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| Date of tornado outbreak: | March 27, 1994 |
| Duration1: | 9 hours, 7 minutes |
| Maximum rated tornado2: | F4 tornado |
| Tornadoes caused: | 27 |
| Damages: | $140 million (2005 USD) |
| Fatalities: | 42 |
| Areas affected: | Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina |
|
1Time from first tornado to last
tornado |
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The 1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak was the third notable tornado outbreak that occurred on Palm Sunday, and the second to take place in the southeastern United States. This one was on March 27, 1994. It was the most notable tornado event of the year.
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Unlike the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of April 11, 1965, this outbreak was mainly confined to the Southeastern United States. What was unusual about this outbreak was that it was at its strongest during the late morning hours. A very intense supercell thunderstorm formed a wall cloud 1-mile (1.6 km) southwest of Ragland in St. Clair County, Alabama. A tornado spun out of the storm and headed toward Piedmont. At 11:39 a.m., an F4 tornado slammed into the Goshen United Methodist Church collapsing the roof on a congregation during a Palm Sunday service. It claimed 20 lives and injured 90. The tornado was an F4 on the Fujita scale. The supercell that formed this tornado ended up tracking for 200 miles (320 km) to South Carolina.
Forty-two people were killed in the outbreak and 320 were injured. A total of 27 tornadoes ripped through Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, causing $140 million in damage. One reason for the moderately high death toll was that all of the elements that produce a tornado outbreak were missing as late as 7:00 a.m. March 27. The elements didn't really start to come together until just when the outbreak was warming up. Another reason is that some of the tornadoes ran through at least two counties in parallel paths, some of which overlapped.
Source: [1]
| Confirmed Total |
Confirmed F0 |
Confirmed F1 |
Confirmed F2 |
Confirmed F3 |
Confirmed F4 |
Confirmed F5 |
| 27 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
Sources: [2]
| F# | Location | County | Time (CST) | Path length | Damage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | ||||||
| F4 | Piedmont | St. Clair, Calhoun, Cherokee | 10:53 | 50 miles (80 km) |
22 deaths - Violent tornado began near Ragland in St. Clair County, moving rapidly NNE, striking Piedmont, the surrounding areas, and three houses of worship including Goshen United Methodist Church. Many structures heavily damaged in several towns along the entire path. | |
| F2 | near Guntersville | Marshall | 11:02 | 6 miles (9.7 km) |
103 homes damaged just south of Guntersville. Tornado later passed near Lake Guntersville State Park. | |
| F3 | Rainsville, Sylvania | DeKalb | 11:30 | 23 miles (37 km) |
F3 tornado from the same supercell that produced the Guntersville tornado affected areas west of Ft. Payne, with several homes destroyed. | |
| F0 | Blount County | Blount | 11:55 | 2.5 miles (4.0 km) |
Brief touchdown between Birmingham and Cullman. | |
| F0 | 15 miles (24 km) N of Tuscaloosa | Tuscaloosa | 04:00 | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
Near Lake Tuscaloosa, from redeveloping afternoon storms in Alabama. | |
| F2 | Pelham,Indian Springs, Helena, Inverness | Shelby | 05:30 | 12 miles (19 km) |
F2 tornado from late wave of storms in S suburbs of Birmingham. Extensive damage in Pelham, Helena, Inverness, and Indian Springs, with many businesses affected. | |
| Georgia | ||||||
| F4 | near Cartersville | Floyd, Bartow, Cherokee, Pickens | 12:16 | 50 miles (80 km) |
3 deaths - Mile-wide tornado formed SE of Rome, passed just N of Cartersville, and dissipated after moving through the community of Ball Ground. | |
| F0 | S of Chickamauga | Walker | 12:55 | 1.5-mile (2.4 km) |
Several miles S of Chattanooga. | |
| F0 | S of Chickamauga | Walker | 12:55 | 1-mile (1.6 km) |
Several miles S of Chattanooga. | |
| F1 | Rossville | Walker | 01:15 | 1-mile (1.6 km) |
Brief touchdown S of Chattanooga. | |
| F3 | N of Dahlonega to W of Tallulah Falls | Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Habersham | 01:20 | 45 miles (72 km) |
3 deaths - Large tornado, more than 1-mile (1.6 km) in width, passing through mostly rural foothills area in NE Georgia. | |
| F0 | W of Rome | Floyd | 01:30 | 3 miles (4.8 km) |
Weak tornado W of Rome, at a different location than the F4 tornado an hour earlier. | |
| F3 | Jasper | Bartow, Gordon, Cherokee, Pickens | 02:00 | 40 miles (64 km) |
9 deaths Another +1-mile (1.6 km) wide tornado, moving close to damage from previous storms. Tornado formed between Rome and Cartersville and moved through Jasper. | |
| F3 | near Tallulah Falls, GA to N of Walhalla, SC | Habersham GA, Rabun GA, Oconee SC | 02:00 | 30 miles (48 km) |
Mile-wide tornado crosses the lower Chattooga Gorge from GA into the foothills of upstate SC. | |
| F3 | N of Dahlonega to N of Cleveland | Lumpkin, White | 02:25 | 22 miles (35 km) |
3 deaths - F3 tornado moving very close to (at times crossing) the path of F3 tornado an hour earlier. | |
| F2 | near Adairsville | Bartow | 02:35 | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
Brief touchdown in area already affected by 2 previous tornadoes. | |
| F0 | W of Dahlonega | Dawson | 02:45 | 4 miles (6.4 km) |
Weak tornado W of Dahlonega. Area affected by multiple previous storms. | |
| F3 | Between Cedartown and Rome | Floyd | 06:00 | 20 miles (32 km) |
Strong late tornado from redeveloping storms; developed near the end of the Piedmont, AL tornado from earlier in the day. Caused extensive damage in Lindale. | |
| F1 | Between Cedartown and Rome | Floyd | 06:10 | 10 miles (16 km) |
Developed very close to previous tornado, but moved more to the north. | |
| F1 | Tallapoosa | Haralson | 07:30 | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
Brief touchdown along I-20, NW of Carrollton. | |
| F0 | Acworth | Cobb | 08:10 | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
Brief touchdown NW of Marietta in suburban Atlanta. | |
| South Carolina | ||||||
| F1 | S of Landrum to Chesnee | Greenville, Spartanburg | 03:40 | 19 miles (31 km) |
Passed through rural areas north of urban Greenville and Spartanburg. | |
| F2 | S of Inman SC, Chesnee SC, Shelby NC | Greenville SC, Spartanburg SC, Cleveland NC, Gaston NC | 03:55 | 45 miles (72 km) |
Substantial damage S of Boiling Springs and in the Shelby area. | |
| F1 | Spartanburg, Gaffney, Blacksburg | Greenville, Spartanburg | 04:30 | 35 miles (56 km) |
Minor damage along a long path through northern Spartanburg suburbs, and through Gaffney and Blacksburg. | |
| F3 | Lake Wylie SC, Charlotte NC | York SC, Mecklenburg NC | 05:30 | 18 miles (29 km) |
Severe damage in an under-construction/unoccupied subdivision at SW edge of Charlotte. Tornado widened as it weakened, with strongest damage produced when tornado was very narrow. Later passed just S of downtown Charlotte. | |
| North Carolina | ||||||
| F0 | 10 m NE of Liberty | Alamance | 06:40 | 0.5-mile (0.80 km) |
Brief touchdown in sparsely populated area. | |
| F0 | Asheboro | Randolph | 07:00 | 0.5-mile (0.80 km) |
Brief touchdown at SE edge of Asheboro, with little damage. | |
| State | Total | County | County total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 22 | St. Clair | 1 |
| Calhoun | 1 | ||
| Cherokee | 20 | ||
| Totals | 22 | ||
| All deaths were tornado-related | |||
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  | The Tornado History Project - Tornado History Project - Tornado Map |
| | Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak March 27, 1994 - NOAA's National Weather Service - Birmingham, Alabama |
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