Wednesday, March 28, 2012

March 28, 1920 - The Original Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak

Today marks the anniversary of a significant Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, but perhaps not the one you may think.  On March 28, 1920, at least 7 tornadoes touched down in Indiana as part of a major tornado outbreak.

The first tornado touched down west of Leroy in Lake county around 3 PM before passing into Porter county and ending near Beatrice.  One person was killed and another was injured.

Around 3:15 PM, a second tornado touched down south of Mishawaka and passed northwest of Elkhart before heading into Michigan.  Fortunately, no fatalities occurred in this storm but several people were injured.

The third tornado touched down at 4:30 PM in Steuben county near the town of Orland, unroofing businesses and homes there.  The tornado moved NNE into Michigan.

A new tornado touched down at 5:15 PM in Wells county near Uniondale.  Many farms and other buildings were leveled along the path across Wells and Allen counties.  The tornado then crossed into Ohio.  In all, 23 people were killed with 13 of the deaths occurring in Indiana.

Around 6 PM, another tornado touched down NNW of Portland in Jay county.  Extreme damage (possibly F5) occurred near the towns of Geneva and Ceylon before the tornado passed into Ohio.  17 people died with 14 of them occurring in Indiana.

A sixth tornado touched down at 7:30 PM south of Union City in Randolph county before moving into Ohio.  5 people were killed but it appears that all of the deaths occurred in Ohio.

The final tornado reached the ground in Wayne county at 8:00 PM.  This tornado originated near Fountain City and moved through Wayne and Randolph counties before passing into Ohio.  No deaths occurred in Indiana.


Source:

Thomas P. Grazulis, Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991 (Environmental Films, 1993).

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