1932 Deep South tornado outbreak

On March 21–22, 1932, a deadly tornado outbreak struck the Midwestern and Southern United States. At least 38 tornadoes—including 27 killers and several long-lived tornado families—struck the Deep South, killing more than 330 people and injuring 2,141. Tornadoes affected areas from Mississippi north to Illinois and east to South Carolina, but Alabama was hardest hit, with 268 fatalities; the outbreak is considered to be the deadliest ever in that U.S. state, and among the worst ever in the United States, trailing only the Tri-State tornado outbreak in 1925, with 747 fatalities, and the Tupelo–Gainesville outbreak in 1936, with 454 fatalities. The 1932 outbreak is believed to have produced 10 violent tornadoes, eight of which occurred in Alabama alone.^{[nb 2][nb 3][nb 4]}

March 1932 Deep South tornado outbreak

Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	March 21–22, 1932
Tornadoes confirmed	≥ 38
Max. rating^1	F4 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak^2	~13 hours
Fatalities	> 330 fatalities, 2,141 injuries
Damage	≥ $4.34 million ($86,197,000 in 2023)^[nb 1]
Areas affected	Midwestern and Southern United States
^1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale ^2Time from first tornado to last tornado

Background and impact

At 7 a.m. CST (13:00 UTC), a low-pressure area of about 29.26 inHg (991 mb) was over eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, with warm air moving north from the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi Valley. Conditions in Alabama and Mississippi were mostly cloudy with early thunderstorm activity, yet temperatures were already in the low 70s and upper 60s °F in Mississippi and western Tennessee. By afternoon, temperatures rose to the middle to upper 70s °F across most of the area. As a cold front approached Alabama, forecasters predicted afternoon thunderstorms and an end to the warm temperatures but did not anticipate the magnitude of the severe weather that later hit most of the state from north of Montgomery to the Tennessee and Georgia borders.^[10][11]

As the outbreak progressed, eight other F4 tornadoes struck Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. In Alabama, within four hours of the first F4 tornado, 18 people were killed near the Cullman area in Cullman County; 14 in the Columbiana area in Shelby County; 41 in Coosa and Talladega counties near Sylacauga; and 38 people in other small communities in Northeastern Alabama, mostly in Jackson County. One of the tornadoes followed the deadly Jemison event by one hour and passed just 8 mi (13 km) to the southeast, killing 31 people in and around the Clanton area in Chilton County.^[12]

Outside Alabama, six people were killed near Pulaski, Tennessee, in Giles County. 13 people in the state died from this and six other strong tornadoes. In Georgia and Tennessee, a large tornado near the state line left a mile-wide damage path, and killed 15 people from Beaverdale, Georgia, to Conasauga, Tennessee. Two other tornadoes in Georgia killed a combined 16 people and were on the ground almost simultaneously. On March 22, tornadoes continued after midnight CST (06:00 UTC) as four more strong tornadoes struck Georgia and South Carolina until 2:00 a.m. CST (08:00 UTC). One of them passed near the University of Georgia in Athens and killed 12 people.^[12]

Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating

FU	F0	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	Total
2	?	?	16	10	10	0	≥ 38

March 21 event

Confirmed tornadoes – Monday, March 21, 1932^{[nb 5][nb 6]}

F#	Location	County / Parish	State	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max. width	Summary
F2	Strong	Monroe	MS	20:00–?	Un­known	Un­known	Tornado unroofed and destroyed three homes.^[14]
F2	Carrier Mills to W of Harrisburg	Saline	IL	21:00–?	6 miles (9.7 km)	15 yards (14 m)	Tornado destroyed eight homes and a barn. Losses totaled $10,000.^[14]
F3	Southeastern Demopolis	Marengo, Greene, Hale	AL	21:15–?	7 miles (11 km)	125 yards (114 m)	3 deaths – Tornado damaged or destroyed 15 homes. Nine people were injured.^[14]
F3	Spurgeon	Pike	IN	21:30–?	Un­known	Un­known	Intense tornado destroyed or damaged five farmhouses, one of which it swept away, along with its contents. The remainder were unroofed, their interiors exposed to rain. One person was injured. Tornado neared F4 intensity.^[14]
F2	SW of Linden to Faunsdale	Marengo, Perry	AL	21:30–?	20 miles (32 km)	200 yards (180 m)	3 deaths – Tornado injured 12 people.^[14]
F4	Ralph to Western Tuscaloosa to Northport	Tuscaloosa	AL	22:00–?	20 miles (32 km)	400 yards (370 m)	37 deaths – Violent tornado damaged about 400 homes, 98 of which it destroyed, and left 2,000 people homeless. Tornado leveled the Tuscaloosa Country Club and caused F2-level damage in Tuscaloosa as well. 200 people were injured.^[15]^[14]
F3	Western Mitchell to E of Bedford	Lawrence	IN	22:15–?	11 miles (18 km)	200 yards (180 m)	Tornado destroyed seven homes, three of which it leveled, and 12 barns. Six injuries occurred. Damage neared F4 intensity.^[16]
F4	S of Cullman to W of Arab	Cullman, Morgan, Marshall	AL	22:30–?	25 miles (40 km)	600 yards (550 m)	18 deaths – Tornado destroyed 74 homes in Cullman County and leveled homes in Phelan, Bolte, Berlin, and Fairview. 100 injuries occurred.^[14]
F4	N of Marion to Cox to Union Grove	Perry, Bibb, Chilton, Shelby, Coosa	AL	22:30–?	60 miles (97 km)	800 yards (730 m)	49 deaths – Violent, long-tracked tornado was the deadliest on record in Alabama until the Hackleburg–Phil Campbell EF5 on April 27, 2011. Tornado ravaged 150 families, several of which it killed. Seven deaths occurred in one family. Tornado obliterated entire communities. 150 people were injured.^[14]^[17]^[18]
F2	Southeastern Lewis County	Lewis	TN	23:00–?	Un­known	Un­known	Tornado destroyed a tenant home, injuring eight people.^[16]
F2	Hunt City to Kibbie to Annapolis	Jasper, Crawford	IL	23:00–?	7 miles (11 km)	100 yards (91 m)	Tornado unroofed one home, partially unroofed another, and destroyed a chicken coop. Tornado damaged four farmsteads. One injury occurred.^[14]
F4	Southwestern Columbiana	Shelby, Talladega	AL	23:10–?	20 miles (32 km)	200 yards (180 m)	14 deaths – Narrow but violent tornado damaged or destroyed damaged 240 homes, of which it leveled 20. 75 people were injured and losses totaled $100,000.^[16]
F4	W of Plantersville to Marble Valley	Perry, Chilton, Coosa	AL	23:30–?	50 miles (80 km)	800 yards (730 m)	31 deaths – Tornado killed 19 people, including entire families, in and near Stanton and Lomax. Tornado obliterated numerous homes. Chilton County incurred $500,000 in losses from both F4 tornadoes. 200 people were injured.^[16]
F4	W of Pulaski	Giles	TN	23:30–?	13 miles (21 km)	250 yards (230 m)	6 deaths – Tornado leveled 10 homes on hilltops and in valleys. 18 people were injured and losses totaled $120,000.^[16]
F2	SW of Leiper's Fork to W of Hunters Point	Williamson, Davidson, Wilson	TN	00:00–?	50 miles (80 km)	150 yards (140 m)	3 deaths – Tornado affected five farms and destroyed a number of structures. Eight people were injured.^[19]^[16]
F3	S of Lewisburg to NE of Belfast	Marshall	TN	00:00–?	10 miles (16 km)	600 yards (550 m)	1 death – Tornado destroyed 13 or more homes, carrying a rug 2 mi (3.2 km) away. 20 people were injured.^[16]
F2	Northeastern Evansville	Vanderburgh	IN	00:15–?	1 mile (1.6 km)	150 yards (140 m)	Tornado destroyed a garage and unroofed a home. Four other homes shifted on their foundations. A furniture store was unroofed as well.^[16]
F2	Uniontown	Union	KY	00:15–?	0.5 miles (0.80 km)	70 yards (64 m)	2 deaths – Tornado unroofed and destroyed a hotel, four businesses, and 15 small homes. Seven injuries occurred and losses totaled $50,000.^[16]
F4	Beaverdale, GA to Conasauga, TN	Whitfield (GA), Murray (GA), Polk (TN)	GA, TN	00:15–?	20 miles (32 km)	600 yards (550 m)	15 deaths – Large, intense tornado, up to 1 mi (1.6 km) wide, leveled homes beside the Conasauga River. 50 people were injured.^[16]
F3	N of Seney to ENE of Funkhouser	Polk, Floyd, Bartow	GA	00:30–?	30 miles (48 km)	500 yards (460 m)	12 deaths – Tornado destroyed or damaged 60 homes. Parts of a church were carried 2 mi (3.2 km). 80 people were injured and losses totaled $50,000.^[16]
F3	Taylorsville to Salacoa	Bartow, Cherokee	GA	00:30–?	25 miles (40 km)	200 yards (180 m)	4 deaths – Tornado paralleled the preceding event and destroyed or damaged 20 homes. 30 people were injured and losses totaled $50,000.^[16]
F2	ENE of Woodbury	Cannon	TN	01:00–?	Un­known	Un­known	2 deaths – Tornado destroyed 10 homes in and near Sugar Tree and Mount Ararat. 10 people were injured.^[16]
F2	Greensboro	Hale, Perry	AL	01:00–?	10 miles (16 km)	400 yards (370 m)	1 death – Tornado unroofed part of a high school and several homes, doing $25,000 in damage. One injury occurred.^[16]
F3	W of Faunsdale to Laneville to WNW of Zimmerman	Marengo, Hale, Perry	AL	01:00–?	20 miles (32 km)	100 yards (91 m)	10+ deaths – Tornado leveled temporary housing on a plantation and swept away a well-built farmhouse. The number of dead unofficially ranged from 12–20. 30 injuries occurred. Losses from three tornadoes in Marengo County totaled $400,000. Tornado may have reached F4 intensity.^[15]^[16]
F4	Gantts Quarry to Northwestern Sylacauga to Chandler Springs	Talladega	AL	01:10–?	25 miles (40 km)	400 yards (370 m)	41 deaths – Violent tornado destroyed or damaged 635 homes and left 1,300 people homeless, primarily in Sylacauga and a number of remote communities. 325 injuries occurred and losses totaled $1.5 million.^[16]
F2	Piney Grove	Lawrence, Morgan	AL	01:30–?	5 miles (8.0 km)	Un­known	4 deaths – Tornado destroyed small homes. 10 injuries occurred.^[16]
F3	Corinth to Battleground	Winston, Cullman, Morgan	AL	01:30–?	10 miles (16 km)	200 yards (180 m)	8 deaths – Tornado destroyed approximately 30 homes and carried a body 1⁄2 mi (0.80 km) away. 25 injuries occurred.^[16]
F2	W of Huntsville	Scott	TN	01:50–?	Un­known	Un­known	Tornado destroyed small homes and flung clothes in trees 1 mi (1.6 km) away. 13 injuries occurred.^[14]
F3	Southeastern Charleston to Eastern Calhoun	Bradley, McMinn	TN	01:50–?	10 miles (16 km)	300 yards (270 m)	1 death – Tornado destroyed 20 homes. Debris was found 4–20 mi (6.4–32.2 km) away. 21 injuries occurred and losses totaled $60,000.^[14]
F4	ENE of Sylacauga to Newell	Talladega, Clay, Randolph	AL	02:00–?	45 miles (72 km)	400 yards (370 m)	13 deaths – Tornado destroyed 75 homes, destroyed structures on more than 110 farms, and left 385 people homeless. Tornado hit Bulls Gap, Quenelda, Hassell Gap, and Bellview. 160 injuries occurred and losses totaled $300,000.^[20]
F4	SW of Lacey's Spring, AL to Ladds, TN	Morgan (AL), Madison (AL), Jackson (AL), Marion (TN)	AL, TN	02:00–?	75 miles (121 km)	400 yards (370 m)	38 deaths – Long-tracked tornado family destroyed 125 homes. 500 injuries occurred and losses totaled $750,000.^[21]^[22]
F2	Green Hill	Lauderdale	AL	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	The funnel hit a home and a cotton mill.^[14]
FU	Rosebloom	Tallahatchie	MS	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Details unknown.^[23]
FU	Goodman	Holmes	MS	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Details unknown.^[23]

March 22 event

Confirmed tornadoes – Tuesday, March 22, 1932^{[nb 5][nb 6]}

F#	Location	County / Parish	State	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max. width	Summary
F2	Fairmont	Spartanburg	SC	06:00–?	9 miles (14 km)	200 yards (180 m)	2 deaths – Tornado destroyed 20 tenant homes. 30 injuries occurred.^[21]
F2	E of Cowpens to NW of Gaffney	Cherokee	SC	06:30–?	8 miles (13 km)	Un­known	1 death – Five people were injured.^[21]
F3	Southern Athens to Paoli	Clarke, Madison	GA	06:45–?	18 miles (29 km)	200 yards (180 m)	12 deaths – Tornado passed near the University of Georgia and destroyed or damaged approximately 100 homes. 35 injuries occurred and losses totaled $150,000.^[21]
F2	Northeastern Jones County to northwestern Baldwin County	Jones, Baldwin	GA	08:00–?	7 miles (11 km)	70 yards (64 m)	1 death – Tornado destroyed seven homes, including a historic structure. Five injuries occurred and losses totaled $25,000.^[21]

Aftermath and recovery

The outbreak was the most damaging on record in the Southeastern United States since February 19–20, 1884.^[24] At least 25 cities and communities in Alabama reported one fatality or more during the day, including Demopolis, Union Grove, Linden, Plantersville, Sycamore, Northport, Huntsville, Marion, Stanton, Scottsboro, Paint Rock, Columbiana, Faunsdale, Bethel Church, Jemison, Falkville, Sylacauga, Bridgeport, Lineville, Gantts Quarry, Cullman, and Corinth. 11 counties were particularly hard hit, with 7,000 homes and businesses destroyed statewide.^[10] Seven tornadoes each caused at least 100 injuries in Alabama and Tennessee, with a total of 1,750 injuries in Alabama alone.^[15] In all, the 38 recorded tornadoes caused at least $4.34 million (1932 USD) in damages for the entire outbreak.^[12]

Oddities/records

The March 21 outbreak is also nicknamed a Super Outbreak by the National Weather Service office in Birmingham, the only other episodes thusly designated being those of April 3, 1974, and April 27, 2011. While Alabama was the hardest-hit state with 86 fatalities, 75 of which were tornado-related, during the 1974 event, there were nearly three times as many fatalities in the state on March 21, 1932. Also, many tornadoes in rural areas this day likely caused more injuries and probably higher fatalities than reported, as newspapers paid little attention to the deaths of Black sharecroppers, whose families and identities were often unknown. Such a racial aspect was common during natural disasters in the South before desegregation in the late 20th century. The 1932 outbreak was also known for its violence: it set a 24-hour record for violent touchdowns in a single state until the 1974 Super Outbreak produced 11 F4 or F5 tornadoes in Kentucky.

Just six days later, on March 27, several other tornadoes struck Alabama again, with an F3 tornado traveling 30 mi (48 km), passing south of Jemison, and killing five people near Thorsby and Collins Chapel. Sightseers who visited the area to view damage from March 21 were forced to take shelter as the funnel cloud neared. This tornado was photographed and incorrectly labeled as the F4 tornado that hit the area, also near Jemison in Shelby County, on March 21.^{[25][14][15][26][27][12][28][29][30][19][31][32][33][34]}

See also

• Tornado outbreak of March 21–22, 1952 – Produced 11 violent tornadoes exactly 20 years later
• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks

Notes

1. All losses are in 1932 USD unless otherwise noted.
2. 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.^[1]
3. 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.^[2][3] While the Fujita scale has been superseded by the Enhanced Fujita scale in the U.S. since February 1, 2007,^[4] Canada utilized the old scale until April 1, 2013;^[5] nations elsewhere, like the United Kingdom, apply other classifications such as the TORRO scale.^[6]
4. 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.^[7] Most countries only recorded tornadoes that produced severe damage or loss of life.^[8] 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.^[9]
5. 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.
6. Prior to 1994, only the average widths of tornado paths were officially listed.^[13]

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 17 September 2019.
2. Grazulis 1993, p. 141.
3. Grazulis 2001a, p. 131.
4. Edwards, Roger (5 March 2015). "Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage". The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC). Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
5. . Environment and Climate Change Canada. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 6 June 2013. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
6. . Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. 2016. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
7. Grazulis 2001a, pp. 251–4.
8. Edwards, Roger (5 March 2015). "The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC)". Storm Prediction Center: Frequently Asked Questions about Tornadoes. Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
9. Cook, A. R.; Schaefer, J. T. (August 2008). "The Relation of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to Winter Tornado Outbreaks". Monthly Weather Review. American Meteorological Society. 136 (8): 3135. Bibcode:2008MWRv..136.3121C. doi:10.1175/2007MWR2171.1.
10. Wright, M. "Tornado of 1932 in Alabama". Retrieved 8 June 2012.
11. "U.S. Daily Weather Maps Project". NOAA. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
12. Grazulis 1993, pp. 842–4
13. Brooks, Harold E. (April 2004). "On the Relationship of Tornado Path Length and Width to Intensity". Weather and Forecasting. Boston: American Meteorological Society. 19 (2): 310. Bibcode:2004WtFor..19..310B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019<0310:OTROTP>2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
14. Grazulis 1993, p. 842
15. "Super Outbreak - March 21, 1932". NWS Birmingham, Alabama Weather Forecast Office. Calera, Alabama: National Weather Service. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
16. Grazulis 1993, p. 843
17. "Top 10 Weather Events in the 20th Century For Alabama". NWS Birmingham, Alabama Weather Forecast Office. Calera, Alabama: National Weather Service. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
18. Grazulis, Thomas P.; Grazulis, Doris (26 April 2000). . The Tornado Project. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Environmental Films. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
19. Grazulis 1993, p. 721
20. Grazulis 1993, pp. 843–4
21. Grazulis 1993, p. 844
22. Grazulis 1993, p. 133
23. "Severe local storms, March, 1932". Monthly Weather Review. 60 (3): 88–9. March 1932. Bibcode:1932MWRv...60...88.. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1932)60<88:SLSM>2.0.CO;2.
24. Hunter, H. C. (March 1932). "The tornadoes of the latter part of March, 1932". Monthly Weather Review. American Meteorological Society. 60 (3): 89. Bibcode:1932MWRv...60...89H. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1932)60<89:TTOTLP>2.0.CO;2.
25. "The April 3rd and 4th 1974 Tornado Outbreak in Alabama". NWS Birmingham, Alabama Weather Forecast Office. Calera, Alabama: National Weather Service. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
26. Grazulis 2001a, p. 232
27. Grazulis 1993, p. 36
28. Grazulis 1993, p. 38
29. Grazulis 1993, p. 37
30. Grazulis 1993, p. 1394
31. Grazulis 1993, p. 796
32. Grazulis 1993, pp. 865–6
33. Grazulis 1993, p. 184
34. Grazulis 2001a, p. 243

Sources

• Grazulis, Thomas P. (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.
• Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001a). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0.
• Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001b). F5-F6 Tornadoes. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films.