Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak II
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The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak II was the second notable tornado outbreak that occurred on Palm Sunday. This one was on March 27, 1994. It was the most notable tornado event of the year.
Palm Sunday in Piedmont
Unlike The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak of April 11, 1965, this outbreak was mainly confined to the Southeastern United States. What was odd about this outbreak was that it was at its strongest during the late morning hours. A very intense supercell thunderstorm formed in Cherokee County, Alabama. A tornado spun out of the storm and headed toward Piedmont. At 11:39 a.m., a tornado slammed into the Goshen Methodist Church collapsing the roof on a congregation during Palm Sunday services. 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 to South Carolina.
Forty-two people were killed in the outbreak and 320 were injured. A total of 26 tornadoes ripped through Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, causing $107 million in damage. One reason for the moderately high death toll was that all of the elements that produces 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.
Could Three Times Be The Charm...?
The odds of a notable tornado outbreak forming on Palm Sunday for a third time in nearly 40 years would be relatively low. However, tornadoes usually are more intense and at their deadliest during late March and early April, anyway. They are more intense this time of year because there is colder air aloft, and deadlier because most tornadoes form between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Nightfall usually comes at around 7 p.m. in late March. So people would usually not see the tornado.
See also: List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks