| Type | Tornado outbreak |
|---|---|
| Duration | March 23, 1917 |
| Tornadoes confirmed | ≥ 9 |
| Max. rating | F4 tornado |
| Fatalities | ≥ 47 fatalities, ≥ 300+ injuries |
| Damage | Unknown |
| Areas affected | Ohio Valley |
| Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale | |
The March 1917 tornado outbreak was a tornado outbreak that occurred on March 23, 1917. It affected the Ohio Valley and produced several strong tornadoes, the worst of which devastated the city of New Albany, Indiana.
Confirmed tornadoes
| FU | F0 | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | F5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ? | 0 | ? | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ≥ 9 |
| F# | Location | County / Parish | State | Time (UTC) | Path length | Width | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F2 | NW to N of Vienna | Johnson | Illinois | 18:30–? | 4 mi (6.4 km) | 100 yd (91 m) | |
| Five farms were hit, and one house was wrecked. An injury was reported. | |||||||
| F2 | W to N of Pittsboro | Henricks | Indiana | 18:45–? | 8 mi (13 km) | 150 yd (140 m) | |
| 40 farms were damaged or destroyed, and one person was injured. The tornado killed 50 head of livestock and unroofed or severely damaged approximately 20 homes. The highly visible funnel gave people time to seek shelter. | |||||||
| F3 | NE of Flat Rock (IL) to Pleasantville (IN) | Crawford (IL), Sullivan (IN) | Illinois, Indiana | 19:15–? | 22 mi (35 km) | 400 yd (370 m) | |
| 1 death — At least 40 farms were impacted, about half of which were shorn of a barn, the roof of the farmhouse, or both. A man was killed near Flat Rock, Illinois, and 20 other people were injured. | |||||||
| F2 | NNE of Swayzee | Grant | Indiana | 20:30–? | 2 mi (3.2 km) | 200 yd (180 m) | |
| One house was unroofed, and a barn wrecked. A pair of men were injured while trying to escape from the tornado. | |||||||
| F2 | SSW of Preble to E of Monmouth | Adams | Indiana | 20:55–? | 10 mi (16 km) | 70 yd (64 m) | |
| 12 houses and one school were destroyed or unroofed. Six of the seven people injured were students huddled in a school basement. | |||||||
| F4 | W of New Albany (IN) to near Prospect (KY) | Floyd (IN), Clark (IN), Jefferson (KY) | Indiana, Kentucky | 21:08–? | 15 mi (24 km) | 400 yd (370 m) | |
| 46 deaths — Major damage occurred in the town of New Albany. Two schools, a factory, and 300 houses were destroyed. Many of the houses were wiped clean off their foundations. More than 250 people were injured. | |||||||
| F3 | SE of DeSoto | Delaware | Indiana | 21:30–? | 3 mi (4.8 km) | 200 yd (180 m) | |
| A mother and child were injured when their farmhouse was damaged. | |||||||
| F3 | WNW of Corydon to NE of Lanesville | Harrison | Indiana | 21:30–? | 7 mi (11 km) | 600 yd (550 m) | |
| A farmhouse was destroyed, and a mother and her baby were blown 200 yd (600 ft) away from it. A total of 20 people were injured. | |||||||
| F2 | SE of Hartsville | Trousdale | Tennessee | 23:00–? | 5 mi (8.0 km) | 200 yd (180 m) | |
| Two homes were destroyed, and eight people sustained injuries. | |||||||
See also
Notes
- All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time and dates are split at midnight CST/CDT for consistency.
- The listed width values are primarily the average/mean width of the tornadoes, with those having known maximum widths denoted by ♯. From 1952 to 1994, reports largely list mean width whereas contemporary years list maximum width. Values provided by Grazulis are the average width, with estimates being rounded down (i.e. 0.5 mi (0.80 km) is rounded down from 880 yards to 800 yards.
References
- Agee and Childs 2014, p. 1494.
- Brooks 2004, p. 310.
- Grazulis 1990, p. ix.
- ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 750.
- Grazulis 1984, p. A-29.
- Grazulis 1993, pp. 750–1.
- ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 751.
Sources
- Agee, Ernest M.; Childs, Samuel (June 1, 2014). "Adjustments in Tornado Counts, F-Scale Intensity, and Path Width for Assessing Significant Tornado Destruction". Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. 53 (6). American Meteorological Society: 1494–1505. doi:10.1175/JAMC-D-13-0235.1.
- Brooks, Harold E. (April 2004). "On the Relationship of Tornado Path Length and Width to Intensity". Weather and Forecasting. 19 (2): 310–19. Bibcode:2004WtFor..19..310B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019<0310:OTROTP>2.0.CO;2.
- Cook, A. R.; Schaefer, J. T. (August 2008). "The Relation of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to Winter Tornado Outbreaks". Monthly Weather Review. 136 (8): 3121–3137. Bibcode:2008MWRv..136.3121C. doi:10.1175/2007MWR2171.1.
- Edwards, Roger; LaDue, James G.; Ferree, John T.; Scharfenberg, Kevin; Maier, Chris; Coulbourne, William L. (May 1, 2013). "Tornado Intensity Estimation: Past, Present, and Future". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 94 (5). American Meteorological Society: 641–653. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00006.1.
- Grazulis, Thomas P. (May 1984). Violent Tornado Climatography, 1880–1982. OSTI (Technical report). NUREG. Washington, D.C.: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. OSTI 7099491. CR-3670.
- — (November 1990). Significant Tornadoes 1880–1989. Vol. 2. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-02-3.
- — (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-03-1.
- — (2001a). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0.
- — (2001b). F5-F6 Tornadoes. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films.
- National Historical Company (1882). "34: Tornadoes". The History of Nodaway County, Missouri. National Historical Company. pp. 502–11.
40°33′23″N 94°58′18″W / 40.5564°N 94.9716°W / 40.5564; -94.9716
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