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A deadly tornado outbreak affected much of the central and Southern United States from April 29 – May 1, 1909. Affecting particularly the Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys, it killed over 180 people, more than 90 of them in the U.S. state of Tennessee alone. The deadliest and longest-tracked tornado of the outbreak was a violent F4 tornado family that tracked across portions of northern Mississippi and western Tennessee on April 29, claiming at least 29 lives. Another deadly F4 tornado struck portions of southern Tennessee early the next day, killing 31. Other F4s in southern Missouri and southern Illinois on April 29 killed a combined 16 people. Deadly F3s in Georgia and Tennessee from April 30–May 1 killed a total of at least 53 people as well.

Background and impact

During the late afternoon and the overnight hours of April 29, 1909, numerous strong to violent tornadoes affected the areas of northern Alabama, eastern Arkansas, southern Illinois, northern Mississippi, southeastern Missouri, and western Tennessee (the NWS Memphis, Tennessee, coverage area). In that general area, at least 72 were killed by tornadoes.

The deadliest tornado touched down just south of the Tennessee-Mississippi state line in Desoto County and tracked east-northeast for about 145 miles (233 km) across Shelby, Fayette, Hardeman, Chester, Henderson and Decatur Counties. While it was estimated to be an F4, some reports indicate that there was more than one tornado. Among the towns affected were Horn Lake, Mississippi, where about half of the fatalities were recorded, and Whitehaven, Tennessee, where the tornado damaged 30 homes. The parent supercell continued on to produce additional tornadoes in Scott County.

North of Memphis, Tennessee, two F3 tornadoes killed a total of 22 from Crittenden County, Arkansas, to Carroll County, Tennessee. Homes were destroyed in Marion, Arkansas, resulting in five deaths in Arkansas. In Tennessee, the town of Locke was mostly destroyed by the first F3 tornado. The second F3 tornado flattened structures near Covington and Medina. Several of the injured people who later died were plantation workers. A family of tornadoes also affected Hickman and Williamson Counties southwest of Nashville and later moved into the city of Cookeville and Putnam County. Three other tornadoes killed four people in the Memphis coverage area, including in St. Francis and Lee Counties in Arkansas and Haywood County in Tennessee.

Other F4 tornadoes were reported in Missouri near Golden, in Illinois near Texas City, and in south-central Tennessee near Bee Spring, just north of the Alabama state line. 11 deaths were recorded in the Missouri storm, five near Texas City and 31 just north of the Alabama–Tennessee state line. The Bee Spring tornado affected parts of Lincoln and Giles Counties in Tennessee. Hardest-hit areas were in and around Pulaski, Bryson and Fayetteville. Another strong tornado struck Franklin County near Decherd.

Confirmed tornadoes

• A tornado may have unroofed barns and homes at Monterey, Putnam County, Tennessee.

April 29 event

April 30 event

May 1 event

Horn Lake, Mississippi/Bolivar–Scotts Hill, Tennessee

This violent, long-tracked tornado family killed at least 14—and possibly as many as 20—people in Mississippi. Twin tornadoes may have been responsible for these deaths, which occurred around and in the southern and northern outskirts, respectively, of Horn Lake. Crossing into Tennessee, the tornado struck and damaged 30 homes near Whitehaven. Five fatalities occurred in Fayette County: a few on a farmstead and three at a poorhouse. Farther along, 20 homes were damaged on the outskirts of Newcastle; one of the homes was leveled despite having been well constructed, indicating F4-intensity damage. Farmsteads, including numerous barns and six farmhouses, were wrecked near Bolivar, with 13 injuries and a death. Eight or more people were injured near Toome, along with four more near Whiteville. At Montezuma many stores and homes were destroyed, with a dozen people injured. Three deaths may have occurred near Lula. Near Scotts Hill many small homes were wrecked, with nine fatalities. Meat from smokehouses was carried a few miles distant. Two injuries occurred at Perryville, and a final death and four injuries in Perry County.

Aftermath, recovery, and records

Prior to 2017, the outbreak, with 60 confirmed deaths, was the deadliest known tornado outbreak to affect Tennessee until March 21, 1952, when 66 people died statewide. However, reanalysis subsequently confirmed more than 90 fatalities in the state, once again making this outbreak the deadliest—even the April 3–4, 1974, Super Outbreak and the February 5–6, 2008, Super Tuesday outbreak produced just 45 and 31 deaths each in the state, respectively.

See also

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks

Notes

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. ^ 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.
5. ^ 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. 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. 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. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
9. Cook & Schaefer 2008, p. 3135.
10. Rose 2004.
11. ^ National Weather Service (2017). Written at Old Hickory, Tennessee. NWS Nashville Tornado Database (Report). Mississippi State, Mississippi. Retrieved 8 February 2023 – via Mississippi State University.
12. Brooks 2004, p. 310.
13. ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 720.
14. ^ Grazulis 1984, p. A-24.
15. ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 721.
16. Grazulis 1993, pp. 538, 721.
17. ^ Roscoe Nunn (25 November 1921). Mark A. Rose (ed.). "Tornadoes, with Special Reference to Those That Have Occurred in Tennessee". National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Nashville, Tennessee. Old Hickory, Tennessee: National Weather Service. Archived from the original on 2009-05-10. Retrieved 17 December 2012. But the most disastrous tornadoes, so far as we have record, in Tennessee, occurred on April 29, 1909, when 60 people were killed.
18. USWB 1909.
19. ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 722.
20. Horton 1909.
21. "April 29, 1909 Tornado Outbreak". Nashville, TN Weather Forecast Office. Old Hickory, Tennessee: National Weather Service. Retrieved 28 April 2024.

Sources

• Abbe, Cleveland; Abbey Jr., Cleveland, eds. (April 1909). "Tornadoes in Tennessee" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. 37 (4). Washington, D.C.: 152–3. Bibcode:1909MWRv...37..152.. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1909)37[152:TIT]2.0.CO;2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2017.
• Belden, W. S. (April 1909). Abbe, Cleveland; Abbey Jr., Cleveland (eds.). "Tornadoes in Mississippi" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. 37 (4). Washington, D.C.: 153. Bibcode:1909MWRv...37..153B. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1909)37[153a:TIM]2.0.CO;2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2017.
• 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.
• 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.
• Horton, E. C. (April 1909). Abbe, Cleveland; Abbey Jr., Cleveland (eds.). "Tornado in Alabama" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. 37 (4). Washington, D.C.: 154. Bibcode:1909MWRv...37..154H. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1909)37[154a:TIA]2.0.CO;2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2017.
• Rose, M. A. (2004). "A tornado climatology of middle Tennessee (1830-2003)" (PDF). NWAS Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology. 5 (4). National Weather Association: 1–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.

• 20th-century tornadoes
• 1909 meteorology
• F4 tornadoes by date
• Tornadoes in Tennessee
• Tornadoes in Missouri
• Tornadoes in Alabama
• Tornadoes in Illinois
• 1909 natural disasters in the United States
• April 1909 events