Misplaced Pages

On Thursday, March 27, 1890, a major tornado outbreak struck the Middle Mississippi Valley. To this day, this outbreak is still one of the deadliest tornado events in United States history. At least 24 significant tornadoes, several of which were generated by cyclic supercells, were recorded to have spawned from this system, and at least 187 people were killed by tornadoes that day, including a devastating F4 tornado that struck Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least 115 people and injuring at least 200 others. Five other violent tornadoes occurred elsewhere, including a long-tracked F4 tornado family that crossed two states, killing 21 people and injuring 200, and two other F4s that killed 14 altogether. A pair of F3s near the Tennessee–Kentucky state line may have killed a combined 37 people.

Background and impact

At 8:00 a.m. EST (13:00 UTC) on March 27, a vigorous low-pressure center of at most 29.1 inHg (990 mb) was in progress over central Kansas. Ahead of the low, an unstable air mass advected northward from the Gulf of Mexico, while a warm front positioned itself across Kentucky, southern Illinois, and south-central Missouri. By 8:00 p.m. EST (01:00 UTC), the low had deepened somewhat and tracked generally eastward across north-central Illinois, yielding a pressure of 29.274 inHg (991.3 mb) at Louisville, Kentucky, an hour earlier. A cold front encountering the warm, moist air mass over the Mississippi River Valley produced favorable wind shear for the development and growth of tornado-producing supercells over the warm sector. As a result, numerous long-lived tornado families occurred in a triangular region from St. Louis, Missouri, eastward to Louisville and southward to Huntsville, Alabama. In addition to 24 F2+ tornadoes, many other weaker tornadoes likely occurred but went unrecorded.

Confirmed tornadoes

March 27 event

Metropolis, Illinois/Sheridan–Blackford–Dickson–Delaware, Kentucky

This long-tracked, violent tornado family formed from the same supercell as the Bird's Point F3. One or more members of the family may have been the same as the Bird's Point tornado and touched down in Missouri, west of the Mississippi River, before entering Kentucky. After passing through McCracken County, the tornado traversed the Ohio River as a waterspout to strike the opposite shore at Metropolis, Illinois. In Metropolis the tornado destroyed 100 buildings, killed one person, and caused $150,000 in losses. The tornado reportedly carried water "as high as the rooftops" as it passed over the Ohio River. Unconfirmed rumors suggested that two Gypsies were killed in a nearby settlement and that a Gypsy woman was found 1⁄2 mi (0.80 km) distant. Three confirmed deaths occurred on farms and in homes from just northeast of Metropolis to near Bay City. Another death occurred on the eastern bank of the Ohio River, in Kentucky. The tornado reportedly was "greenish" in appearance as it entered Livingston County, killing at least three and possibly as many as 11 people. In Crittenden County the tornado caused six deaths, five of which occurred in a home at Sheridan. Between Blackford and Dixon the tornado destroyed several dozen farms and miles of timberland; widespread F4 damage occurred in this area. Eight or more fatalities were reported in Webster County. A train derailed as it struck downed trees near Sebree, causing three indirect fatalities. Five people in one family were killed near Delaware. The tornado finally dissipated as a downburst in West Louisville, causing F2 damage, one fatality, and $50,000 in losses there.

Louisville, Kentucky

This devastating tornado may have first touched down in Harrison County, Indiana, but records that would indicate the precise location are unavailable. The tornado is estimated to have developed just west of Shively shortly before 8:00 p.m. CST (01:00 UTC). With a trajectory that varied between northeast and north-northeast, it approached Louisville at a speed of 36 to 40 mph (58 to 64 km/h). In Louisville observers witnessed a thunderstorm to their southwest, noting that the cloud was of "extreme blackness" and lit by lightning. Heavy rainfall preceded the tornado itself, suggestive of a high-precipitation (HP) supercell, and surface temperatures rose to 68 °F (20 °C).

The tornado generated its first significant damage in the California neighborhood of Louisville, then caused the only incidence of F4 damage in the Parkland area, near the intersection of 28th and Dumesnil Streets. After leveling a couple of homes in Parkland, the tornado weakened as it entered Downtown Louisville, yet widened from 200 to 500 yd (180 to 460 m). The most extensive damage occurred in a swath from the intersection of 34th Street and the Algonquin Parkway to the western half of the central business district, including Crescent Hill. Numerous unreinforced buildings, often multi-story, collapsed, including the Falls City Hall, where 44 or more fatalities occurred—one of the highest death tolls due to a single building collapse from a tornado in U.S. history. Some sources placed the toll at 55 in the Falls City Hall. Throughout the path, wreckage caught fire, burning several people to death; century-old oaks and a water tower were downed; and iron railings were wrenched and snapped.

Before crossing the Ohio River into Indiana, the tornado destroyed a total of 766 buildings–including 532 residences, 32 manufacturers, 10 tobacco warehouses, seven rail depots, five churches, three schools, and two public halls–in Louisville, costing the city at least $2.5 million. The tornado ended as a downburst in Jeffersonville, Indiana, causing widespread damage, minor injuries, and $500,000 in losses. At least 18 structures were destroyed or damaged there, primarily within a few blocks of the riverfront. In all, the tornado killed at least 115 people (possibly as high as 120), placing it among the deadliest tornadoes in United States history, and remains the deadliest tornado in Kentucky's history to date.

Aftermath and recovery

Following the tornado at Louisville, then-Red Cross president Clara Barton arrived to assist the recovery. Electric trolleys were used to compensate for a shortage of hearses. The City of Louisville, while declining outside aid, also established 60-man work crews to sift through wreckage for survivors. Three days after the disaster—on March 30, Palm Sunday—as many as 45 separate funeral services were conducted in Louisville.

See also

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• List of tornadoes striking downtown areas

Notes

1. All losses are in 1890 USD unless otherwise noted.
2. An outbreak is generally defined as a group of at least six tornadoes (the number sometimes varies slightly according to local climatology) with no more than a six-hour gap between individual tornadoes. An outbreak sequence, prior to (after) the start of modern records in 1950, is defined as a period of no more than two (one) consecutive days without at least one significant (F2 or stronger) tornado.
3. The Fujita scale was devised under the aegis of scientist T. Theodore Fujita in the early 1970s. Prior to the advent of the scale in 1971, tornadoes in the United States were officially unrated. While the Fujita scale has been superseded by the Enhanced Fujita scale in the U.S. since February 1, 2007, Canada used the old scale until April 1, 2013; nations elsewhere, like the United Kingdom, apply other classifications such as the TORRO scale.
4. Historically, the number of tornadoes globally and in the United States was and is likely underrepresented: research by Grazulis on annual tornado activity suggests that, as of 2001, only 53% of yearly U.S. tornadoes were officially recorded. Documentation of tornadoes outside the United States was historically less exhaustive, owing to the lack of monitors in many nations and, in some cases, to internal political controls on public information. Most countries only recorded tornadoes that produced severe damage or loss of life. Significant low biases in U.S. tornado counts likely occurred through the early 1990s, when advanced NEXRAD was first installed and the National Weather Service began comprehensively verifying tornado occurrences.
5. 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.
6. Prior to 1994, only the average widths of tornado paths were officially listed.

References

1. Schneider, Russell S.; Brooks, Harold E.; Schaefer, Joseph T. (2004). Tornado Outbreak Day Sequences: Historic Events and Climatology (1875–2003) (PDF). 22nd Conf. Severe Local Storms. Hyannis, Massachusetts: American Meteorological Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 6, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
2. Grazulis 1993, p. 141.
3. Grazulis 2001a, p. 131.
4. Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage". The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC). Storm Prediction Center. Archived from the original on July 9, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
5. "Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale)". Environment and Climate Change Canada. June 6, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
6. "The International Tornado Intensity Scale". Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
7. Grazulis 2001a, pp. 251–4.
8. Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC)". Storm Prediction Center: Frequently Asked Questions about Tornadoes. Storm Prediction Center. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
9. Cook & Schaefer 2008, p. 3135.
10. Multiple sources:
    • Bush 2012
    • Tiger of the Air
    • Signal Corps 1890a, p. 74
    • Signal Corps 1890b, p. c5
11. Brooks 2004, p. 310.
12. ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 648.
13. ^ Grazulis 1984, p. A-11.
14. Grazulis 1993, pp. 648–649.
15. Grazulis 1993, pp. 649–50.
16. ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 649.
17. ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 650.
18. ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 651.
19. ^ National Weather Service (2017). Written at Old Hickory, Tennessee. NWS Nashville Tornado Database (Report). Mississippi State, Mississippi. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023 – via Mississippi State University.
20. Grazulis, Thomas P. (March 27, 2024). "19 years of research on Louisville tornadoes will come up with better numbers, for sure. SIGTOR 1680-1973 WILL HAVE 115 deaths at Louisville in 1890. I knew that 14 ago. Kevin was nice enough to send me a copy of his book" (Post on 𝕏). 𝕏 (Formerly Twitter). Vermont: @sigtor2019. Archived from the original on March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024. SIGTOR 1680-1973 WILL HAVE 115 deaths at Louisville in 1890. I knew that 14 ago.
21. Multiple sources:
    • Grazulis 1993, pp. 648–651
      • Grazulis 1993, p. 651
      • Grazulis 2001a, pp. 292–3
    • Bush 2012
    • Grazulis, Thomas P.; Grazulis, Doris (April 26, 2000). "The United States' Worst Tornadoes". The Tornado Project. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Environmental Films. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
    • Grazulis, Thomas P. (December 12, 2021). "WORST KY DEATH TOLL- 115 at Louisville on March 27, 1890. SIGTOR, printed in 1991 said 74. In 2010 , Keven McQueen published in his book "The Great Louisville Tornado of 1890" the names of 114 people, after exhaustive research. Please re-tweet this post" (Tweet). Retrieved May 13, 2023 – via Twitter.
    • Signal Corps 1890a, p. 74
    • Tiger of the Air
    • "Top 10 Tornadoes in the Louisville CWA". Louisville, KY Weather Forecast Office. Louisville, Kentucky: National Weather Service. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
    • "Tornadoes of March 27, 1890". Louisville, KY Weather Forecast Office. Louisville, Kentucky: National Weather Service. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
    • Whirling Tigers
22. Multiple sources:
    • Bush 2012
    • Tiger of the Air
    • Whirling Tigers

Sources

• 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.
• Bush, Bryan S. (March 6, 2012). "The Great Cyclone of 1890: Tragedy Struck Louisville". Bryan S. Bush Books. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
• 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): 3135. Bibcode:2008MWRv..136.3121C. doi:10.1175/2007MWR2171.1.
• 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.
• "Tiger of the Air: the Incredible Tornado of March 27, 1890" (PDF). Louisville, KY Weather Forecast Office. Louisville, Kentucky: National Weather Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
• U.S. Signal Service (March 1890). "Winds". Monthly Weather Review. 18 (3). Boston: American Meteorological Society: 73–5. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1890)18[73:W]2.0.CO;2.
  • — (March 1890). "Chart V. Weather Map, 8 a. m. (75th Meridian Time). March 27, 1890". Monthly Weather Review. 18 (3). Boston: American Meteorological Society: c5. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1890)183[c5:CVWMAM]2.0.CO;2.
• "Whirling Tigers of the Air: a Century of Louisville Tornadoes". University of Louisville Photographic Archives. Louisville, Kentucky: University of Louisville. 2000. Archived from the original on September 10, 2006. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
• Yater, George H. (1987). Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio: A History of Louisville and Jefferson County (2nd ed.). Filson Club, Incorporated.

External links

• "Louisville, KY Tornado, Mar 1890" at GenDisasters.com (archived)

• F4 tornadoes by date
• F4 tornadoes by location
• 19th-century tornadoes
• 1890 meteorology
• Tornadoes in Missouri
• Tornadoes in Illinois
• Tornadoes in Kentucky
• Tornadoes in Indiana
• Tornadoes in Tennessee
• History of Louisville, Kentucky
• 1890 natural disasters in the United States
• March 1890 events