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Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965

The second Palm Sunday tornado outbreak occurred on April 11, 1965 and involved 78 tornadoes (38 significant, 19 violent, 21 killers) hitting the Midwest. It was the second biggest outbreak on record. In the Midwest, 271 people were killed and 1,500 injured (1,200 in Indiana). It was the deadliest tornado outbreak in Indiana history with 137 people killed. The outbreak also made that week the second most active week in history with 51 significant and 21 violent tornadoes.

Meteorological synopsis

The tornadoes occurred in a 450-mile swath west-to-east from Clinton County, Iowa, to Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and a 200-mile swath north-to-south from Kent County, Michigan, to Montgomery County, Indiana. The outbreak lasted 11 hours and is among the most intense outbreaks — in terms of number, strength, width, path, and length of tornadoes — ever recorded.

This is the third deadliest day for tornadoes on record, trailing the Super Outbreak of April 3, 1974, which killed 315 and the outbreak that included the Tri-State Tornado which killed 747. It occurred on Palm Sunday, an important day in the Christian religion, and many people were attending services at church, one possible reason why some warnings were not received. There had been a short winter that year, and as the day progressed, the temperature rose to 83° F in some areas of Midwestern United States.

Confirmed tornadoes

List of reported tornadoes - Sunday, April 11, 1965
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Iowa
F4	NE of Tipton	Cedar, Clinton, Jackson	1855	91.5 miles (146.4 km)	1 death - One person died one month later from their injuries. 25 farms were affected.
F1	SE of New Hampton	Chickasaw, Fayette, Allamakee	1915	49.9 miles (79.8 km)
Wisconsin
F1	SE of Monroe	Green, Rock, Dane	2000	27.1 miles (43.3 km)	50 homes and 65 businesses destroyed or damaged and 40 were injured.
F2	S of Watertown	Jefferson	2030	14.5 miles (23.2 km)	3 deaths - 28 others were injured.
F1	S of Soldiers Grove	Crawford	2045	13.3 miles (21.2 km)	One barn was destroyed
F1	W of Lake Geneva	Walworth	2150	1.9 miles (3 km)
F1	NW of Elkhorn	Walworth	2155	1 mile (1.6 km)	One barn was destroyed
F1	W of Tomah	Monroe	2214	2 miles (3.2 km)	Several farm buildings were destroyed
Illinois
F4	Crystal Lake	McHenry, Lake	2120	9.1 miles (14.6 km)	6 deaths - Destroyed large sections of the town including a shopping mall. Damage estimates were at about $1.5 million.
F2	N of Gurnee	Lake	2150	4.5 miles (7.2 km)	Some homes were damaged and two planes flipped at Waukegan Memorial Airport.
F1	Geneva	Kane	2200	0.3 mile (0.5 km)	About a dozen homes were heavily damaged
F1	Zion	Lake	2204	0.5 mile (0.8 km)
Indiana
F3	NE of Knox to S of South Bend	Starke, Marshall, St. Joseph, Elkhart	2245	35.6 miles (57 km)	10 deaths - 30 cottages were destroyed and 70 others were damaged. 26 homes, one church and one high school were also destroyed. There were 82 people injured.
F3	S of Crown Point to SE of Laporte	Porter, Laporte	2310	33.1 miles (53 km)	Several homes and barns were destroyed and 4 people were injured.
F4	W of Wakarusa to NW of Middlebury	Elkhart	2315	21.2 miles (34 km)	31 deaths - Destroyed Midway Trailer Park in Dunlap and numerous other homes. Was photographed as a double funnel. 1st of 2 tornadoes hitting the town of Dunlap and the Elkhart region.
F4	NE of Goshen to W of Orland	Elkhart, LaGrange	2340	21.6 miles (34.6 km)	5 deaths - A dozen homes were demolished
F4	Manitou Beach-Devils Lake, Michigan (1st tornado)	Steuben, IN, Branch, MI, Hillsdale, Lenawee, Monroe	0000	90.3 miles (144.5 km)	23 deaths - Starting just south of the Indiana-Michigan state line, the massive tornado caused extensive damage to the Manitou Beach region and southwestern suburbs of Detroit. First of two violent tornadoes to affect the same large portion of Lower Michigan.
F4	SE of Lafayette to W of Russiaville	Tippecanoe, Clinton	0007	21.8 miles (34.9 km)	Several homes and other buildings were destroyed or damaged.
F4	SE of South Bend to NE of Shipshewana	St. Joseph, Elkhart, LaGrange	0010	37 miles (59.2 km)	36 deaths - Second violent tornado struck the Dunlap/Elkhart region in just over an hour. Destroyed an entire subdivision of the town of Dunlap. Affected rescue efforts after the first tornado.
F4	Russiaville to SE of Marion, Indiana and Greentown, Indiana	Clinton, Howard, Grant	0020	48 miles (76.8 km)	25 deaths - Large sections of Russiaville, southern Kokomo and Alto were destroyed. Over 800 people were injured.
F4	SE of Crawfordsville to Arcadia	Montgomery, Boone, Hamilton	0050	45.7 miles (73.1 km)	28 deaths - 80 homes were destroyed and over 100 people were injured.
F4	W of Montpellier, IN to N of Spencerville, OH	Blackford, IN, Wells, Adams, Mercer, OH, Van Wert	0110	52.5 miles (84 km)	4 deaths - F4 damage was observed in Keystone in Wells County. Crossed into Ohio where it destroyed five homes and damaged five others.
Michigan
F4	N of Grand Rapids	Ottawa, Kent	2254	20.6 miles (33 km)	5 deaths - 34 homes were destroyed and nearly 200 others damaged. Nearly 150 were injured and damage amounts were estimated at almost $15 million.
F1	N of Middleville	Allegan, Barry	0005	19.5 miles (31.2 km)	1 death - A trailer and 5 homes were destroyed while 25 others were damaged.
F3	NE of Kalamazoo	Kalamazoo	0030	14.2 miles (22.7 km)	4 homes were destroyed and 22 others damaged. 17 people were injured.
F3	Hastings	Barry	0040	14.1 miles (22.6 km)	15 homes were damaged.
F4	Manitou Beach-Devils Lake, Michigan (2nd tornado)	Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee, Michigan	0040	80.5 miles (128.8 km)	21 deaths - Second tornado to hit the same areas 30 minutes after being affected by the first tornado. Total damage estimates from the two tornadoes were $32 million. Over 550 homes and 100 cottages were destroyed in total.
F4	N of Lansing	Clinton, Shiawassee	0115	21 miles (33.6 km)	1 death - Several homes were severely damaged or destroyed.
F2	W of Ithaca	Montcalm, Gratiot	0125	15.1 miles (24.1 km)	Several farm buildings and livestocks were destroyed.
F2	Alma (1st tornado)	Gratiot	0130	0.1 mile (0.16 km)	One of three tornadoes to struck the area where it caused damage to several buildings including the library.
F2	Alma (2nd tornado)	Gratiot	0130	0.5 mile (0.8 km)
F2	E of Alma	Gratiot	0130	1 mile (1.6 km)
F2	SE of Bay City	Bay	0150	9.9 miles (15.8 km)
F2	SW of Unionville	Tuscola	0200	9 miles (14.4 km)	Damage to a firehall and lumberyard.
Ohio
F4	Toledo (northern sections)	Lucas, OH, Monroe, MI	0230	5.6 miles (9 km)	18 deaths - Numerous homes in the northern suburbs of Toledo were completely destroyed. There were reports of twin tornadoes during the event. Damage amounts were estimated at $25 million.
F4	N of Lima	Allen, Hancock	0230	32.5 miles (52 km)	13 deaths
F4	N of Sidney	Shelby	0300	18.4 miles (29.4 km)	3 deaths - Affected Anna, Swanders and Maplewood where 25 homes were destroyed and 20 others heavily damaged. Several train cars were derailed.
F3	SE of Tiffin	Seneca	0315	15 miles (24 km)	4 deaths - Affecting Rockaway, 4 homes were destroyed and three others were damaged.
F4	S of Oberlin, Ohio to Strongsville	Lorain, Cuyahoga	0405	22 miles (35.2 km)	18 deaths - Extensive damage to Pittsfield and Strongsville. Damage amounts were estimated at $5 million.
F1	S of Eaton	Preble	0415	0.1 mile (0.16 km)
F1	Brunswick	Medina	0430	8.2 miles (13 km)	One home was destroyed and another one was damaged.
F2	N of Delaware	Union, Delaware, Morrow	0430	22.2 miles (35.5 km)	4 deaths
F1	S of Cedarville	Greene	0450	0.1 mile (0.16 km)
F1	Ashville to Somerset	Pickaway, Fairfield, Perry	0530	38.4 miles (61.4 km)	Several farm buildings were destroyed.
Georgia
F1	SW of Grassdale	Bartow	0950 (04/12)	2 miles (3.2 km)
West Virginia
F2	N of Princeton	Mercer	1130 (04/12)	0.1 mile (0.16 km)
Sources: Tornado History Project Tornado Data for April 11, 1965, Tornado History Project Tornado Data for April 12, 1965, NWS Detroit Storm Data

Outbreak description

At around 12:55 P.M., the first tornado of the day occurred in Clinton County, Iowa. It was an F4 on the Fujita scale of severity. It was spawned from a thunderstorm cell first detected near Tipton in Cedar County, Iowa, around 12:45 P.M. by radio news reporter Martin Jensen at the WMT Stations in Cedar Rapids, some 50 miles northwest of Tipton. The station was equipped with a Collins Radio aviation radar that was mounted on the roof of the station building and used to support severe weather reports on local and regional newscasts. After detecting the strong and very tall thunderstorm, the reporter called National Weather Service offices in Waterloo (which had no radar) and Des Moines to alert them to the storm. His call was to become the first solid evidence obtained by the Weather Service on the growing severe storms that spawned dozens of tornadoes over the next 12 hours.

Illinois

A tornado occurred at Crystal Lake, Illinois, where it destroyed several subdivisions and a golf course. It grazed a junior high school then destroyed several homes in a community called Colby's Home Estates. 145 homes were damaged -- 45 beyond repair as well as a shopping centre. Five people were killed. The tornado then overtopped a hill and destroyed the small community of Island Lake, killing one more person before ascending back into the clouds at 3:42 P.M. This was one of a handful of F4 tornadoes that occurred during this outbreak.

Indiana

Later in the day, the tornadoes became more numerous. Several tornadoes touched down in Indiana, and many of them were lethal. Some individual supercells spawned as many as 5 violent tornadoes as they raced from west to east. The first touched down at around 5:30 P.M. in Koontz Lake, Indiana. This massive F4 killed 10 people and injured 180. This tornado then moved northeast toward La Paz and Lakeville where it destroyed a brand new high school that was still under construction. The tornado then moved into Wyatt and destroyed twenty homes.

Another violent tornado formed near the St. Joseph County-Elkhart County border and moved east-northeast, first striking Wakarusa, Indiana, where it killed a child. Then it moved toward the towns of Nappanee, Goshen, and Dunlap. Elkhart Truth reporter Paul Huffman captured a spectacular series of photographs as this double tornado moved past Goshen, IN; one of these photos is pictured above right. The Palm Sunday Tornado Memorial Park now exists near this location, at the corner of County Road 45 and Cole Street in Dunlap.

One-half hour later, a second tornado devastated the Sunnyside Housing addition and the unoccupied Sunnyside Mennonite Church. The death toll from the Sunnyside tornado was over 20 people. Most of the 36 people killed in the tornado had no warning because the high winds had knocked out the telephone and power grids. For the first time in the U.S. Weather Bureau's history, all nine counties in the northern Indiana office's jurisdiction were under a tornado warning. This is called a "blanket tornado warning." Both tornadoes were officially rated as F4 according to the National Weather Service records. However, the second Dunlap tornado was previously rated F5.

Ninety miles to the south, at just past 7:30PM, another massive tornado slammed into the town of Russiaville, Indiana. Most of the town was destroyed, leaving several dead. The storm churned into nearby Alto, obliterating it completely, before striking the southern edge of the larger city of Kokomo. As the tornado continued east, it killed ten more people in Greentown, Indiana, most of whom had been riding in automobiles that were hurled across the landscape. More destruction ensued in Marion, Indiana, before the storm crossed into Ohio.

Michigan and Ohio

Outbreak death toll
State	Total	County	County total
Iowa	1	Cedar	1
Illinois	6	McHenry	6
Indiana	138	Adams	1
		Boone	20
		Elkhart	62
		Grant	8
		Hamilton	6
		Howard	17
		Lagrange	10
		Marshall	3
		Montgomery	2
		St. Joseph	3
		Starke	4
		Wells	2
Michigan	53	Allegan	1
		Branch	18
		Clinton	1
		Hillsdale	6
		Kent	5
		Lenawee	9
		Monroe	13
Ohio	60	Allen	11
		Cuyahoga	1
		Delaware	4
		Hancock	2
		Lorain	17
		Lucas	16
		Mercer	2
		Seneca	4
		Shelby	3
Wisconsin	3	Jefferson	3
Totals	261
All deaths were tornado-related

With the telephone lines down, emergency services in Elkhart County, Indiana, could not warn the people in Michigan that the tornadoes were headed their way. In Michigan, tornadoes hit as far north as Allendale, in Ottawa County, Michigan, just west of Grand Rapids. Out of the southernmost counties of Michigan, all but three (Berrien, Cass, and St. Joseph counties) were hit. Two F4 tornadoes struck Hillsdale County and destroyed about 200 cottages along Baw Beese Lake. It was said many people were saved as they were in church instead of out by the lake. It also devastated the Manitou Beach-Devils Lake area in Lenawee County in a span of a little more than 30 minutes, causing numerous fatalities.

One of the tornadoes then hit in Milan, Michigan, near Ann Arbor. It destroyed the building of Wolverine Plastics (the top employer in Milan), completely removing the roof.

Tornadoes continued from Indiana into Ohio, and additional fatalities occurred across the border. A double tornado was sighted near Toledo, Ohio and that system devastated northern parts of the city with F4 damage. Other violent tornadoes occurred near the Indiana/Ohio border.

At around 11 P.M., another violent tornado touched earth in Lorain County, Ohio and slammed into Pittsfield, Ohio, killing seven and destroying most structures. The same tornado caused severe damage to homes in Grafton. By the time the storm got to Cleveland, Ohio, the storm "appeared to have split into two paths about a 1/2 mile apart." Several witnesses also saw two funnels merging into one similar to the Dunlap tornado. Large trees laying 50 feet apart were felled lying in different directions. The storm also displayed F4 damage not near Strongsville where homes literally vanished. This tornado killed 18 people and was also previously rated as an F5 before being lowered to an F4 by NWS officials.

The last tornado of the day occurred at 12:30 A.M. on April 12. It moved along a 30-mile path south of Columbus, Ohio, causing F2 damage.

Aftermath

The U.S. Weather Bureau later investigated why so many people died in this event. Radar stations were few and far between in 1965, so tornadoes were identified by the characteristic shape of "hook echoes", but the danger in this storm was identified in plenty of time. The real answer was simple: the warning system failed. The Bureau disseminated the warnings quickly, but the public never received them. Additionally, the public did not know the difference between a Forecast and an Alert. Thus the current Tornado watch and Tornado warning program was implemented because of the terrible death toll from the Palm Sunday outbreak. Pivotal to those clarifications was a meeting in the WMT Stations studio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Officials of the severe storms forecast center in Kansas City met with WMT meteorologist Conrad Johnson and News Director Grant Price. Their discussion led to establishment of the official "watch" and "warning" procedures in use since 1965.

Technology has grown tremendously since 1965; warnings can now be spread via cable and satellite television, PCs and the Internet, solid-state electronics, cell phones, and NOAA Weatheradio.

Suction vortices

Dr. Ted Fujita discovered suction vortices during the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak. It had been believed the reason why tornadoes could hit one house and leave another across the street completely unscathed was because the whole tornado would "jump" from one house to another. However, the actual reason is because most of the destruction is caused by suction vortices: small, intense mini-tornadoes within the main tornado.

Casualties

In the Midwest, 271 people were killed and 1,500 injured (1,200 in Indiana). It was the deadliest tornado outbreak in Indiana history with 137 people killed.

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)
King, Marshall (April 10, 2005). "One for the books". The Elkhart Truth, The Elkhart Truth Online Edition
National Climatic Data Centre Viewed 17/04/2006.

External links

1965 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak (Keith C. Heidorn)

The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak Story (NWS Detroit, MI)
The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak, Manitou Beach (Dan Cherry)
April 11, 1965, Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak (NWS Indianapolis, IN)
The Palm Sunday Story April 11, 1965 (NWS Northern Indiana)
Palm Sunday tornado outbreak overlaid on Google Map