Tornado outbreak of April 1977

A violent severe weather outbreak struck the Southeast on April 4–5, 1977. A total of 21 tornadoes touched down with the strongest ones occurring in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. The strongest was a catastrophic F5 tornado that struck the Northern Birmingham, Alabama suburbs during the afternoon of Monday, April 4, 1977. In the end, the entire outbreak directly caused 24 deaths and over 200 injuries. The storm system also caused the crash of Southern Airways Flight 242, which killed 72 and injured 22.

Tornado outbreak of April 1977
Homes obliterated in the Smithfield neighborhood.
TypeTornado outbreak
FormedApril 4, 1977 (1977-04-04)
DissipatedApril 5, 1977 (1977-04-05)
Tornadoes confirmed21
Max. rating1F5 tornado
Casualties24 fatalities (+72 non-tornadic), 200+ injuries (+22 injuries)
Areas affectedSoutheastern United States, particularly Alabama and Georgia.

1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

Confirmed tornadoes
Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 Total
0 1 9 6 4 0 1 21

April 4 event
F# Location County Time (CDT) Path length Damage
Mississippi
F1 SW of Florence Rankin 0600 0.1 mile (0.16 km)
F3 NE of Philadelphia Neshoba, Kemper 0800 11.7 miles (18.7 km) Two homes, two trailers, a store, and a beauty shop were destroyed. A house and other structures were damaged. $85,000 in damage.
F3 S of Macon Calhoun 0900 9.1 miles (14.6 km) A trailer, a house, and a silo were destroyed. Other farm structures were damaged and one person was injured. $25,000 in damage.
Missouri
F0 SE of Hannibal Marion 0930 0.2 mile (0.32 km) A brief tornado tore off a section of a house roof and carport. Nearby houses suffered minor damage. Several trees were downed.[1]
Alabama
F2 N of Hanceville Cullman 1112 5.9 miles (9.4 km) Two homes were badly damaged and two trailers were destroyed.
F2 SE of Scottsboro Jackson 1220 6.9 miles (11 km) 16 homes and four farm buildings were damaged.
F2 SW of Ragland St. Clair 1230 0.5 miles (0.8 km) Two homes were destroyed and three others were badly damaged.
F2 S of Springville St. Clair 1400 3.3 miles (5.3 km) One house and five barns were destroyed in the Springville area. Five other homes and 10 barns were damaged.
F3 SE of Ashville St. Clair 1430 7.3 miles (11.7 km) 1 death - A business, a house, and three trailers were destroyed. A woman was killed by a falling tree. A total of 16 other homes were damaged.
F2 S of Southside Etowah 1430 4.7 miles (7.5 km) Three houses and six trailers were destroyed. 17 outbuildings and nine homes were damaged as well.
F5 NW of Birmingham to NE of Tarrant Jefferson 1500 14.7 miles (23.5 km) 22 deaths - See section on this tornado
Kentucky
F1 N of Elkton Todd 1330 0.8 mile (1.3 km) Four trailers, four barns, and a farmhouse were destroyed. A child was injured by flying glass.[2]
Georgia
F3 S of Lindale Floyd 1515 8.8 miles (14.1 km) 1 death - Major damage in the Lindale area. A total of 12 trailers were destroyed and nine others were damaged. Four frame homes were destroyed and 20 others were badly damaged. Three farms sustained major damage, and four others sustained lesser damage. There were 15 injuries.
F1 S of Adairsville Bartow 1530 5.7 miles (9.1 km) Three trailers, three houses, eight chicken houses, and seven service buildings were destroyed. Multiple other structures were damaged.
F1 SE of Chatsworth Murray 1545 2 miles (3.2 km) A grist mill, two mobile homes, ten service buildings, and two chicken houses were destroyed. Two houses were damaged.[3]
F1 SE of Dahlonega Lumpkin 1900 5.2 miles (8.3 km) Five chicken houses were destroyed and 15 others were damaged. Five homes were damaged, and major tree damage occurred as well.
Indiana
F1 Edgewood Madison 1700 0.5 mile (0.8 km) A garage and shed were completely destroyed. A house was unroofed.[4]
North Carolina
F1 NW of Elkin Wilkes 2030 6.4 miles (10.2 km) The tornado skipped along its path. Trees, mobile homes, and chicken houses were damaged.[5]
Sources: Storm Data for April 4, 1977, Grazulis (1977)

April 5 event
F# Location County Time (CDT) Path length Damage
Georgia
F1 NE of Sparks Cook 0145 5.4 miles (8.7 km) A mobile home was destroyed. Two houses suffered minor damage. There was also damage to farm equipment and buildings and pecan trees.[6]
Virginia
F1 N of Onancock Accomack 0800 2 miles (3.2 km) Two chicken houses, a garage, and several small storage buildings were completely destoryed. A house lost its metal roof and a church lost its bell tower. Most other structural damage was limited to shingles or inflicted by fallen trees. About 15 trees were uprooted and more than 50 sustained minor damage.[7]
Pennsylvania
F2 SE of Harrisburg Dauphin 1550 2 miles (3.2 km) Six homes were destroyed and 29 others were damaged. A woman was injured when her trailer was overturned.
Sources: Storm Data for April 5, 1977, Grazulis (1977)

Birmingham–Smithfield, Alabama
Birmingham-Smithfield, Alabama
F5 tornado
Max. rating1F5 tornado
Damage$25 million (1977 USD)
Casualties22 fatalities, 125+ injuries
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

Beginning just a few miles north of Birmingham near Tarrant, the tornado proceeded north through northern Jefferson County producing F5 damage in Smithfield, northeast of Ensley. The tornado, which was at times 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) wide, was blamed for 22 deaths, more than 125 injuries, and $25 million in damage. Hundreds of homes were completely destroyed, many of which were completely swept away, despite being well-built. Some of the homes built into hillsides even had their cinder-block basement walls swept away. Many trees in the area were snapped and debarked and vehicles were thrown and destroyed. Two dump-trucks were thrown through the air near I-65 as well. Daniel Payne College suffered extensive damage, forcing it to permanently close due to the extent of the destruction.[8] Dr. Ted Fujita followed the tornado and supercell from an airplane and while surveying damage he rated the Smithfield tornado an F5.[9]

Other tornadoes
Outbreak death toll
State Total County County
total
Alabama 23 Jefferson 22
St. Clair 1
Georgia 1 Floyd 1
Totals 24
All deaths were tornado-related

In addition to this tornado, several other tornadoes were reported from the same system in the Midwest, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina. One tornado in Floyd County, Georgia, killed one person, and another fatality was reported east of Birmingham in St. Clair County. The severe weather that day also contributed to the crash of Southern Airways Flight 242, which crashed near New Hope, Georgia, killing over 70 people.

The F5 tornado touched down near the end of the path of three other violent tornadoes that struck the Birmingham region in 1956, 1998, and 2011. The 1956 tornado was an F4 that struck McDonald Chapel, before continuing through Edgewater, northern Birmingham, Fultondale, and Tarrant before dissipating, killing 25. In 1998, an F5 tornado touched town in a rural area near Tuscaloosa before tearing through Rock Creek, Sylvan Springs, Edgewater and McDonald Chapel, killing 32. The 2011 tornado was an EF4 that devastated Tuscaloosa before impacting Concord, Pleasant Grove, McDonald Chapel, northern Birmingham, and Fultondale before lifting, killing 64 people.[8]

Non-tornadic impacts

The storms that bought the tornadoes on April 4 also bought a large squall line across Alabama. This proved disastrous when Southern Airways Flight 242 attempted to fly around the storm and instead flew straight into it. Massive amounts of very large hail and very heavy rain battered the plane and destroyed its engines. With no way to keep flying, it attempted a landing on a stretch of highway in New Hope, Georgia. The road section used for the forced landing, formerly called Georgia State Route 92 Spur, is now called Dallas–Acworth Highway (formerly Georgia State Route 381). The DC-9 actually landed successfully, but then crashed into a gas station, grocery store, and other structures and vehicles during the rollout. The plane was destroyed, killing the flight crew, 60 passengers, and nine people on the ground.[10]

See also

References
  1. Storm Events Database April 4, 1977 (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  2. Storm Events Database April 4, 1977 (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  3. Storm Events Database April 4, 1977 (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  4. Storm Events Database April 4, 1977 (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  5. Storm Events Database April 4, 1977 (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  6. Storm Events Database April 4, 1977 (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  7. Storm Events Database April 4, 1977 (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  8. Other Birmingham Area Tornadoes Archived 2011-06-03 at the Wayback Machine
  9. NOAA's National Weather Service - Birmingham, Alabama
  10. Ayres, Jr., B. Drummond (April 6, 1977). "Hail in Engines Is Blamed in Georgia Crash Killing 68". The New York Times. p. 20.
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