16, esp. Tupelo, MS –249-258

lornajarrettblanchard April 5, 1936

–249-258 Blanchard tally from State breakouts below. Difference is in use of Morse for MS.
— 249 Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 500.

Alabama ( 8)
— 08 21:00 MS-AL F3. Franklin, Colbert Counties, AL. Grazulis 1993, 865-866.

Arkansas ( 1)
— 01 15:00, F3. Larkin, Izard County. Grazulis Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 500, 865.

Mississippi (224-233)
–233 Mississippi State Geologist, cited in Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes. 1995, p. 865.
–233 Morse. The Tupelo Tornado. MS Office of Geology. 1936.
–224 Grazulis Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 500, 865.
— 4 20:05, F3. Prentiss County. Grazulis Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 500, 865.
–3 Booneville
— 4 20:10, F3. Yalobusha County, Bryant area. Grazulis Tornadoes.1993, 500, 865.
–216 20:55, F5. Lee (Tupelo) and Itawamba counties Grazulis 1993, p. 865.
–216 Tupelo 20:55 Grazulis. “The Top Ten US Killer Tornadoes.”
“ “ Grazulis. The Tornado. 2001, p. 293.
“ Brooks. Normalized Damage…Major Tornadoes…[US] 1890-1999.
“ Cornell, J. The Great International Disaster Book (3rd Ed.). 1982, p. 222.
“ History.com. This Day in History… “Tornadoes Devastate Tupelo.”
“ Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 71.
“ NWSWFO, Paducah KY. NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado… “Gen. Info.”
“ Storm Prediction Center, NOAA. The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes.

Tennessee ( 16)
— 06 19:45, F4. Hardin/Wayne/Lewis counties. Grazulis Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 500, 865.
–1 Hardin County
–5 Wayne County
–4 Waynesboro
— 05 20:30. Maury County, F3. Grazulis Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 500, 865.
— 05 22:15. Lincoln County, F3 Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 866.

Narrative Information

History.com: “The storms and accompanying tornadoes hit Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee on April 5. At about 8:30 a.m., the first twister touched down in Coffeeville, Mississippi, before moving northeast and devastating Tupelo, Mississippi. The Gum Pond area of Tupelo was worst hit. Homes along the pond were completely swept away. A majority of the bodies of the 216 people killed in Tupelo were found in the pond. One notable survivor of this deadly tornado was one-year-old Elvis Presley, who was born in Tupelo.

“The Tupelo twister was estimated to be an F5, the most destructive class of tornado, with winds in excess of 261 miles per hour. Some reports noted that the wind was so strong that it embedded pine needles into the trunks of trees that managed to stay standing.”

(History.com. This Day in History, Apr 5, 1936. “Tornadoes Devastate Tupelo and Gainesville.”)

Tupelo, MS

Grazulis: “This tornado was probably a member of a tornado family beginning near Coffeeville, Yalobusha County, Mississippi. Little attention was paid to any part of the track except that through Tupelo. As plotted here, this massive funnel moved east-northeast across central Lee County, passing through residential areas in the northern half of Tupelo. Unlike the Gainesville, Georgia event, the next morning, this tornado missed the downtown business district. The tornado leveled over 200 homes, many of good construction on the west side of town. It completely swept away poorly constructed homes several miles to the west of town, and on the northeast side of town. Entire families were killed, up to 13 in a single home… About 150 box cars were brought to town as temporary housing. A movie theatre was turned into a hospital with the popcorn machine used to sterilize instruments. This tornado may have been of greater intensity than the Gainesville event, which produced a similar death toll by striking the multi-story downtown area buildings at the start of the business day. $3,000,000.” (Grazulis. “Descriptions of the Top Ten US Killer Tornadoes #4: The Tupelo Tornado.”)

NFPA Quarterly: “At 8:55 on the evening of April 5, 1936, a tornado passed through a residential section of Tupelo, Miss., destroying dwellings, schools, churches and a hospital, causing heavy loss of life. The storm missed the business district by a quarter of a mile. It wrecked the 100,000-gallon elevated public water tank and tower, and blew down power lines supplying the city, crippling the pumps and leaving the city without power, light or water. Engineers did excellent work in installing an emergency power line to the pumps, and water service was restored in about an hour, although the pressure was low until valves controlling broken connections could be shut.” (National Fire Protection Association. “Southern Tornadoes, April, 1936.” NFPA Quarterly, V. 30, No. 1, July 1936, 60-61.)

Sources

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Brooks, Harold E. and Charles A Doswell III (NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory). “Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890-1999.” Revised manuscript submitted as Note to Weather and Forecasting, Vol. 16, 9 p., Sep 2000. Accessed 11-25-2017 at: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/users/brooks/public_html/damage/tdam1.html

Grazulis, Thomas P. “Descriptions of the Top Ten US Killer Tornadoes #4: The Tupelo Tornado.” Accessed 10-12-2009 at: http://www.tornadoproject.com/toptens/4.htm#top

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

Grazulis, Thomas P. The Tornado: Nature’s Ultimate Windstorm. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001, 324 pages.

Gunn, Angus M. Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental Catastrophes and Human Tragedies (Vol. 1). Westport, CT, and London: Greenwood Press.

History.com. This Day in History, Apr 5, 1936. “Tornadoes Devastate Tupelo and Gainesville.” Accessed 12-17-2008: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=04/05&categoryId=disaster

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

Morse, William C., et al. The Tupelo Tornado. Mississippi Office of Geology. 1936.

National Fire Protection Association. “Southern Tornadoes, April, 1936.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 30, No. 1, July 1936, pp. 60-61.

National Weather Service Forecast Office, Paducah, KY. NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado Web Site. “General Information.” Accessed at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/1925/gi_body.php

Storm Prediction Center. The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes. Norman, OK: SPC, National Weather Service. NOAA. Accessed 10-12-2008 at: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/killers.html