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Across the upper Midwestern United States, March of 1965 was cold, snowy and miserable. The month began with blizzard conditions across the region on March 2, bringing heavy snow and a biting 50mph wind. Another, more significant blizzard would follow on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. Several feet of snow buried the region, while 60mph winds whipped the landscape and blew the powdery snow into vast drifts tall enough to bury cars along the streets. In many locations, 1965 ranked among the top-20 coldest and snowiest Marches on record. A respite would not come until the first week of April, when a surge of warm air brought unseasonable warmth and temperatures into the low 70s. The warmth would not last long, however, as another arctic air mass settled over the region on the 8th with temperatures slipping back to the 30s and 40s.

By Palm Sunday weekend a weak low pressure system was edging toward the area, drawing in warm, humid air from the Gulf Coast and pulling a mass of cold and extremely dry air behind it. A 25-knot southerly low-level jet combined with stretches of clear skies and sunshine to rocket temperatures into the mid-70s across the warm sector. With widespread dewpoints in the 60s, residents throughout the region headed outside to enjoy the first beautiful spring day of the year. In some areas, the heat grew to become oppressive. In the words of retired police chief Warren Hale of Milan, Michigan; “The day was so warm and wonderful. The family and I decided go on a picnic in the Irish Hills, because it was too stifling in the house. The heat and humidity drove us crazy so we had to just get away from it all.”

Unknown to all outside the meteorological community, a nearly unprecedented atmospheric setup was approaching from the west-southwest.

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For several days, the U.S. Weather Bureau had been tracking a large, complex storm system moving toward the middle of the country from the Pacific Northwest. Strong thunderstorms erupted across parts of the Ozarks on Saturday afternoon and evening, eventually producing several tornadoes in Missouri and Arkansas. The most intense tornado struck Conway, AR as a slender but violent F4, tearing a narrow, block-long path through a residential area and killing six people.

A photo of the Conway, AR tornado, taken by Bill Albright after the tornado had leveled part of the town. Severe damage in a residential area of Conway. Aerial view of the intense destruction in Conway.

When weather offices throughout the Southwest and Central Plains released their morning weather balloons on Sunday, the rawinsonde data that they received was disconcerting. Winds near the 500mb level, about 18,000ft., were extremely strong. Stations across a broad swath of the Midwest reported winds well in excess of 100kts. An absolute maximum of 159kts — 183mph — was detected over Dodge City, Kansas. By the time all observations had been taken, analyzed and prepared into charts, the larger picture had fully come into view. An exceptionally strong jet stream was digging into the heart of the Midwest, and rounding its base was an extraordinarily intense jet streak with a core of 135kt winds.

The low pressure system, rapidly deepening in response to the exceptional upper-level winds, drifted eastward toward central Iowa. Hand-analysis charts revealed a warm front surging northward through central Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, eventually pushing into southern portions of Michigan. Trailing behind the low, a cold front was draped south across the Ozarks and southwestward to Texas. By 10:45am CST, forecasters at the Severe Local Storms Center, a forerunner of today’s Storm Prediction Center, began to suspect that conditions were setting up for rough weather. The intense jet streak, along with very intense, veering winds throughout the atmosphere, provided abundant rotational energy for any storms that managed to fire. Shortly before noon, a Severe Weather Forecast was issued mentioning the possibility of isolated tornadoes from northeast Missouri to central Illinois and north-central Indiana.

By the time the Severe Weather Forecast was issued, thunderclouds were already growing in the skies over the Iowa towns of Cedar Rapids and Waterloo. Strong, gusting winds were followed shortly by a spattering of rain and small hail. At 12:45pm CST, a funnel descended from the clouds and began snapping and debarking trees outside of Tipton, Iowa. The tornado ripped through more than two dozen farms, flattening many structures along its path and carrying large pieces of debris from one farm house more than a mile. The tornado would later be rated F4, traveling 91 miles through three counties and killing one man as he ran for his storm cellar. Unaware of the destruction in Iowa, concern nevertheless began to rise at the Severe Local Storms Center. A second Severe Weather Forecast was issued at 1pm CST, mentioning the possibility of “one or two” tornadoes:

SEVERE WEATHER FORECAST NUMBER 68 ISSUED 100 PM CST APRIL 11, 1965 EXTREME SOUTHERN WISCONSIN

EXTREME EASTERN IOWA

PORTIONS OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL DAMAGING WINDS AND ONE OR TWO TORNADOES ARE EXPECTED FROM 1 PM UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN AN AREA BOUNDED BY THE POINTS 40 MILES SOUTH OF BURLINGTON IOWA TO 50 MILES WST OF LONE ROCK WISCONSIN TO MILWAUKEE WISCONSIN TO 40 MILES SOUTH EAST OF CHICAGO ILLINOIS BACK TO THE POINT 40 MILES SOUTH OF BURLINGTON IOWA. WOOD … 1906Z

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The next killer tornado touched down in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, just west of Jefferson. The F3 tornado caused damage to a number of farms before crossing U.S. Route 16 near Piperville, where it ripped two cars from the roadway and tossed them several hundred feet, mangling the vehicles and killing three occupants. A further 28 people were injured along the tornado’s half-mile wide, 24-mile path, including 12 in one home. Southeast of Watertown, the farm of Edwin Shroeder was demolished and a number of cows were killed. The tornado may have been at or near F4 intensity at this point, as evidenced by the fact that several buildings in the area were reportedly reduced to “piles of rubble.”

A woman stands amid the ruins of her home in Watertown, WI. The demolished farm of Edwin Shroeder. A number of cows were killed and buried beneath the hay when the barn was destroyed.

Radar operators at the US Weather Bureau office in Chicago — one of just two offices in the affected area with access to the somewhat more modern WSR-57 radars — monitored their screens with nervous anticipation as several small, white blotches began to grow in size and number. Explosive thunderstorm development had begun across Iowa, Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois. Unknown to the operators at the time, multiple tornadoes were already in progress and causing extensive damage through largely rural areas of Iowa and Wisconsin. A large cone tornado touched down near Stockton, IL and moved rapidly to the northeast, cutting a swath of destruction through the northwest side of Monroe, WI. More than 100 structures were damaged or destroyed, including over a dozen trailers in a trailer court. Forty people were injured, many of them in mobile homes and vehicles. Trailers and barns were shredded by another tornado east of Evansville.

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At 3:27pm, another violent tornado dropped from the sky in McHenry County, Illinois. The tornado’s path began on the southwest side of the town of Crystal Lake, near a public golf course. The sky turned a sickly olive-green color as the vortex began to wrap up and extend earthward. Deputy Sheriff Glen Roberts noted the unsettling appearance in the skies to his west. “Everything seemed so strange and eerie, like the clouds were a spinning wheel coming at me,” he would later recall. “I had seen newsreel footage of a killer tornado in Udall, Kansas when I was 16 and the way the clouds were moving made me feel really fearful that this storm was going to be similar.”

Three people were killed (A) when a truck was thrown into a basement, and one woman (B) was killed while hanging laundry. Three occupants were killed when this truck was thrown onto the table under which they had taken shelter.

Sheriff Roberts scrambled for his radio as the violent tempest began tearing across the south side of Crystal Lake, ravaging dozens of homes in a number of subdivisions and devastating the Lake Plaza Shopping Center, lofting large chunks of debris high into the air. In Colby Holmes subdivision, three people were killed when a truck was thrown into the basement in which they were taking shelter under a heavy table. Just yards away, another woman was killed as she was unwittingly removing laundry from her clothesline. Her home was one of 45 that were completely swept away in high-end F4 fashion. The tornado continued on for another ten minutes, cresting a small hill before barreling into the small community of Island Lake. More than 150 homes were destroyed in all, and six people lay dead.

An aerial view of the damage in Crystal Lake. One of many homes destroyed in Crystal Lake. Extensive damage was caused to the Crystal Lake Shopping Center. An aerial view of the damage at Island Lake. The road at left is Rt. 176 near Lakeview Drive.

The outbreak, however, had scarcely begun. High in the atmosphere above the Wisconsin/Illinois border, the jet stream had split into a northern and southern branch. In the area surrounding the split, the already powerful atmospheric dynamics had become even more dangerous, providing additional lift to areas already undergoing explosive thunderstorm development. Supercells dotted the screens of the Weather Bureau’s spotty network of aging WSR-1 and WSR-3 radars, many sporting the textbook hook echoes indicative of intense tornadic rotation. In northwestern Indiana, the mid-day sky had turned an odd, vaguely ochre hue. While concerning to some who had heard news of the incoming bad weather, most continued about their day without a second thought. Unknown to observers at the time, the strange color had been produced by fine particles of topsoil, scoured from the Earth by the tornadoes to the west and carried aloft by the swift winds of the jet stream.

Finally beginning to realize the extent of the developing tornado threat, the Chicago weather office issued a “Tornado Forecast” at 4:35pm CST for an area 60 miles either side of a line from Detroit, Michigan to Lafayette, Indiana. Along with the tornado forecast came the warning that strong storms had begun developing over northwestern Indiana. Despite the limited technology and paucity of available information at the time, this tornado forecast would prove to be exceedingly prescient — nearly every significant tornado during the remainder of the outbreak would occur within the bounds of this forecast area.

• • •

Officials and Weather Bureau personnel in the South Bend area sprang into action to prepare for the arrival of the storms. Additional personnel were called into the Weather Bureau office to assist in tracking the storms and issuing warnings. Emergency managers began preparations for the damage that was sure to follow. Indiana State Police, who had recently taken a cue from their brethren in the Great Plains and held three-hour “Severe Weather Surveillance” training programs, scrambled into position to track the incoming storms. They would not have to wait long. Just ten minutes after the tornado forecast was issued, at 5:32pm EST, another call from the Chicago office indicated that a rapidly intensifying thunderstorm had been spotted in northwestern Indiana. Less than 15 minutes later, the first of a violent wave of tornadoes touched down in Starke County, southwest of Hamlet, Indiana.

The La Paz tornado shortly after touching down north of Knox. William Gebard and his two daughters pick through the rubble of their summer home at Koontz Lake. Aerial view of the destruction at Walkerton.

After crossing US Route 30 on a northeast heading, the slender funnel traversed nearby Koontz Lake as a violently rotating waterspout. Upon reaching the shore of the lake, the savage winds ripped through a cluster of cottages. At least a hundred cottages were damaged or destroyed and one man was thrown more than 600 feet to his death by the winds. As the tornado crossed US-31, Indiana State Trooper Robert Chandler took one of the most famous photographs from the outbreak. Taken from just a few hundred yards away, the funnel appears a brilliant white due to the reflection of the bright sun against the dark, stormy background. Continuing northeast at speeds in excess of 60mph, the funnel appeared wide and gray as it barreled into the northern edge of the community of La Paz. Six homes were leveled and a church was destroyed in the small town as the tornado began to grow slightly.

The La Paz tornado minutes before Robert Chandler’s famous photograph. Robert Chandler’s famous photo of the small but violent La Paz tornado as it crossed US-31 northeast of La Paz. The La Paz tornado loomed menacingly as it bore down on the small town of Wyatt. The National Guard works quickly to assist victims and clean up damage along Main Street in Wyatt. A homeowner looks into the basement of their home in Wyatt, which was swept away. Aerial view of the destruction in Wyatt.

At Lakeville, a local high school still under construction — the jewel of the community because of its beautiful new gymnasium and basketball court, a point of pride in basketball-crazed Indiana — was flattened to the ground. The tornado then engulfed the small town of Wyatt, damaging or destroying more than three-quarters of the structures in town. A large grain elevator was destroyed and several cars were thrown hundreds of yards from Bremen Rd. Fortunately, most residents had received advance warning of the tornado via television and radio – a luxury that would be all too rare in the following hours. The F4 tornado finally dissipated northeast of Wyatt, ultimately killing ten and injuring more than 80 along its 36-mile path. Around the same time, a slender but powerful tornado struck the community of Wanatah, in Laporte County, IN. The tornado caused significant damage to several farmsteads and was well-photographed as it exited the Wanatah area.

A view of the Wanatah tornado looking southeast from County Rd. 1250. A view of the Wanatah tornado looking southeast from County Rd. 1250. A view of the Wanatah tornado looking southeast from County Rd. 1250.

Just northeast of the La Paz tornado, a monster descended from the clouds southwest of Wakarusa in Elkhart County, IN. Leaving a narrow trail at first, the powerful funnel tore into Wakarusa and destroyed a number of homes, killing one small child. Soon after, the tornado would become a part of history. After snapping and uprooting trees in the countryside, the tornado approached U.S. Highway 33 between Dunlap and Goshen as a rapidly expanding, half-mile wide wedge. Paul Huffman, a reporter for the local Elkhart Truth newspaper, was on his way home from church with his wife Elizabeth when they noticed what appeared to be smoke billowing into the air. Pulling off the side of the highway to take a closer look, they noticed that the “smoke” was, instead, a massive tornado. Grabbing his camera, Mr. Huffman snapped a series of six photographs as the tornado approached his location. The fourth photo, sometimes known as “The Twins” would go on to become one of the most iconic weather photographs ever taken.

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The violently rotating multivortex tornado slammed into Midway Trailer Court just after 5:15pm EST. Two massive vortices swirled around a common center, obliterating trailers and throwing debris into the air. As Mr. Huffman braced himself against the strong inflow winds, a car — still airborne after being thrown by the tornado — crashed to the ground nearby. It would later be determined that the automobile was airborne for at least a full three-quarters of a mile. Eighty of the 100 trailers at Midway were destroyed and ten people were killed. An airplane wing from Goshen Airport, where planes were tossed and ripped apart, was eventually found more than 35 miles away in Centerville, Michigan. The tornado continued on, demolishing much of the Jefferson Place subdivision and killing several people. Finally, the tornado struck Middlebury, sweeping away several homes and claiming another three victims. The tornado killed 14 in all, causing borderline-F5 damage at several points along its 22-mile path.

Aerial view of Midway Trailer Court. Aerial view of Midway Trailer Court. Aerial view of Midway Trailer Court. Aerial view of Midway Trailer Court. Crews work to remove the rubble from the Midway Trailer Court. A number of homes were completely obliterated in the new Jefferson Place Subdivision, just northeast of Midway. Aerial view of the destruction at the Jefferson Place Subdivision. Survivors pick through the wreckage of homes in the Jefferson Place Subdivision. Several homes leveled and swept away in Middlebury, IN near the end of the tornado’s path. Aerial view of the destruction at Middlebury. A Mrs. Ed Nihart was killed in a car thrown from CR-10 (upper arrow), and a Mrs. Lester Miller was killed when her home was demolished (lower arrow). Four people were killed near the intersection of US 20 and SR 15. The Midway Truck Stop is located at top center.

At approximately 5:40pm CST, just as the F4 that chewed through the Midway Trailer Court dissipated, a second violent multivortex tornado formed just south of the first. Beginning as an ephemeral, wispy waterspout over a small lake south of Goshen, the tornado intensified quickly as it crossed State Road 13 and destroyed a number of farms. The tornado thundered toward the Rainbow Lake area, completely demolishing a dozen homes and sweeping them away. Seventeen were killed in the area, where damage was so intense that an F5 rating may have been warranted. Onlookers described the tornado as initially having the appearance of serpents writhing around a central point, eventually evolving and expanding into a massive, malevolent wedge with “octopus-like appendages” reaching out horizontally. The tornado continued on for another 20 miles, killing two while they sheltered in their home in Ontario. By the time the tornado ground to the end of its path around 6:00pm CST, the outbreak had reached a ferocious peak.

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In the northeast corner of Indiana, one of the most devastating events of the outbreak began to unfold. A slender gray funnel began causing damage about two miles west-southwest of Lake Pleasant. As it approached the lake, the tornado widened and rapidly intensified. Damage along the eastern shore of the lake was extreme, with several structures reduced to rubble piles. Trees in the area were almost completely debarked and denuded, with many snapped and twisted close to ground level. As the tornado crossed the Michigan border, first warning came from a deputy sheriff in southern Branch County. Witnessing the approach of the tornado, he scrambled to his car to radio in an alert. Moments later, the car was tossed off the road and rolled several times, causing serious injuries to the deputy.

Roaring across the landscape, the twister leveled much of the town of East Gilead before bearing down on Coldwater Lake, leaving a damage path more than a mile wide. On the lake’s western shore, a number of cottages along Pearl Beach “exploded” and were swept from their foundations. Much of the debris was thrown into the lake, and more than a dozen vehicles were thrown from surrounding roads. Trees were mangled and stripped of their bark, and the grass was “torn out by the roots” in some areas. In the center of Coldwater Lake, the small peninsula of Iopawa Island was also devastated. Every home on the island was leveled, some of them swept away and dumped into the lake.

A row of cottages was leveled near Pearl Beach on the western shore of Coldwater Lake. A car thrown from the road on the west side of Coldwater Lake. Residents pick through the rubble of their cottages near Pearl Beach. Every home on Iyopawa Island, located in the center of Coldwater Lake, was destroyed. A number of homes were swept cleanly away on the western shore of Coldwater Lake. Trees lining the shore near Crystal Beach were reduced to stubs.

The giant twister slammed into the eastern shore of the lake with a fury, demolishing the large Davis Marine marina, throwing several boats from the water and killing the owner, Hank Davis. Homes along Crystal Beach were damaged or destroyed, and cars and tractors were thrown hundreds of yards. One news report, likely apocryphal, claimed that some vehicles driving along Lake Drive were snatched up by the tornado and thrown three to four miles across the countryside. Speeding to the northeast at 60mph, the tornado tore through dozens of farmsteads south of the hamlet of Quincy. The Busy Bee Farm, one of the most prominent dairy farms in lower Michigan, was completely obliterated and scattered for hundreds of yards. Near one demolished home, a large, heavy steel tank was torn away from its anchoring and thrown more than half a mile.

A tractor thrown hundreds of yards on the east side of Coldwater Lake. Severe damage along the eastern shore of Coldwater Lake. A home demolished east of Coldwater Lake. A number of homes and barns were obliterated on the east side of the lake. The following day, the eastern shore of the lake was choked with debris. A before and after view of the Busy Bee Farm, located south of Quincy. In the background, a large steel tank was thrown more than half a mile.

More than 300 head of livestock were killed in the Hillsdale area, some of them thrown great distances and badly mangled. An 80-year-old woman was blown 300 yards into Baw Beese Lake but survived by clinging to the debris of her home. Further northeast, the tornado devastated the community of Manitou Beach, sweeping away a number of homes and throwing them into nearby Devil’s Lake and Round Lake. Six members of one family were killed in this area when the tornado obliterated their home. The local Baptist Church, where 50 people were attending evening services, was struck and destroyed. More than half of those inside were injured and trapped under the rubble for several hours, and three people died from their injuries. The church spire was thrown into the lake, where it was embedded nine feet into the lake bottom.

Survivors search the debris of homes at Manitou Beach. Aerial view of the damage near Manitou Beach. Homes destroyed near Hillsdale.

The twister continued its northeasterly course, causing severe damage near Onstead and Milan. On the northern edge of Tecumseh, the funnel skirted a tower at Mayers Airport. Despite being several miles from the core of the tornado, an anemometer affixed to the tower recorded an extraordinary wind gust of 151 miles per hour. According to Dr. Theorode Fujita, who used this valuable data to estimate the wind velocity, direction and structure inside and around the tornado, the core flow of the tornado itself likely had wind speeds ranging from 180 to 240 miles per hour at the time the measurement was taken.

Approximately 35 minutes after the first tornado had touched down, a second tornado crashed to the earth and began to follow nearly the exact same path. The paths of the two tornadoes were so similar that, in most instances, it was impossible to tell the two apart. The second tornado swept through many of the same areas, flattening and sweeping away virtually anything that had been spared by the first tornado. Residents who had ventured outside to assess the damage were caught off-guard, as were volunteers who’d come to assist the many casualties. Drivers fled from their cars and dove into ditches along US-27. According to one witness, “bodies were dropping everywhere in fields.” Several people were thrown more than a quarter of a mile, and cars were tossed hundreds of yards. Some bodies were thrown into swamps dotting the area.

By the time the second tornado was through, the two twisters had wrought a path of catastrophic damage ranging in width from one to more than three miles. At least 19 were killed in Branch County alone. A further 11 were killed in Hillsdale County. The two tornadoes ultimately claimed at least 44 lives along paths totaling 90 and 75 miles, respectively. More than 600 homes and dozens of businesses and other structures were destroyed along the damage path, many of them swept cleanly away. The second tornado also passed near the Mayers Airport, registering 75mph on the anemometer despite being even further away. Both tornadoes were later rated F4, though the first was likely the stronger of the two.

• • •

In Indiana, the outbreak continued with undiminished ferocity. A funnel cloud dipped to the earth southwest of Lafayette, quickly growing into a violent stovepipe tornado. It cut a path nearly 22 miles long through central Indiana, causing extreme damage in and around the towns of Mulberry, Cambria and Moran. Despite leveling dozens of homes and sweeping several away, this massive tornado was one of few that did not cause any fatalities. Television and radio helped to warn some people in the path, and the tornado remained highly visible through much of its path.

The second of Donald Cox’s photos showing the evolution of a large horizontal vortex wrapping around the massive tornado. Another photo of the Cambria tornado as it approached Moran. One of two photos of the Cambria tornado, taken by Donald Cox. The photo is facing south from the Rossville area. A large horizontal vortex can be seen developing on the left side of the funnel.

About eight miles south of South Bend, yet another violent tornado began tearing up soil and vegetation. Traveling just north of the track left by the multivortex funnel that demolished the Midway Trailer Court, the tornado roared into the town of Dunlap, causing catastrophic damage to the subdivisions of Sunnyside and Kingston Heights. Many homes were swept cleanly from their foundations, the debris scattered and granulated by the winds. Vehicles were thrown and mangled, and in some areas grass was scoured from the ground. Twenty-six people were killed at Sunnyside alone, along with two at Kingston Heights. A further six lives were lost as the tornado leveled a truck stop and a well-built home at the intersection of Highways 15 and 20. This tornado would prove to be the deadliest of the outbreak, taking 36 lives in all. Originally rated F5, the twister was later downgraded to F4.

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Amid the flurry of activity, the beleaguered South Bend, Indiana office of the Weather Bureau became overwhelmed by the massive influx of tornado reports. Exasperated meteorologist Larry Burns issued an ominous, unprecedented blanket warning covering the office’s entire jurisdiction:

“Reports of tornadoes and funnel clouds have become so numerous that it is impossible to keep track of them. Warnings should therefore exist throughout the central and northern portion of Indiana. The problems have been intensified by telephones being out in many areas and it is impossible to notify many people.”

By 6:25pm, between seven and nine violent tornadoes were simultaneously scouring the earth across Indiana and Michigan. A mile-wide tornado that began in Crawfordsville, IN obliterated more than 50 homes in and around Lebanon, killing six members of one family and another five nearby. The Lebanon Shopping Center was completely wrecked. Another four people were killed when the tornado ripped two vehicles off the road and threw each of them more than 100 yards. Ten more were killed in Sheridan, where the tornado demolished numerous homes, granulated debris and stripped trees bare.

One of the most damaging tornadoes of the outbreak began just west of the small community of Russiaville. As the tornado churned through the center of town, more than 90% of the buildings were damaged or destroyed. So complete was the destruction that one National Guardsman would later describe the scene at Russiaville as “like a city that has been bombed and burned.” The funnel widened to nearly one mile as it engulfed the town of Alto. At least 100 homes were leveled as the tornado rampaged through Alto and into the south side of Kokomo. The well-built brick buildings of Maple Crest Apartments were damaged to varying degrees, with at least one leveled to its basement.

Photo of the Russiaville tornado taken by Beauford Krall. Intense damage in Alto, Indiana. A home along Wigger Street in Marion, Indiana reduced to its foundation by the Alto tornado. More than 90% of downtown Russiaville was destroyed, with several buildings leveled to the ground. A photograph of the Alto tornado as it approached the south of Kokomo.

The Russiaville tornado reached its peak intensity near the community of Greentown. The tornado tore at the soil and left cycloidal scour marks across the fields to the west of town. These marks would come to serve an important role in the research of Dr. Fujita, who would later explain the source of their origin as narrow, particularly intense suction vortices within the main circulation of the tornado. The tornado maintained its intensity while tearing through Greentown, where 80 buildings were razed and ten people were killed. The tornado struck with such violence that it scoured the grass from the backyards of many homes and completely debarked and denuded many trees in the area. A number of fatalities occurred in cars which were lifted and tossed several hundred yards by the furious winds. Moving into the town of Marion, the tornado demolished dozens more homes and wiped out a small trailer court. A hospital and a shopping center were heavily damaged, and vehicles were again thrown from the road. In all, the tornado killed 25 people and injured at least 800 others across a 48-mile path of devastation.

Probable F5 damage in Greentown. Several homes have been leveled and intense wind rowing is evident. Deep cycloidal scour marks east of Greentown, left by an intense suction vortex which swept away a home at top center. Aerial view of the tornado’s path through a suburb of Marion. A severely damaged shopping center in Marion. A field strewn with rubble east of Marion. A field strewn with rubble west of Marion. Numerous trailers were torn apart in a small trailer court in Marion. Aerial view of the destroyed trailer court.

Shortly afterward, another violent tornado began a path of destruction in northwest Toledo. For 33 year old Paul Smith, a foreman for the Norfolk & Western railroad, the approaching twister was preceded by spasmodic rain and pounding hail. Before leaving his home in the recently-built neighborhood of Fuller’s Creek Addition, he hesitated a moment and turned back to reassure his fearful wife and children. Moments later, a nearby window shattered and sprayed shards of glass through the room. Wind and rain lashed the siding and roof. The tornado thundered through Fuller’s Creek with tremendous force, tearing many homes from their foundations and scattering the debris hundreds of yards away. Paul was thrown in the air, as if being “swept away in a vacuum.” When he came to his senses, he found himself face-down in what remained of his neighbor’s garage with multiple cuts and bruises. His wife was found dead several blocks from the site of their home. Dozens of homes in the Fuller’s Creekside subdivision of Toledo were completely obliterated. Extreme damage to the east of the Toledo-Detroit Expressway (upper left). The bus which was thrown from the Toledo Expressway, killing five occupants. Intense damage along Edgewater Dr. in Toledo. Webber’s Waterfront Restaurant, just across the Michigan border on the Lost Peninsula, was destroyed. The damage path continued with nearly undiminished violence for 18 miles before moving on to Lake Erie, but the most intense damage was found in Fuller’s Creek. A large DuPont paint factory was demolished, as were at least two other industrial buildings. More than 50 homes, some well-built, were swept cleanly from their foundations with possible F5 intensity. A bus was ripped from Interstate 75 and lofted through the air before being crushed upon landing, killing five occupants. The Toledo tornado took a total of 18 lives, 16 in Ohio and five at Fuller’s Creek Additions. Nearly 250 more were injured. A photograph taken during the storm allegedly shows the tornado as two broadly spaced, glowing cylinders. While some have speculated that the photo shows the tornado glowing as a result of some static electrical phenomenon, the picture remains open to interpretation. Just over an hour later, the last violent tornado of the outbreak began to fill the skies over Pittsfield, OH with bits of timber, furniture and vegetation. Virtually the entire town was destroyed, and six homes were damaged so badly that they reportedly “vanished into thin air.” Those who emerged from the wreckage remarked that nothing in the town was left standing, with the exception of a Civil War memorial statue. Seven of the town’s 50 residents were killed, as were two motorists who were caught in the storm while passing through town. Twenty miles later, the town of Strongsville also bore the full fury of the tornado’s winds. Fifty homes were irreparably damaged and as many as 20 were leveled completely. Witnesses again testified that several homes “literally vanished.” A total of 18 were killed between the two communities. This tornado was rated F5 and later downgraded to F4, though the initial rating was likely correct. This slideshow requires JavaScript. • • • Although there have been larger outbreaks in terms of raw numbers, the Palm Sunday Outbreak of 1965 still stands as one of the most intense in history. In the span of just 11 hours, 47 tornadoes killed 271 people. Twenty-one of those tornadoes took at least one life, and 38 were rated F2 or higher. Nineteen F4 tornadoes raked five states in the span of nine hours. Of those, as many as five produced damage that may have warranted an F5 rating. When normalized to adjust for inflation and other changes, the Palm Sunday Outbreak still ranks as the most destructive single tornado day ever recorded. The outbreak also stands out for another, equally tragic reason. The extremely high death toll is owed in part to the twin failures of personnel and equipment. At the U.S. Weather Bureau office in Lansing, Michigan, a burnt circuit left the teletype machine out of commission. At the height of the event, warnings and bulletins from Fort Wayne and South Bend fell on deaf ears as the Lansing office was unable to receive them. In Muskegon, the WSR-3 radar was rendered useless by a failing vacuum tube. With no radar coverage, both Muskegon and Grand Rapids were left to rely on spotty communication that, in many cases, did not come until far too late. In Grand Rapids, further problems came in the form of human error. The staff was caught completely off-guard by the developing outbreak and was unable to issue timely warnings. Further issues arose because officials in Michigan lacked a single agreed-upon radio frequency on which to communicate. Communication between fire, police, emergency management and other officials within a county became extremely difficult, and contact with personnel out of county or out of state was virtually nonexistent. Additionally, when Weather Bureau offices did manage to identify and comprehend the threat, they failed to pass the information along to offices downstream. The days and weeks that followed brought finger-pointing from all parties, but eventually led to a number of changes to facilitate faster, easier communication during future events.