Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920
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| Date of tornado outbreak: | March 28, 1920 |
| Duration1: | ~9 hours |
| Maximum rated tornado2: | F4 tornado |
| Tornadoes caused: | 38 |
| Damages: | Unknown |
| Fatalities: | 380+ |
| Areas affected: | Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin |
|
1Time from first tornado to last tornado |
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The first Palm Sunday tornado outbreak occurred on March 28, 1920. Thirty-eight significant tornadoes hit the Midwest and Deep South states. The outbreak left over 380+ dead, 1,215 injured. Many communities and farmers alike, were caught off-guard, as the storms moved to the northeast at speeds that reached 100 km/h (62 mph). Most of the fatalities occurred in Georgia (201+), Indiana (56), and Ohio (55), while the other states had lesser amounts.
Severe thunderstorms began developing in Missouri during the early morning hours. The storms moved quickly to the northeast towards Chicago, Illinois. The first tornado injured five people 56 km (35 mi.) southeast of Springfield, Missouri in the pre-dawn hours in Douglas County. This first twister was a harbinger of things to come, as the morning went on and the atmosphere began to destabilize, due to the abundance of sunshine that preceded the cold front in the dry slot area, which covered the lower Great Lakes region, extending southward well past the Ohio River Valley.
Newspaper accounts and weather records document over 38 storms of major significance; thus, the probable number of actual tornadoes is much higher, especially when the U.S. Weather Bureau (National Weather Service) prior to 1916 did not conduct any aerial/damage surveys, nor was there any public education campaign for the public to properly report them. The only time prior to 1950 where weather forecasters would conduct an official inquiry is when a single tornado was noteworthy of an extensive investigation, such as the infamous Tri-State Tornado of March 18th, 1925, the Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak (Palm Sunday) event of April 5-6th, 1936 or the Woodward, Oklahoma disaster of April 9, 1947.
The only states that kept any solid records on tornadoes after World War I, were the ones that had the highest frequency of occurrence in Tornado Alley. Therefore, the Great Lakes Region varied from state-to-state in their record keeping of such events. Further, it fell upon most state departments of agriculture to record any significant crop damage or livestock losses due to natural disasters. Conversely, starting in 1900, the state of Michigan decided to keep formal records on the annual number of tornadoes across the state and the losses associated with them; whereas, Indiana and Ohio would follow suit in the mid 1920s. These records contained the tornado’s estimated path length, damages, injuries, and deaths to humans, or livestock.
According to Thomas P. Grazulis, head of the Tornado Project, the death tolls in the southern states on Palm Sunday 1920, could have easily been much higher, since the deaths of non-whites were omitted as a matter of official state protocol, even when it came to fatalities from natural disasters. However, U.S. Weather Bureau would change this in the 1950s, when all deaths, regardless of race, that was attributed to severe weather were recorded by federal government policy in every state. Nonetheless, the tornadoes that hit Deep South on March 28th, did in fact strike sections of towns that had sizeable black populations. Unfortunately, no survey information was conducted at this time to determine the actual death toll in these areas which, could be substantially much higher.
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[edit] Overview
Climatic conditions were ripe on Palm Sunday 1920, for all the right conditions to come together creating the classic setup needed for long-track tornadoes. However, forecasting, communications technology and public awareness about Severe Weather, was totally existent in 1920, and would not begin for another 33 years, when the U.S. Weather Bureau would implement it’s public Watch (the word ‘forecast’ was used until 1966) and Warning program in 1953.
Today, it’s almost conceivable to think about living without the modern glasses we take for granted: cell phones, computers, electronic organizers, microwave ovens, radios, and televisions to name a few. Moreover, just imagine trying to predict the weather without the current tools of the trade: Doppler radar, satellites, super computers that produce forecast models, radio equipped volunteer storm spotters, and the mass media to disseminate urgent warnings to the public. On March 28, 1920, not one of these fundamentals was in place and it would be eight months until the first commercial radio station in the world, KDKA would take to the airwaves on November 2, 1920, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
For the residents of the Great Lakes region and Ohio Valley areas, their only source of weather information was the rather vague forecasts that were issued in the local newspaper the day before or by word of mouth. Ironically, the use of the word "tornado" was strictly prohibited in public weather forecasting until the 1950s because of the fear and panic it might cause. This policy would come under-fire in the years to come, especially after the tragic Tri-State Tornado in 1925 that stands today as the deadliest twister in American History.
Weather forecasters and the public alike in the Chicago, Dayton, Fort Wayne, Lansing, South Bend, and Toledo areas had no clue that the stage was set that day for a tragic tornado outbreak that would follow on a seemingly balmy and tranquil Palm Sunday afternoon. The primative weather maps in use in 1920, showed a rather large and deep cyclone over northern Iowa that was forecast to move across central Lower Michigan by nightfall with a trailing cold front. Meteorologists knew rain showers; maybe a thundershower, was a good possibility, but were clueless that the helicity, lifted index, and upper level winds were being guided by a strong jet stream, with a probable negative-tilt that would create the perfect recipe for disaster.
When examining the overall outbreak on Palm Sunday 1920, there are some rather interesting similarities to the April 11, 1965 disaster, 45 years later that are noteworthy:
- Storm structure is very indicative of fast moving multiple supercell activity traveling from the southwest at roughly 220:105 km/h (65 mph).
- Major thrust of activity started around 12:00 p.m. during maximum melting of the day, lasting to around sunset.
- Several counties in the outbreak area experienced multiple hits from violent tornadoes within minutes of each other, where some communities were struck more than once.
- Several communities and counties affected by Palm Sunday tornadoes in 1999, were hit again in 2005. There are four known cases where the tracks of the tornadoes crossed each other from both outbreaks.
[edit] Confirmed tornadoes
| Confirmed Total |
Confirmed F0 |
Confirmed F1 |
Confirmed F2 |
Confirmed F3 |
Confirmed F4 |
Confirmed F5 |
| 38 | ? | ? | 14 | 11 | 13 | 0 |
[edit] Illinois
Just before the noon hour, rapid-fire, severe thunderstorms began blossoming 80 km (50 mi.) west of downtown Chicago. The first storm started to spawn killer tornadoes in DeKalb and then Kane Counties, starting at 12:00 noon. Roughly 15 minutes later a violent tornado F4 tore through Will and Cook Counties, cutting a path 85 km (53 mi.) long in the Bellwood Maywood areas that would kill 20 people as the storm completely devastated the community of Melrose Park. Ten of the fatalities occurred when the storm scored a direct hit on the Melrose Park Catholic Church and Convent, where people were getting ready for Palm Sunday services. Six more people would be killed in the community of Dunning, before the storm passed out into Lake Michigan.
[edit] Wisconsin
The only tornado to affect the Badger State, would touchdown in Kenosha County and cause widespread damage, but there were no injuries and fatalities reported. The F2 twister first made contact with the ground west of Pleasant Prairie and moved east-northeast at 80 km/h (50 mph). The only casualties reported were livestock on area farms, consisting of mostly cows, chickens, horses, and sheep. This tornado would move out into Lake Michigan north of Kenosha.
[edit] Michigan
As the Palm Sunday storms swept quickly out of the Chicago area across Lake Michigan, they took direct aim on Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Fourteen very destructive tornadoes (highest number of any state reported) would carve a path of destruction across the region from Berrien and Mason Counties starting at 12:30 p.m., moving northeastward to the Kalamazoo, Lansing, Flint and Saginaw areas, ending after 8:00 p.m.
Starting at 4:30 p.m., three very destructive F4 storms and one long-track F3 tornado would descend from the sky; the latter of which tore an 80 km (50 mi.) path of carnage and devastation from Mulliken to just southeast of Merrill in Saginaw County. This tornado caused complete destruction to numerous farms near Wacousta in Clinton County, destroying several factories in St. Johns. Fortunately, since it was the weekend, many of these buildings were closed as people were making plans to attend Palm Sunday church services, away from that part of town.
The highest number of casualties came from a violent tornado that tore a path of complete devastation starting at 4:30 p.m. near Gull Lake in Kalamazoo County, to Vermontville in Barry County, where another parallel tornado just 18 km (11 mi.) to the west of this killer storm also dropped from the sky simultaneously just northeast of Orangeville. This storm would kill one and injure another five as it caused complete destruction to everything in its path, including well constructed buildings and homes, making it a candidate for being classified as another F4 tornado.
Interestingly, this aforementioned storm may have first touched down near Alamo, in northwestern Kalamazoo County at the same time the Gull Lake twister was dropping from the sky. At the same time, another tornado was descending from the darkening skies over northwestern Steuben County, Indiana, moving quickly into Branch County killing two and injuring five more people.
[edit] Alabama
While the tornado outbreak was getting under way in the Great Lakes region, things were also heating up in the Heart of Dixie. Unseasonably warm weather, combined with deep moisture surging northward from the Gulf of Mexico, was setting the stage for the clash between the air masses. All that was needed was a triggering mechanism and it came in the form of a potent cold front, spawning supercell thunderstorms that quickly turned tornadic around 2:00 p.m., producing the first killer tornado in Calhoun County.
Three killer tornadoes would slash across the landscape of eastern Alabama, and then move into western Georgia. Hardest hit was Elmore County which was struck by two tornadoes, each within 15 minutes of each other, the latter being a monstrous F4, long-track storm that would move rapidly across Elmore, Tallapoosa, and Chambers Counties in Alabama, and then into Troup County, Georgia. This violent twister would first touchdown near Red Hill and move rapidly east-northeast at 100 km/h (60 mph), finally dissipating northeast of West Point, Georgia. Furthermore, this tornado would kill 17 and injuring 125; completely destroying 60 homes as it passed through Agricola, Susanna and Red Ridge, Alabama.
[edit] Georgia
The Peach State began it's battle with the forces of mother nature at 2:00 p.m., when the first tornado descended from the sky at in Pike County. This storm affected the areas to the west of Zebulon, only injuring a few people on local farms. However, the worst was yet to come 72 km (45 mi.) west in Troup County.
Just after 3:15 p.m., a large tornado moved across the state line from Alabama, bringing with it a very large and violent F4 twister. The community of West Point, suffered major damage, as the tornado completely flattened a four block area, killing nine people. The storm quickly moved off into rural parts of the county, where it finally lifted, but not before causing more death and destruction, which accounted for half of the deaths across the state.
While residents of Troup County were still in shock digging survivors out of the rubble in West Point. Another highly destructive tornado (possibly an F4) would strike the southeast side of LaGrange at 5:45 p.m., completely destroying the industrial area of the city. Several factories and a cotton mill were reduced to knee-high rubble, by a fast moving storm that was 735 meters (0.50 mi.) wide and moving along the ground at 100 km/h (62 mph). After heading out of the manufacturing area, the twister would completely destroy 40 frail houses before tearing off to the east-northeast.
According to Troup County Historian, Forest Clark Johnson, III. These two tornadoes would claim well over 100 lives in LaGrange alone, and another 100+ victims in Troup County, bringing the death to well over 200. Likewise, the number of those injured completely overwhelmed the local medical facilities, which had to summon assistance from other areas of the state including Atlanta.
[edit] Indiana
On Palm Sunday 1920, the atmosphere was ripe for widespread tornadic supercells to form across northern and central Indiana from Crown Point and Elkhart, south to the Richmond area. Fortunately, this was mostly wide-open farmland, which would help keep the death toll down. As atmospheric conditions continued destabilizing across the Michiana region with the afternoon heating; towering thunderheads began to quickly build, pushing higher into the sky; it was only a question of time before the bubble would burst.
The first tornado funnel would descend to the ground in Lake County around 3:00 p.m., moving 12 km (7 mi.) from Leroy heading into Porter County and ending near Beatrice. Several homes would be destroyed and one person would lose his life when his house was picked up and destroyed like matchsticks. Likewise, at the same time 60 km (37 mi.) to the east in St. Joseph County, another supercell was reaching maturity.
At 3:15 p.m. a debris cloud began to swirl in the open farmland 8 km (5 mi.) southeast of Mishawaka. Soon the column of rotating dirt containing parts of buildings, that had moments before been barns and farmhouses fell from the sky as the twister snaked its way across landscape moving northeast at 80 km/h (50 mph) into Elkhart County. Amazingly, only eight people were injured by this storm, because most had taken refuge in their storm cellars or were attending Palm Sunday services at their local church, which was missed by the storm’s destructive path. However, south of Fort Wayne, the granddaddy of them all was coming.
Around 5:15 p.m. another killer tornado would drop from the sky near the Wells County community of Ossian. Increasing rapidly in size and intensity, this massive storm would lay waste to everything along its 160 km (100 mi.) path into northwest Lucas County, Ohio. Several eyewitnesses to this storm said that it did not look like a traditional tornado, but more like a very large, low hanging mass of turbulent clouds that resembled boiling pot of beef stew. This may have accounted for the deaths and injuries of so many farmers within its path, which is very unusual since many of them were experienced weather experts of the day, being able to distinguish many different characteristics of thunderstorms.
This giant, killer tornado took direct aim on the small hamlet of Townley, in southeastern Allen County, virtually destroying the entire town by leveling every building and completely sweeping the debris away in some cases away, leaving only the bare foundation as a remembrance. Here four people would die and countless others would be injured, before rolling into Paulding County, Ohio. Meanwhile, further south along the Ohio border counties of Jay, Randolph and Wayne, three additional killer tornadoes would cause complete destruction to everything in their paths leaving their lasting scars on the communities, farms and its eyewitnesses in the years to follow.
Another large and violent tornado (probably multiple vortex in structure) started churning across the rural landscape of central Jay County and completely devastating the town of West Liberty as it moved northeast at around 80 km/h (50 mi). As this mammoth cyclone of death moved into the northeastern part of the county, the areas to the east of Geneva and south of Ceylon, it proceeded to completely sweep away any trace of humanity in its path. Furthermore, entire farms were literally wiped off the face of the earth, leaving no trace of its occupants or livestock that had just minutes before must have known something was tragically wrong as the eerie green skies began to bombard the countryside with baseball sized hail. From here the twister would move on into Mercer and Van Wert Counties in Ohio continuing its rein of destruction.
Two additional long-track killer tornadoes, would claim more lives and cause damages well over $1 million in damages. The first would touch down near Union City, in Randolph County and move rapidly to the northeast ending near Lightsville, Ohio. The second and more powerful twister fell from the sky west of Fountain City, in Wayne County. Moving like a runaway freight train, it would completely destroy every farm in its path and increased in strength crossing into Darke County, Ohio, creating incredible destruction all the way to just north of Greenville, which was a heavily populated area in the spring of 1920. Eight people would die and 40 people would be treated at local hospitals for serious injuries from this storm alone.
[edit] Ohio
The tornadoes that struck the western counties of Darke, Defiance, Mercer, Paulding, and Van Wert in Ohio on March 28th, 1920, originated in the Hoosier State, moving across the state line at high-speed, striking communities in their paths without any warning.
The first tornado to move into Ohio was from Allen County, Indiana. This massive F4 storm would level everything in its path like a giant steamroller. Wasting no time in Paulding County, the next target would be the Defiance area.
The residents of Brunersburg, in rural Defiance County probably had little if any time to react, when they heard the deafening roar quickly approaching from the southwest. Here several homes and a small store would be destroyed and six people would lose their lives. Dazed survivors would never forget emerging from the rubble of what was once an active mill town; now lay shattered in bits and pieces like a jigsaw puzzle thrown into the wind.
The violent tornado then moved northeast into Henry and Fulton Counties, tearing through the town of Swanton, causing major damage. Many factories, shops, and homes were completely demolished. According to the Toledo Blade newspaper, the central business district sustained very heavy damage along Main Street, extending into nearby residential areas, where the damage became more intense. This damage brought out many thieves that looted local businesses and houses that had been hit by the tornado.
Increasing in size, the storm moved into northwest Lucas County the damage became more widespread, as buildings and homes were swept clean of their foundations. Here farmhouses and other buildings would be reduced to complete rubble as the as the violent tornado, one km (.50 mi.) wide at this point took direct aim on its last community.
The tiny hamlet of Raabs Corners was located in northwest Lucas County, and like many small towns, was built on the dreams and hope for a better tomorrow by the people that founded it decades earlier. There were small businesses, churches, and Raabs general store, even a blacksmith. Mostly an agricultural town built to serve the needs of the local farmers; there was even a small one-room schoolhouse that served to give their children to give them the educational ‘tools’ to succeed in life.
As the residents of Raabs Corners celebrated Palm Sunday services at the Immaculate Conception and St. Mary's Churches that evening, they had no idea that the rapidly approaching storm from the southwest, at speeds approaching 88 km/h (55 mph), would be the death knell for the community. Just after 7:00 p.m. rain and small hail started to come down in torrents causing quite a commotion among the townsfolk. As the power went out churchgoers lighted kerosene lamps to illuminate the interior of their building to continue their services, when the winds began to increase followed by large hail that broke windows. Fearing the worst was to come, many ran for cover just in time, as the church walls were caved in by the force of the tornadic winds.
Around 7:15 p.m. a solid black wall of swirling clouds proceeded to engulf Raabs Corners and completely obliterating everything in its wake, leaving only clean foundations and splintered wood scattered about, as a reminder of the town that once stood there. Fortunately, only four people would die, as the death toll would have been much higher had the people not followed their instincts in seeking shelter. However, the most profound fatality was the community itself.
Here Mother Nature succeeded in killing a town and taking it off the map forever. Local residents decided not to rebuild, moving to nearby communities in Michigan and Ohio, instead of living with the painful reminder of everything that was lost in a matter of seconds. Since that day, only an intersection remains.
While this tornado would dissipate just after reaching the Michigan State Line, further south in Mercer and Van Wert Counties, another lethal killer was coming, and it like its predecessor to the north would destroy everything in its path.
After exiting Adams County, Indiana, this gargantuan killer tornado set its sights on the far northwestern part of Mercer County in west-central Ohio. Here it would completely wipe out everything; hence, smashing well-constructed homes like they were made of balsa wood and paper. Consequently, moving on into Van Wert County, three more victims would perish and many would be injured at the storm moved to the south of Van Wert, causing complete destruction here, leaving many areas swept clean, crossing some of the same area that was recently hit on November 10, 2002.
Two more tornadoes 75 km (46 mi.) to the east-northeast and south of Van Wert were already ripping across the countryside, when the previous storm lifted. The first, a large severe tornado with an already well established record of death and destruction entered Darke County from the Hoosier State. This storm would kill five and injure 10 more near the community of Lightsville before dissipating. The second storm would move towards the Bowling Green area.
According to the Dayton Journal, the greatest amount of damage would occur in the Darke County community of Greenville, when a second tornado, more violent than the first, would cause intense destruction of everything along its path. Moving northeast from the Greenville-Nashville Road area at roughly 80 km/h (50 mph), eight people would loose their lives instantly as their homes were completely smashed and scattered across the landscape. As the recovery got underway, special trains to Cincinnati and other nearby towns would transport the injured to medical facilities where they were treated.
Around 7:30 p.m., another tornado developed in eastern Mercer County first appearing as a waterspout over Grand Lake St. Marys. This storm quickly intensified as it moved towards the northeast at 80-88 km/h (50-55 mph). The heaviest damage occurred near Moulton located in Auglaize County as several farms and homes were completely destroyed, with only minor injuries reported. This tornado would continue on into Allen County, but would lift before striking the city of Lima.
Meanwhile, to the north in Wood County, another twister (some reports say there were two at the same time) would touchdown east of Bowling Green, Ohio and move rapidly northeast into Sandusky County, taking everything in it’s path with it. Moving into the Ottawa County village of Genoa, over 36 homes and several businesses would be completely flattened. Tragically, two would die here and over 20 people were injured in the Clay Township area, extending to the small town of Trowbridge. Luckily, the tornado passed out into Lake Erie before causing any further damage. The stunned residents of Genoa, Ohio were like many others that night across the Midwest and Deep South states had been dealt a heavy blow from Mother Nature.
[edit] See also
- List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
- Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965
- Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1994
[edit] References
- Thomas P. Grazulis (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991, A Chronology and Analysis of Events. The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-00-7 (hardcover).
- Press Pool. "Northwest Ohio Is Swept By Tornado; 19 Known Dead." Toledo Blade newspaper. March 30, 1920. Retrieved on April 17, 2001.
- Press Pool. "Reconstruction Starts In Storm Area Where 22 Died." Toledo Blade newspaper. March 31, 1920. Retrieved on April 17, 2001.
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic Data Center / Storm Prediction Center.
