Historic Palm Sunday Tornadoes

This photo of a tornado, March 27, 1994, is courtesy of NOAA.

By Vickie Frantz, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

Apr 1, 2012; 10:35 AM ET

As the season changes from winter to spring, the weather conditions are often right for the production of tornadoes during the last weeks of March and the first weeks of April.
There are three historic tornadoes that caused massive destruction on Palm Sundays in 1994, 1965 and 1920.
March 27, 1994, Tornadoes
Two F4 tornadoes, with winds of 166-200 mph, hit the towns of Piedmont, Ala., and Cartersville, Ga.
As a result of these powerful tornadoes, 40 people were killed and at least 320 were injured. In neighboring North Carolina, two people were killed by a tornado.
April 11, 1965, Tornadoes
A total of 47 tornadoes killed 250 people and injured 1,500, according to NOAA.
An F4 tornado touched down in Clinton County, Ind., at 1 p.m. This was the first tornado reported that day.

 

Photograph of this double tornado in Indiana on Palm Sunday, April 11, 1965, is courtesy of NOAA.
The famous "double tornado" pictured was reported to have hit the Sunnyside subdivision in Elkhart. Other witnesses stated that the double tornado hit the Midway Trailer Park.
Several tornadoes tore through Indiana beginning around 5:30 p.m. The path of the tornadoes ran through Starke, Marshall, Elkhart, Howard and Grant counties.
The storm system then shifted east, spawning tornadoes in Ohio. A double tornado was spotted near Toledo.
March 28, 1920, Tornadoes
On that Palm Sunday in 1920, weather forecasting was not yet in use. The weather was reported in daily newspapers and only told of the next day. These tornadoes were deadly as they struck with little warning.
Strong F3 and F4 tornadoes raced from Wisconsin to Alabama. Nine hours later, at least 400 people had died and at least 1,215 were injured.
A total of 38 tornadoes were confirmed. Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin were all impacted by damaging tornadoes.
Tornado activity begins to increase in the U.S. during the last weeks of March and early weeks of April.
"A very strong jet stream is moving across the U.S., and the sun is getting stronger," said AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"The ground and surface air begin to heat up while the upper levels of the atmosphere are still very cold. This creates the potential for a great deal of energy to be released, often in the form of severe thunderstorms," Sosnowski said.

Historic Palm Sunday Tornadoes