1965-04-11: Palm Sunday Outbreak

[Bob Hartig]

Ron, those are some fascinating insights. Thank you for sharing them! Breakdown of the warning infrastructure seems to have made a huge contribution to the death toll that day. The Weather Bureau's survey team report, released just three weeks after the event, indicates that in several places--Grand Rapids being one of them and Crystal Lake, IL, another--warnings didn't come until the tornado was either right on top of a community or had already passed through it. Just off the top of my head, I believe that the warning for the Crystal Lake tornado came something like 10 minutes after the fact, and by then, the town was already in splinters.

The southeastern Michigan storms were a continuation of the northern Indiana storms, and those had taken down phone lines, preventing downstream communication and leaving thousands in the paths of the storms unaware. Another warning breakdown may have been that the storms moved through Amish country, and many households didn't have telephones, TVs, or radios in the first place.

 

[RWilbanks]

The southeastern Michigan storms were a continuation of the northern Indiana storms, and those had taken down phone lines, preventing downstream communication and leaving thousands in the paths of the storms unaware. Another warning breakdown may have been that the storms moved through Amish country, and many households didn't have telephones, TVs, or radios in the first place.

This is very true. The Amish community in northern Indiana, and Branch County, Michigan were caught totally by surprise by the Palm Sunday storms on April 11, 1965. Likewise, when the tornadoes passed through these areas, they did not have modern telecommunications devices (Ham Radio or Telephone) to pass along these reports to the local law enforcement community, informing them of what they had just unfortunately experienced.

The Shore community and the area around Shipshewana, in LaGrange County, were fortunate that the Indiana State Police from District 21 in Ligonier, were able to intercept tornado J-3, as it was bearing down on that area. Trooper Charles Wainscott, saw the tornado on the far horizon while heading westbound on State Route 120, while heading for Elkhart. He turned south on State Route 5, with the accelerator to the floor trying to intercept the tornado heading for the Shore community, to warn the people there with his PA system about the approaching twister. However, he arrived about two minutes too late. Wainscott, like a lot of other people had grossly underestimated the forward speed of that tornado.

Thankfully, the Indiana State Police, along with the Sheriff's Departments in Elkhart, LaGrange, and St. Joseph, and Steuben Counties, were coordinating the exact location of the tornadoes at any given minute with each other over their two-way radios. This made it possible to accurately record where each storm was at any given minute. Sadly, none of the law enforcement agencies across the border in Michigan, had any idea what was transpiring just a few miles south of the State Line. This is the sad reality of being isolated on a different radio band.

Yours truly,

Ron

 

[John A. Sellers]

Bob,I was glad to meet you in person and that you were able to make it to the memorial service. It was good to meet and hear from the people who lived through the event.

 

[Bob Hartig]

John, it was great to meet you at the memorial service. I knew there was a fellow chaser in the crowd--not too many people in the Great Lakes have an anemometer mounted on top of their vehicle.

 

[Matthew K. Hartman]

I was sure glad someone mentioned the NWS Storm Survey Team report... It was as comprehensive a report on the societal impact and response to the event I've seen. Aside from Fujita's paper that is, even though, obviously, his paper is purely research.

Also, "The Mighty Whirlwind" by David Wagler was indeed published by Pathway Publishing Corp., located in Ontario, Canada.

I bought a copy of the book, myself, a few years ago, after searching for a copy for years. I finally found a copy in a used book store, in Angola, IN for a measly $12.00. That was a steal, for as great a book it is.

My interest in the event stemmed from my parents, who, like me, grew up in Northeastern Indiana. Both my mother and father lived very close to Keystone, IN, where Tornado L-3 struck. It ended up killing two in Keystone and went on to earn, I believe, an F3 rating.

My father lived only 2.5 miles from where the tornado tracked ENE out of Keystone, and my mother was only 1.5 miles north of where the tornado tracked north of Petroleum, IN (both towns are very small). So, they both have shared their stories over and over with me. They both remember a lot about it, especially my father since he was located closer to Keystone, where he helped in the recovery. The farmstead my mother lived in received damage to a barn on the southeast corner of their property and had several large trees down, but fortunately the farm my father was located at didn't receive any damage. He does recall seeing papers, sheet metal and a toilet in their front yard. Rumor has it, a great-aunt of mine has 8mm film of some of the more severe damage, but I haven't talked to her in years. That is something I'd definitely LOVE to get my hands on!

Thanks for bringing this up again, guys! I'm now inspired to read the Survey Report, Fujita's paper and Wagler's book once again...

 

[RWilbanks]

On Monday, May 3, 2010, Fox 2 in Detroit, will show a segment on the Palm Sunday Tornadoes of 1965. It is scheduled to air at 5:45 p.m. and should be rather interesting. Rich Luterman, went out to the Devil's Lake area in Lenawee County, and interviewed Dan Cherry and several other eyewitnesses to the two tornadoes that struck the area on April 11, 1965.

 

[RWilbanks]

Here is the video segment from FOX 2 Detroit.

Yours truly,

Ron

 

[Stephen Levine]

One of the most eerie and fascinating things that I have read about those storms is that the famous twin tornadoes were illumined from within from continuous lightning, and that in general there was an unusual amount of electrical activity associated with the tornadoes.
It's been years since I read this, so I don't remember the specific articles that I read this in.

 

[Dennis Dennison]

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/image.php?u=2616&dateline=1223107736&type=profile

 

[Brandon Copic]

yeah as I've caught up to these posts, funny thing once I got interested in severe weather back in elementary school I used to read books about things that happened and tornadoes, and back in 7th grade I read a book on The Palm Sunday Tornadoes, and that really sparked my interest, and on another note, looked up the path of the tornadoes in Toledo, and its funny how the two tornadoes would have just missed my house, if it would have been built back then... I live in a neighborhood SW of Suder and Alexis off of I-75

 

[Jasson Dotts]

This is very true. The Amish community in northern Indiana, and Branch County, Michigan were caught totally by surprise by the Palm Sunday storms on April 11, 1965. Likewise, when the tornadoes passed through these areas, they did not have modern telecommunications devices (Ham Radio or Telephone) to pass along these reports to the local law enforcement community, informing them of what they had just unfortunately experienced.

The Shore community and the area around Shipshewana, in LaGrange County, were fortunate that the Indiana State Police from District 21 in Ligonier, were able to intercept tornado J-3, as it was bearing down on that area. Trooper Charles Wainscott, saw the tornado on the far horizon while heading westbound on State Route 120, while heading for Elkhart. He turned south on State Route 5, with the accelerator to the floor trying to intercept the tornado heading for the Shore community, to warn the people there with his PA system about the approaching twister. However, he arrived about two minutes too late. Wainscott, like a lot of other people had grossly underestimated the forward speed of that tornado.

Thankfully, the Indiana State Police, along with the Sheriff's Departments in Elkhart, LaGrange, and St. Joseph, and Steuben Counties, were coordinating the exact location of the tornadoes at any given minute with each other over their two-way radios. This made it possible to accurately record where each storm was at any given minute. Sadly, none of the law enforcement agencies across the border in Michigan, had any idea what was transpiring just a few miles south of the State Line. This is the sad reality of being isolated on a different radio band.

Yours truly,

Ron

Being born in 71' I missed all of this. Growing up just east of Shipshewana and just south of Lagrange this event was talked about every time we had storms come through. I got to see some aftermath photos from a friend of the family. The devastation was unreal. Those pictures are still vivid in my mind after all these years. Thank you so much for the links. And thanks goes out to everyone for the information shared.

 

[Bob Hartig]

Today is the 47th anniversary of the 1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes. I was nine years old when the outbreak occurred. The northern Indiana storms struck just twenty miles south and southeast of where my family lived in Niles, Michigan. First Koontz Lake, Wyatt, and Lapaz got hit, and then the storms traveled northeast on a lethal path toward Dunlap, Midway, and the Shore Community south of Shipshewana. From there, the supercells crossed into Michigan east of Niles, where many more lives were lost, notably around Coldwater Lake and Devil's Lake.

Another burst of storms farther north took lives where I now live in the Grand Rapids area, primarily due to a long-track F4 tornado that tore across Alpine Avenue northwest of town. Several other weaker tornadoes struck the area as well, including one that hit just a couple miles south of where I live, and yet another that struck across the river from where my family moved into Cascade a few years later. There appears to be no record for that tornado, but I've encountered lots of anecdotal evidence.

Blake Naftel maintained a great website on the Palm Sunday Tornadoes, but it's long gone, and that's too bad, because among its photos was a color photo of a tornado near Rossville, Indiana--where a third band of deadly storms moved through--that I've never seen elsewhere. My own blog contains a couple of photos you're unlikely to encounter elsewhere of the Lapaz tornado. You can check them out here.

Later, after sundown, more tornadoes struck in Ohio from Toledo southward, claiming still more lives.

My friend Debbie Forsythe-Watters maintains a tornado memorial park at the site of her childhood home, which got swept away when the deadliest tornado of the outbreak hit the Sunnyside neighborhood in Dunlap. I've talked with a number of survivors in recent year, including Paul Huffman, the retired newspaper photographer who took the famous photograph of twin funnels hitting the Midway Trailer Park along US 33 between Dunlap and Goshen. I've walked those trailer park grounds, or what's left of them, and visited some of the other sites that got hit. For some reason, that event has always had a grip on me.

I've read the book by Dan Cherry on the Manitou Beach tornadoes. Dan did an outstanding job of unearthing the events and the aftermath of that day in one hard-hit community that was visited by not just one, but two violent tornadoes.

 

[John Vandehei]

I recently learned that the famous Paul Huffman picture was obtained when Mr. Huffman was send outside at the insistence of his editor (previously I always through he was there by chance). Having just recently received a report from the nearby South Bend weather office, he positioned himself in that part of Goshen expecting the tornado to head that way. In a way, the would make him one of the earliest storm chasers.

 

[Bob Hartig]

I've read that same report. It's completely fictitious, and I don't know how it originated. Paul was not on assignment. He and Elizabeth were on their way home from church in Goshen, heading northwest up US 33. Elizabeth was the first to spot the tornado, but she thought it was smoke from a fire. Paul, who was expecting bad weather, realized what it was, pulled over onto the shoulder about a half-mile from the storm's path, braced himself against the car in the face of the strong inflow, and started snapping pictures. Here's a short account of my conversation with Paul.

 

[John Vandehei]

I've read that same report. It's completely fictitious, and I don't know how it originated.

. Thanks for clearing that up. You would think a write-up from an NWS office would be more accurate.