-wise, north of southern TN, perhaps hinting at a more linear convective mode affecting the northern half of the warm sector. Farther south the widely-spaced F2+ tornadoes also hint at a volatile parameter-space conducive to discrete tornado families. The 20CR parameters on Tornado Archive really stand out.

 

[Casuarina Head]

well first you would need to put some sort of rule of what a super outbreak is
i felt like it should be
Tornadoes:38+ (rule by using 1932 SO)
F2+:16+ (see the F2+ Ph average)
F3+:8+ (see the F3+ Ph average)
F4+:5+ (see the F4+ Ph average)
Tornado per hour average:1.583+ (rule by using 1932 SO)
F2+ per hour average:0.66+ (rule by using 2011 SO)
F3+ per hour average:0.33+ (rule by using 2011 SO)
F4+ per hour average:0.2+ (rule by using 2011 SO)

the events you get are
1932 march 21 SO
1965 april 10
1974 april 3 SO
1991 april 26
2008 Feb 5
2011 april 25 SO

events that are almost to that are these (reason why they are not in the list are listed)
1884 feb 19 (only 4 F4+, only 37 tornadoes)
1920 march 28 (only 37 tornadoes) it is to note that this one might be able to go with the bunch above
1952 march 21 (only 31 tornadoes, only 1.256 tornadoes per hour)

when it comes with events that match or are more extreme then (1932,1974,2011)
the only event is 1965 april 11 , infact... its beaten 1932 super outbreak in every way.

I don’t think that anyone in this thread has mentioned the outbreak of 18 May 1883. It was quite localised, mostly confined to easternmost MO and south-central IL, but it featured a very high ratio of F3-F4+ events. An F4 tornado family tracked along the warm front near the IL/WI border, producing deadly F4s at Capron IL and Racine WI. But the main violent activity was clustered north of St. Louis, extending northeastward past Springfield. A bit farther south a bunch of F3s occurred, several of which may well have been F4-worthy. The most intriguing aspect about this outbreak is that it did not really get going until around suppertime, with virtually all the intense activity occurring at 6:00 p.m. LST or later, yet it yielded at least six F4s and eight F3s, extending until midnight or so. Within a six-hour span I believe this would equate to about two F3+ tornadoes per hour, on average. While this pace wouldn’t come close to super-outbreak levels, the intensity of the activity certainly stands out and might be considered a local super outbreak of sorts.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Speaking of super outbreaks in Dixie, I also wonder a lot about the outbreak of 22–3 April 1883. Per Significant Tornadoes, that outbreak likely produced a duo of long-lived F4+ tornadoes near Georgetown–Beauregard MS that collectively likely killed over 100 people. (The first event was assigned an F3 rating, the second an F4, but by available accounts the former was very likely violent and maybe even as intense as the second event, which seems to have been quite large and potent.) It also produced intense, long-tracked F3(+?) tornadoes in/near Rutherford Co. TN and Starkville–Aberdeen MS, as well as a state-crossing F3(+?) tornado family along the MS/LA border (Deer Park LA/Red Lick MS).

It also generated a duo of large F4s in GA, including at least one that occurred during the predawn hours of 23 April (Thomas P. Grazulis lists the first as occurring around mid-afternoon on 22 April, well ahead of the main activity, so the timing may be a typo; if so, perhaps this tornado also occurred around the time of the second). In addition to these events, Thomas P. Grazulis mentions that there were at least 10 other potentially significant tornadoes in MS that could not be documented, owing to a lack of local newspapers being preserved. There were likely also at least four additional tornadoes, possibly F2+, in AL. There were plenty of other significant tornadoes from AL eastward to Sampson Co. NC. (As an aside, there was also an F3 in Barber Co. KS very early on the initial day of the outbreak.)

This screenshot from Tornado Archive really captures the rather wide geographic scope of this outbreak as well:

20CR also shows a rather impressive synoptic-thermodynamic combination, with a broad warm sector (including 60°F dew points well north of St. Louis on the afternoon of 22 April), clockwise hodographs, broad/moist warm sector, deep surface low, moderate low-level jet, and negatively tilted, low-amplitude trough. For some reason there was relatively little activity, tornado-wise, north of southern TN, perhaps hinting at a more linear convective mode affecting the northern half of the warm sector. Farther south the widely-spaced F2+ tornadoes also hint at a volatile parameter-space conducive to discrete tornado families. The 20CR parameters on Tornado Archive really stand out.

I was looking through Red Cross records from that event and they reported at least 92 deaths from the Wesson F4 and Braxton F3.

 

[HAwkmoon]

Alright, so on a discord server, several people were examining damage from Hackleburg, including a forensic engineer. They are convinced that this structure in between Hackleburg and Phil campbell is a SBO, and not a family residence, based on the fact that there is no evidence of interior walls, and the debris consists of sheet metal. I am still unsure and would like your opinions? (For note this was rated as EF-5, the DI was also rated as Null not Fr12, the nearby mobile homes were also rated as EF-5 for some reason).

 

[joshoctober16]

i find the hackleburg EF5 to be... in a wierd situation ....
there is so much areas of contextual EF5 and so much hints it was a EF5...

however evrey single EF5 daamge point isnt true EF5 damage.

i dont think there is a on a book EF rating spot for a EF5 rating.

there is only kind of one home but it has one issue , that theres no ground scouring at all at one side, not even grass scouring.

evrey other spot are false EF5 rating or non offical EF5 DI.

it bothers me more since villonia and bremen has more EF5 on the book rule evidence then phil campbell ....

 

[HAwkmoon]

i find the hackleburg EF5 to be... in a wierd situation ....
there is so much areas of contextual EF5 and so much hints it was a EF5...

however evrey single EF5 daamge point isnt true EF5 damage.

i dont think there is a on a book EF rating spot for a EF5 rating.

there is only kind of one home but it has one issue , that theres no ground scouring at all at one side, not even grass scouring.

evrey other spot are false EF5 rating or non offical EF5 DI.

it bothers me more since villonia and bremen has more EF5 on the book rule evidence then phil campbell ....

There are several homes which were genuinely, EF5, i read a paper that said the reason for the ratings was due to surveyors using a program to automatically assign ratings to images. Tornado talk has lots of great SAT imagery showing many homes being swept away. Here are a few other images of genuine EF-5 homes.









2 homes past Wrangler Jeans rated EF-5.

there are more in Phil campbell that are also solid EF-5, and a few in Mt hope and Langtown.

 

[joshoctober16]

There are several homes which were genuinely, EF5, i read a paper that said the reason for the ratings was due to surveyors using a program to automatically assign ratings to images. Tornado talk has lots of great SAT imagery showing many homes being swept away. Here are a few other images of genuine EF-5 homes.



View attachment 24924

View attachment 24925
View attachment 24926
View attachment 24927
View attachment 24929
2 homes past Wrangler Jeans rated EF-5.

there are more in Phil campbell that are also solid EF-5, and a few in Mt hope and Langtown.

what i mean is...

1:well built home completely swept clean with debris all turned into little parts and thrown furuther away.
2:has to have properly space bolts with properly fitted sized and tightened washers and nuts.
3:removeal of large percentage of baseplates form the foundation
4:anchor bolts were bent or snap off by the tornado
5:ground scouring or complete grass scouring.
6:trees within 100 yards all debarked and or flatten and some thrown away, all small shrubs/bushes are without leafs and debarked.

and within every image is see no complete grass scouring and trees standing beside the foundations looking pretty ok.

the first 4 rules are by tim marshall.
rule 5 is from some presentation by nws for EF4 vs EF5 damage.
rule 6 is for villonia,mayfeild.

when you look at it that way all the damage points of phil campbell seem less EF5 then villonia and bremen who were rated EF4, there is also a weird sitatuion with rainsville with trees being fine beside the main EF5 damage point.

i do have to say the last image is the most EF5 ish ive seen out of the bunch, and seems to be pretty much there tough the grass isnt completely scoured.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Given today's the 50 anniversary of the event, I figured I'd post some more pics from it.

First off, a variety of Guin aerials of varying quality. Note how the narrow the core of F5 devastation is. The residential section of northwestern Guin was the hardest hit, with scoured grass, debarked trees and scores of homes swept clean in only a few seconds: Note how some buildings in the downtown area or in other residential areas outside of the F5-hit section are leveled or partially swept away while others are standing next to them; this thing definitely had a multivortex structure.









Next series is a variety of view of the demolished mobile home manufacturing plant:



I think you can see the town's tornado siren in this one:

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

More pics I've come across on newspapers.com and ABC 33/40.





A couple of these you can see trees debarked, scoured soil and granulated debris.