March 1913 tornado outbreak sequence

March 1913 tornado outbreak sequence

File:1913 Omaha Tornado.jpg Photo of the 1913 Omaha tornado, the deadliest of the outbreak
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	March 21–23, 1913
Tornadoes confirmed	≥ 19
Max rating1	F4 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	~2 days
Damage	≥ $9.68 million
Casualties	≥ 241 fatalties, hundreds of injuries
Areas affected	Southern and Midwestern United States
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

The March 1913 tornado outbreak sequence was a devastating series of tornado outbreaks that affected the northern Great Plains, the Southern United States, and sections of the upper Midwest over a two-day-long period between March 21–23, 1913. Composed of two outbreaks, the sequence first began with a tornado outbreak that commenced in Mississippi early on March 21. Several significant tornadoes occurred, one of which killed seven people in one family and another destroyed much of Lower Peach Tree, Alabama, with 27 deaths all in that town. The tornado at Lower Peach Tree is estimated to have been equivalent to a violent F4 tornado on the Fujita scale, based upon damage accounts. The tornadoes occurred between 0630–1030 UTC, or pre-dawn local time, perhaps accounting for the high number of fatalities—a common trend in tornadoes in the Dixie Alley. In all, tornadoes in Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama killed 48 people, perhaps more, that day and injured at least 150 people.

March 23, Easter Sunday, was the most violent tornado outbreak to affect the northern Great Plains on so early a date in the year—a record that still stands as of 2012. That day, four F4 tornadoes affected portions of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, killing at least 168 people. The deadliest tornado of the day was a potent F4 tornado that grew to in width as it passed through northern Omaha, Nebraska, killing at least 94 people in the city proper and three in rural areas. Damage in Omaha reached at least F4, possibly even F5, intensity, though confirmation of F5 damage could not be determined from available evidence. The tornado is the 13th deadliest ever to affect the United States and the deadliest to hit the U.S. state of Nebraska as of 2014. No other violent tornado would affect Omaha for another 62 years. Outside the Great Plains, the outbreak of March 23 also produced two other F4 tornadoes, one each in Missouri and Indiana, including a devastating path more than .5 mi (880 yd) through southern Terre Haute, Indiana, killing 21 people and injuring 250.

In all, the two consecutive outbreaks killed at least 241 people and caused at least 19 tornadoes, though only significant events were recorded and other, weaker tornadoes may have gone undetected. The outbreak sequence also produced seven violent tornadoes, nearly half the documented total of tornadoes for the sequence. Tornadoes struck Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, and Indiana. At least $9.68 million in damages were reported.

23 March meteorological synopsis

A series of potent storm systems traversed the US during March 1913, described by the US Weather Bureau as "...the most extraordinary situation in regards to the weather since the creation of the bureau." Anomalously high moisture had gathered near the US Gulf Coast, as an intense upper level storm system moved in from the west. According to retrospective numerical modeling of this event, a strong cap aloft was in place over the central Plains, as is common as the elevated mixed layer advects eastward from the Rockies. Observations taken at 13Z 23 March 1913 showed that surface low pressure was located in Colorado, and a warm front stretched due eastward from there into Illinois. Morning temperatures near this front were in the 30s. South of the front warmer and moister air was present, but dewpoints in the upper 50s were confined to southern Oklahoma and Arkansas, far away from where the tornadoes were to later occur in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

As the day progressed, the surface low ejected through Nebraska, with a dry line and trailing cold front. South winds blowing 40-50 knots at times brought the moister air rapidly northward. One of the worst dust storms on record occurred behind the dry line in western Kansas, but in the warm sector the day remained dry until mid afternoon when light showers began to form in central Nebraska. A cooperative observer in Osceola noted that the wind shifted from S to NW at 2230Z (4:30 PM local). Professors at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln noted that the relative humidity there jumped from 53% at 2150Z to 78% at 2230Z, indicating much higher dewpoints had rapidly arrived in Lincoln since the cold front was still to the west near Osceola. They also noted that the surface low passed just to the north of Omaha and was in western Iowa at 01Z 24 March 1913.

With all of this observed information, it is likely that the quality moisture required to produce convection strong enough for tornadoes arrived just an hour or two before the strong forcing associated with the surface low pressure and attendant frontal systems. At the time of the tornadoes it is estimated that surface temperatures were in the upper 60s, dewpoints were in the upper 50s, and surface winds were southerly around 25-30 knots. Numerical modeling estimates that 500 hPa flow was around 80 knots from the WSW and that CAPE was from 1000-2000 J/kg. These conditions are similar to those found in other tornado outbreaks. Tornadic storms developed from 5:00-6:00 PM local time and while storm motions were to the NE, the prevalence of tornadic storms moved southward with the dryline/cold front intersection, lasting until 8:00 PM local in NW Missouri. A serial derecho then formed and moved across Iowa and Illinois through the nighttime hours, hitting Chicago in the early morning.

Tornado table

Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating

F0	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	Total
?	?	10	2	7	0	≥ 19

Confirmed tornadoes

March 21 event

F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Georgia
F2	S of Madison to near Buckhead	Morgan	0600	8 miles (13 km)	1 death — Tornado hit five plantations and destroyed 30 buildings.
Mississippi
F2	Near Ruleville	Sunflower	0610	unknown	3 deaths — Tornado completely destroyed homes.
F2	Louisville to N of Macon	Winston, Noxubee	0630	30 miles (48 km)	9 deaths — Family of tornadoes destroyed or damaged roughly 25 homes near Louisville, killing two people and injuring 15. Five people in one family were killed as the tornadoes passed north of Macon. Paths of individual tornadoes could not be identified.
F2	Rienzi to Corinth	Prentiss, Alcorn	0630	5 miles (8.0 km)	2 deaths — Tornado killed two people as it reportedly leveled the entire town of Rienzi. Was not rated higher due to poor building standards in the rural South at that time.
Alabama
F2	Near Florence	Lauderdale	0700	unknown	3 deaths — Tornado destroyed seven barns and 20 homes, killing three children.
F2	W of Decatur to near Meridianville	Morgan, Limestone, Madison	0730		3 deaths — Tornado destroyed numerous sharecroppers' tenant homes, other homes, and an Episcopal church. Probably a tornado family. Two of the deceased were children.
F2	E of Talladega to Heflin	Talladega, Clay, Cleburne	0900	35 miles (56 km)	Tornado destroyed 12 rural homes near Talladega. May have been a tornado family as two tornadoes were observed 1 mi (1.6 km) apart and the path was not continuous.
F4	E of Fulton to Lower Peach Tree	Clarke, Wilcox	1030	13 miles (21 km)	27 deaths — Tornado began at Scyrene and destroyed 100 homes at Lower Peach Tree, with F4 damage to about 20 well-built homes. All deaths at Lower Peach Tree. Tornado damage $100,000 with major flood damage after the tornado. Total losses from tornado and flood at least $200,000. Path .25 mi (0.40 km) wide.
F2	E of Camden	Wilcox	1100	12 miles (19 km)	1 death — Tornado began from the same supercell thunderstorm that produced the Lower Peach Tree tornado.
Sources: Grazulis 1993

March 23 event

F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Nebraska
F3	W of Craig to NW of Blencoe, IA	Burt (NE), Monona (IA)	2300	15 miles (24 km)	Tornado hit rural areas; 12 farms damaged and 11 homes destroyed in Nebraska. Also caused damage in Iowa.
F4	SE of Mead to W of Logan, IA	Saunders, Douglas, Washington (NE), Harrison (IA)	2330	55 miles (89 km)	22 deaths — Tornado destroyed southern side of Yutan, Nebraska, killing 17 people, half of them children. Destroyed 40 homes plus four churches in Nebraska; losses nearly $100,000 in the state. Two deaths in Iowa.
F3	Near Havelock, Lincoln, to E of Greenwood	Lancaster, Cass	2330	15 miles (24 km)	Tornado destroyed homes along its path as it hit Prairie Home and passed east of Greenwood. Parent thunderstorm later spawned the F4 Omaha tornado.
F4	Ralston to SE of Beebeetown, IA	Sarpy, Douglas (NE), Pottawattamie (IA), Harrison, Shelby	2345	40 miles (64 km)	103 deaths — See section on this tornado. Photographs indicated possible F5 damage at Omaha but may have reflected clean-up efforts, so only F4 rating was assigned.
F4	Bellevue to SE of Harlan, IA	Sarpy (NE), Pottawattamie (IA), Harrison, Shelby	0015	48 miles (77 km)	25 deaths — Likely tornado family hit southern section of Council Bluffs, causing 17 deaths in small homes. Other deaths at Gilliat (two), east of Weston (two), and near Neola (three), all in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. One final death southeast of Harlan. Final 15 mi (24 km) in the track probably a separate tornado. Losses $400,000.
F4	S of Douglas to near Macedonia, IA	Otoe, Cass (NE), Mills (IA), Pottawattamie	0015	60 miles (97 km)	18 deaths — Longest-lived, continuous tornado of the outbreak; caused F4 damage to many farms northwest of Syracuse, Nebraska, along with major damage to Otoe, then called Berlin, and 12 deaths there; losses $250,000 at Otoe. Entered Iowa after passing through Rock Bluff, Nebraska. More F4 damage to farms in Mills County, Iowa, with three deaths north of Bartlett and two more southeast of Glenwood.
F2	Burchard	Pawnee	0100	5 miles (8.0 km)	Tornado unroofed and destroyed a school and four homes.
Louisiana
F2	NW of Saline	Bienville	0100	6 miles (9.7 km)	1 death — Tornado hit and destroyed tenant homes along with a large estate. Another deadly tornado may have hit Bossier Parish.
Indiana
F4	N of Prairieton to Terre Haute	Vigo, Clay	0230	22 miles (35 km)	21 deaths — Tornado destroyed or damaged 300 homes and produced F4 damage to a five-block swath in southern Terre Haute. All 21 deaths in Terre Haute with downburst damage in nearby communities. Major floods followed the tornado, causing 12 more deaths at Terre Haute and 260 in other areas. Total damage $1,000,000.
Missouri
F4	SW of Savannah to E of Albany	Andrew, Gentry, Harrison	0230	45 miles (72 km)	2 deaths — Tornado killed two people as it passed just southeast of Flag Springs. F4-level damage north of King City and south of Darlington, with damage to 30 farms in Gentry County. Occurred at the same time as the F4 Terre Haute tornado.
Sources: Grazulis 1993

Notable tornadoes

Omaha, Nebraska

This section is about the 1913 tornado. For the 1975 tornado, see Omaha Tornado of 1975.

1913 Omaha Easter Sunday tornado

Photograph of tornado damage in Omaha
Formed	March 23, 1913 6:00 p.m. Central Time
Max rating1	F4 tornado
Damage	$8 million
Areas affected	Omaha, Nebraska
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The Omaha Easter Sunday tornado struck Omaha, Nebraska, at approximately 6:00 p.m. on March 23, 1913. The storm's path was reported as being wide and contained multiple vortices.

Outbreak death toll

State	Total
Alabama	34
Georgia	1
Indiana	21
Iowa	33
Louisiana	1
Mississippi	14
Missouri	2
Nebraska	135
Totals	241
All deaths were tornado-related

The Omaha tornado followed the path of Little Papillion Creek as it entered the city. It moved through the west side of town alongside the Missouri Pacific Railroad, destroying the small workers cottages in the area. The tornado was so strong that steel train cars were later found pierced by pieces of shattered lumber from the demolished homes.

By the time the tornado reached Dewey Avenue it was five blocks wide. When it reached Farnam Hill, the tornado followed a shallow valley through this upscale neighborhood. The large mansions of Farnam were no match for the winds, and many houses were torn to pieces, along with several in the Gold Coast Historic District including the Joslyn Castle, which sustained considerable damage. Buildings were found chopped in half, pipes and supports dangling into space, such as the Duchesne Academy which was nearly obliterated.

At North 24th and Lake Streets in the Near North Side neighborhood a large African American crowd was enjoying an Easter Sunday performance when the tornado flattened the building and killed more than two dozen people. Other brick structures in this small commercial district took similar hits, and more people died here than in any other part of Omaha. A streetcar running down North 24th Street in North Omaha encountered the tornado near this area. Thanks to the quick actions of operator Ord Hensley, every passenger on the streetcar survived. Later, photographers would spot the wrecked machine and would call it the "Streetcar of Death," imagining that no one on board could have survived given the immense damage.

The F4 tornado skirted the downtown area and moved over the Missouri River into Iowa, causing further damage before dissipating.

In all, 103 people died, 94 of which were in Omaha, and another 400 were injured. Reportedly, 2,000 homes in Omaha alone were destroyed, with $8 million total damage from the storm, $5.5 million of which was in Omaha (financial damage estimates vary; the NOAA reports more damage than this). In the aftermath of the tornado, a cold front moved into Omaha and caused further misery, as newly homeless residents struggled to escape the snowy weather. Many homes throughout the northern side of the city were leveled, and some were swept away. Photographs at the time showed empty foundations, which possibly indicated F5 damage, but these may have been related to post-tornado clean-up.

Non-tornadic effects

The same storm system that struck Nebraska created a dust storm in Kansas and hit Missouri with hail and heavy rain. The Omaha tornado marked the beginning of the destruction from storms associated with the Great Flood of 1913. On Monday and Tuesday, March 24 and 25, the storms brought heavy rains to the Midwest and upstate New York, causing widespread flooding.

Aftermath

Remarkably, operators from the Webster Telephone Exchange Building in Omaha did not leave their stations either during or after the tornado. The building was used as an infirmary for the wounded and dying, with physicians and nurses coming from area hospitals. US Army troops from Fort Omaha set up headquarters in the building, as soldiers patrolled the area for looters and to offer assistance.

Initially, James Dahlman, the longtime mayor of Omaha, refused assistance from any outside sources, including the federal government. However, he requited after seeing the extent of the damage throughout the city. The federal government poured in assistance soon after. The massive damage caused by the tornado inspired new engineering techniques aimed at creating a tornado-proof edifice. The first such building was the First National Bank of Omaha building, built in 1916 at 1603 Farnam Street. The 14-story building was built in a "U"-shape.

See also

• Disaster Books - Omaha Easter Sunday Tornado
• Great Dayton Flood
• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• List of tornadoes causing 100 or more deaths
• List of tornadoes striking downtown areas
• Timeline of North Omaha, Nebraska history

References

• Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. I, ed. Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris (New York: Anchor Books, 1989).

External links

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• (n.d.) Omaha's Terrible Evening. Tragic Story of America's Greatest Disaster.