Huntsville, Alabama Tornado
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- Note: the following text and pictures were adapted from public domain National Weather Service documents. See references.
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| Date of tornado outbreak: | November 15 & 16, 1989 |
| Duration1: | unknown |
| Maximum rated tornado2: | F4 tornado |
| Tornadoes caused: | 19 |
| Damages: | $160 million (2005 USD) [1] |
| Fatalities: | 21 |
| Areas affected: | Most of the eastern United States, especially Alabama & Quebec |
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1Time from first tornado to last tornado |
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The Huntsville, Alabama Tornado was a violent and destructive tornado that struck the city amidst an outbreak of 18 tornadoes on the afternoon on November 15, 1989 and an additionnal tornado on the following day. From an initial touchdown point on the Redstone Arsenal, the storm cut a destructive, 18.5-mile swath on its northeast trek across the southern sections of Huntsville. Plowing through businesses and heavily populated residential areas of the city, the tornado left a tragic legacy; 21 dead, 463 injured and damage estimated at 100 million dollars. Twelve of the 21 fatalities occurred in automobiles as many persons were homeward bound during the afternoon rush hour. The storm was rated an F4 on the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale.
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[edit] Summary
Historically, tornadoes are no strangers to persons in north Alabama, where Huntsville and Madison County are located. The region felt the destructive power of the April 3-4, 1974, Super Outbreak and records show that Madison County has had 25 tornadoes from 1950 through October, 1989.
Anyone listening to the NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) or monitoring the commercial broadcast media should have been aware that November 15th was expected to be a severe weather day. The Zone and Local Forecasts issued during the early morning, Tuesday, November 14, mentioned the possibility of severe thunderstorms on Wednesday. Subsequent forecasts and statements marked with increasing certainty the ominous nature of the events to come. (See also Emergency Alert System.)
The National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC) issued a Public Severe Weather Outlook at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday and highlighted the unusually strong potential for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes over the Tennessee Valley. The Birmingham Forecast Office followed with a Special Weather Statement at 10:50 a.m. with the headline, "MAJOR SEVERE WEATHER THREAT POISED FOR ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA!".
A Tornado Watch was in effect for Madison and adjacent counties from 12:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.. Soon after the issuance of the watch, emergency management officials, storm spotters and the NWS staff at Huntsville placed into effect a coordinated plan of action in accordance with established procedures.
Beginning at 12:45 p.m., WSO Huntsville issued warnings for the west part of its county warning area as an intense squall line moved into northwest Alabama. Storm spotters reported large hail and intense straight-line wind associated with this squall line.
At the time the tornado struck Huntsville, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was in effect for Madison County. That warning, issued at 4:13 p.m., was changed to a Tornado Warning at 4:35 p.m. based on a report relayed through the amateur radio spotter network of a tornado touchdown in the city. Critical weather information was disseminated in a timely fashion over the NOAA Weather Wire Service (NWWS) and NWR and by many media outlets in Huntsville and adjacent areas providing the public with frequent weather updates on radio and "crawls" and live "cut-ins" on television. Links with spotter groups and emergency management and law enforcement officials worked well.
Some persons in the path of the tornado felt they were not adequately warned. Either they did not hear the Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Madison County or, if they did, the warning did not raise their level of concern for destructive weather clearly associated with a tornado. Yet, many others called in to local radio talk shows to say they knew well in advance that severe weather was likely for the area. Tragically, many motorists were caught on congested streets and highways in the nearly pitch black conditions of the on-rushing storm. Undoubtedly, many never saw the tornado, making escape virtually impossible with such little time to react. There were, however, several accounts of persons leaving their vehicles as the storm approached but most stayed in them.
Although the Jones Valley Elementary School was virtually destroyed by the storm, the timely actions of the principal and a teacher in charge of the Extended Daycare Program probably spared the lives of thirty-seven children and several other teachers. Acting in accordance with the principal's instructions, the teacher directed the children, accompanied by the other teachers, to a safer location under the stairwell on the first floor of the school. Several workmen who were painting in the teachers lounge ran to the children and shielded them with their bodies as the storm struck.
[edit] Description of the Impact of the Tornado
Tornadoes are reasonably well known to the people of north-central Alabama. The historic April 3–4 1974 tornado outbreak devastated a large part of northern Alabama including Madison County. The tornado database from the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC) in Kansas City and 1989 Storm Data records indicate that 25 tornadoes have occurred in Madison County from 1950 through October, 1989. This places Madison County with the 5th highest number of tornado occurrences by county in Alabama. Those 25 tornadoes were responsible for 17 fatalities.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, November 15, 1989, around 4:30 p.m., a tornado struck the southern portion of the city of Huntsville cutting a swath of destruction from southwest toward the northeast through a business section and a heavily populated residential area. Twenty one people died as a result of the tornado and 463 were injured. Eighteen people died in the tornado, and two other people died in early December and one in January from injuries sustained in the tornado. Total damage estimates were placed around $100 million.
The tornado struck during the beginning of rush hour and touched down initially on Redstone Arsenal and then moved into a business area crossing two major north-south highways. Twelve of the 21 deaths (57 percent) occurred in automobiles, a striking similarity to the 1979 Wichita Falls, Texas, tornado. In the Huntsville tornado, most of those killed in cars were in the process of performing normal tasks as opposed to seeking automobiles for safety.
As the thunderstorm moved into the southwest corner of Madison County at 4:15 p.m., the staff on duty at the WSO at Huntsville International Airport observed a wall cloud and rain-free base with the thunderstorm. The wall cloud showed no signs of rotation and dissipated shortly after being spotted.
Shortly after this, between 4:20 and 4:30 p.m., meteorologists working for NASA on the Redstone Arsenal observed a wall cloud and rain-free base with the thunderstorm as it moved across the southern portion of the Arsenal. Around 4:25 p.m., they observed rotation in the wall cloud.
According to information shared with the National Weather Service by Duane Stiegler with Dr. Ted Fujita's group from the University of Chicago, the initial point of damage occurred one mile south-southwest of Madkin Mountain on the Redstone Arsenal near the intersection of Fowler Road and Mills Road. Trees were downed and some roof gutters damaged. From eyewitness accounts of the wall cloud, circulating air may have reached the ground without a visible funnel.
The tornado continued on a northeast track passing northeast of Building 5250 on the Arsenal. Little damage was done to that building. The storm then moved into a sparsely developed area, but it did do about $1 million in damage to Huntsville's garbage-burning plant which was nearing the end of construction.
At this point, the tornado began to cross the old Huntsville Airport and a large portion of the adjacent municipal golf course. It was here that the tornado struck the Huntsville Police Academy which generated one of the first reports of the existence of the tornado. Two officers were injured at the Police Academy.
From the golf course, the tornado entered a business-filled and heavily populated area of Huntsville. The tornado crossed Memorial Parkway (US 231 and State Highway 53), a major north-south traffic artery. The tornado destroyed a number of shopping complexes, office buildings, an apartment complex, and churches as it slowly crossed Airport Road. It crossed Whitesburg Road, another relatively major north-south highway. Nineteen of the twenty-one fatalities occurred in the area between the intersection of Airport Road and Memorial Parkway and the intersection of Airport Road and Whitesburg Road. Eleven of the deaths occurred in automobiles, four in apartments, and four in commercial buildings.
From the intersection of Whitesburg Road and Airport Road, the tornado moved up Garth Mountain, as it continued on a northeast course. This took the tornado into a heavily wooded section. As it crossed the top of Garth Mountain and moved down the east side, it struck Jones Valley Elementary School on Garth Road. Thirty-seven children, five teachers, and seven painters were in the school when the tornado struck. The children were part of an Extended Daycare Program conducted at the school. The lead teacher of the day-care program moved the children from the second floor of the school building into a small open area under the stairway on the first floor. This action, first suggested by the school principal as she left for the day, saved the lives of the children.
One woman was killed in an automobile driving along Garth Road en route to the school.
From the school, the tornado crossed Garth Road and moved across a portion of Jones Valley Subdivision, a development of well-constructed single family homes. The tornado severely damaged or destroyed a number of homes in the Jones Valley subdivision. It continued across Jones Valley moving up Huntsville Mountain. The area from Huntsville Mountain to the end of the tornado path is rural with only scattered structures. The tornado continued to destroy or severely damage whatever structures it encountered.
The tornado topped Huntsville Mountain and moved down the east side crossing US 431. It traveled through this valley in the vicinity of Dug Hill before moving up and over Chestnut Knob. From Chestnut Knob the tornado traversed the Flint River valley referred to as Salty Bottoms, crossing the Flint River and US 72 (Lee Highway). It crossed US 72 one mile southeast of Brownsboro.
The tornado continued on an east-northeast track over Reed Mountain to a small lake at the headwaters of the Killingsworth Cove Branch, a small creek which feeds into the Flint River. The tornado path ended at the southeast tip of this small lake.
The total path length was 18.5 miles from the initial beginning on the Redstone Arsenal to its end at the headwaters of Killingsworth Cove Branch. The damage path was generally about one half mile wide; however, it reached nearly one mile in width in the Flint River/US 72 area. The tornado was classified as an F4 on the Fujita Tornado Scale.
[edit] Damage Estimates
A summary of damage from reports gathered by the Huntsville Times included:
- 259 Homes destroyed
- 130 Homes with major damage
- 148 Homes with minor to moderate damage
- 80 Businesses destroyed
- 8 Businesses damaged
- 3 Churches heavily damaged
- 2 Schools destroyed
- 10 Public buildings destroyed or heavily damaged
- $1.9 Million in public utility damage
[edit] Other tornadoes
There were 17 other tornadoes reported in the outbreak across a large swath of the eastern United States that day. In Canada, there was a rare November tornado, rated F2, that occured in the town of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec east of Montreal, causing 2 million dollars in damage.[2] While none were nearly as severe as the Huntsville tornado, there were many injuries reported in some of them. [3]
- Table of confirmed tornadoes - after surveys by local weather service offices
| Confirmed Total |
Confirmed F0 |
Confirmed F1 |
Confirmed F2 |
Confirmed F3 |
Confirmed F4 |
Confirmed F5 |
| 19 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
[edit] See also
- Anderson Hills Tornado
- List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
- List of Canadian tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
