1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak

The 1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak was the third notable US tornado outbreak to occur on Palm Sunday and the second to take place in the Southeastern United States. The outbreak produced 29 tornadoes from Texas to North Carolina, killing 40 people and injuring 491, and causing $140 million in damage. The deadliest storm of the outbreak, as well as in the US in 1994, was an F4 tornado that devastated Piedmont, Alabama. It struck the Goshen United Methodist Church right in the middle of the Palm Sunday service, collapsing the roof on the congregation and killing 20 people inside, including the Rev. Kelly Clem's 4-year-old daughter Hannah. Two other houses of worship were also destroyed mid-service. The supercell that formed this tornado tracked for to South Carolina.

Meteorological synopsis

thumb|left|Day 1 outlook at 1930 UTC showing a high risk.

thumb|right|Storm reports from the March 27, 1994 event.

The SPC started forecasting the outbreak on March 26, highlighting the risk of severe thunderstorms over the area that would eventually be impacted. They issued a "severe" forecast for most of the Southern, and some of the Mid-Atlantic states, forecasting "the potential for supercell storms, along with the possibility of tornadoes."

By the morning of March 27, it was apparent that a very strong and potent airmass had set up over the Gulf states, with the SPC issuing a moderate risk for most of Alabama, the southern half of Mississippi, and most of Louisiana in their morning outlook. The 6 AM CST (1200 UTC) 500 mb analysis showed a strong southwest flow of near 80 knots over the Southern U.S., while at the 850 MB level, there existed winds of near 50 knots coming out of the state of Louisiana. At the surface, temperatures in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia were in the low 70's Fahrenheit, with dewpoints were in the upper 60's to low 70's. The SPC also issued a PDS Tornado Watch for all of Northern Georgia by 12 PM EST (1700 UTC), with the wording stating, "This is a particularly dangerous situation with the possibility of very damaging tornadoes. Also, large hail, dangerous lightning and damaging thunderstorm winds can be expected." Severe storms and tornadoes tracked into the northern Georgia region by 12:42 EST, and tornadoes continued to track across northern Georgia during the afternoon.

During the early-mid afternoon, analysis showed a very unstable airmass over the southern U.S., with CAPE values near 2,500 J/kg and SRH values of near 250 m2/s2 at Jackson, Mississippi. The 1800 UTC Centreville, Alabama sounding showed similar conditions, with CAPE over 2,500 J/kg and SRH values of over 500 m2/s2. This resulted in an Energy Helicity Index (EHI) value of 8.49, which is strongly supportive of tornadic thunderstorms. Based on these soundings, the SPC issued a High Risk for their 1930 UTC outlook, noting a rapidly destabilized atmosphere and winds being much stronger than what was originally forecasted. Noting the presence of a shortwave trough that was tracking into Mississippi and Louisiana as well as rapidly falling pressures in advance of a frontal boundary, the SPC issued a tornado watch for eastern Louisiana and central Mississippi, however, there were no reported tornadoes in this region on March 27. The SPC, seeing that storms were tracking into the Carolinas, issued a tornado watch for portions of the western and central Carolinas, as well as the portion of northeast Georgia not already included in the prior tornado watch. Tornadoes continued to track along this area from the mid-late afternoon, with an F3 tornado striking parts of northeast Georgia and the upstate of South Carolina, injuring 12, and another tornado along the border region of North Carolina and South Carolina injuring 13.

In Alabama, tornadoes continued in the central part of the state during the mid-late afternoon. An F1 tornado struck parts of Tuscaloosa County just after 4 PM. Funnel clouds were seen in Hueytown as a storm went over Jefferson County at around 4:30 PM local time. An F2 tornado was produced in Shelby County at 5:30 CST, damaging a high school and a residential neighborhood before destroying two mobile home parks.

During the cleanup from the F4 tornado that struck Cherokee County, emergency responders had to take cover as another funnel cloud was spotted just before 6 PM CST. The storms also produced hail up to in diameter and winds around . The storm system also left behind extensive flooding in Winston and Walker Counties, with $150,000 worth of damage done to roads and bridges in Walker County. The final tornado of the outbreak was reported just before midnight in Greenville County in South Carolina. The National Weather Service offices in Birmingham, Atlanta, and Athens did not stop issuing warnings until late at night on the 27th or early in the morning on the 28th, issuing 75 tornado warnings and 182 severe weather products overall.

Overall, the outbreak of March 27, 1994 was not as synoptically evident as some of the past outbreaks that have occurred, as there was no deep surface low or trough present for forcing in the area where the storms occurred, and many of the ingredients necessary that were the cause of this outbreak were not able to be forecasted until the morning of the event.

Confirmed tornadoes

March 27 event

{| class="wikitable collapsible" width="100%"

!colspan="6"|List of reported tornadoes – Sunday, March 27, 1994

! F# !! Location !! County !! Time (UTC) !! Path length !! Damage

|colspan="7" align=center|Texas

|bgcolor=# | <big>F0</big>

|NW of Mineral Wells

|Palo Pinto

|0705

|Brief touchdown reported by storm chasers with no damage.

|colspan="7" align=center|Georgia

|bgcolor=# | <big>F4</big>

|SE of Rome to ESE of Jasper

|Floyd, Bartow, Cherokee, Pickens

|1714

|3 deaths — See section on this tornado

|bgcolor=# | <big>F0</big>

|N of Lafayette it was a "rotating fog bank" It then killed two more people as it destroyed a single-story residence and a mobile home before lifting northeast of Jasper. It caused a total of $12,250,000 in damage and killed a total of nine people along its path.

|Habersham, Rabun, Oconee (SC)

|2004

|This tornado badly damaged five buildings at Tallulah Falls before descending a cliff.

|Spartanburg, Cherokee, Cleveland (NC), Gaston (NC)

|2055

|This long-tracked tornado destroyed two mobile homes, badly damaged another home, and ripped apart three transmission towers—all indicative of F2 damage—before crossing into North Carolina.

| injuries = 150

| damages = $50.5 million (1994 USD)

This violent and deadly tornado developed south-southwest of Ragland in St. Clair County, Alabama, at 10:55 a.m. CST. With a forward speed, the tornado first destroyed buildings east of Ragland before killing a woman on a campground west of Neely Henry Lake. Just prior to entering Calhoun County, the tornado destroyed 18 homes and 20 mobile homes. The tornado also destroyed two nearby churches, but killed no one in their congregations. Parishioners in the Goshen United Methodist Church apparently received no warning while attending services and some were crushed to death as the walls and roof collapsed upon them.