COVER: A fast moving killer tornado at 11:30 am after striking the Goshen, Alabamachurch on March 28th. The tornado left a trail of continuous devastation for over 50miles. Photograph copyrighted by Jeff Formby, Rt. 1, Box 473, Piedmont, AL 36272.

Storm Track is a non-profit publication intended for the scientist and amateur alike whoshare an avid interest in the acquisition and advancement of knowledge concerning severeor unusual weather phenomena. It is published bi-monthly in Lewisville, Texas. DavidHoadley founded the publication in 1977 and STORMTRACK has continued to grow and improveever since. Gene Rhoden designed the current cover. David Hoadley still contributesdrawns and sketches. Current, we have about 650 subscribers!

Anyone can submit an article or letter to STORMTRACK. Articles should be single-spacedand contain proper english. Right justified margins are preferred or the editor canretype the text. High contrast photographs reproduce best. Diagrams should be clear andlegible, subject to photo-reduction. All articles will be edited.

Subscription rates are: U.S. First Class mail $12/year, Canada $14/year, and England/Japan$20/year. Each November issue will have a color cover and one issue will containadditional pages of text. Individual issues are $2/copy. Back issues are available byyear, or the complete 16 year set (1978-1993) can be purchased for $105. To subscribe orrenew, send a check or money order PAYABLE ONLY to Tim Marshall, 1336 Brazos Blvd,Lewisville, Texas 75067.

STORM TRACK CLASSIFIEDS

Sell or swap your wares. Only 25c per word (20 word minimum = $5, 160 word maximum = $40).Quarter page ads are $70, half page ads are $130, and whole page ads are $250. Send your requestfor the next issue by July 30, 1994.

"IN THE BEARS CAGE" Storm Chase Adventures of1993. This years edition of tornadoes,lightning, and other severe storms. WatchJack Thunderstorm Corso video directlybeneath a developing tornado and live to talkabout it. Two-hour VHS only $34.95 post paid.Payable to Jack Corso, P.O. Box 650,Harrison, NY 10528 (3/95).

WEATHER DISPLAYS is a unique weather-relatedmuseum and visitor center in the Oklahomapanhandle. It is located on U.S. Highway 270(Oklahoma Slapout or 15 miles east ofElmwood. Randall Bensch and his family inviteyou to come see exhibits featuring windstormsand tornadoes. Souvenirs, tapes and books areavailable. Admission is free. We are openevery day except Sunday. For moreinformation, call 405-837- 5550 (6/94)

T’s FOR TEXASI. COMMENTARY

1994 will go down in the record books as another year of the tornado drought. So far, the chaseseason has been slim pickins' concentrated in north Texas the last week in April and in northwestKansas during mid-June. The season was cut short by a series of high amplitude blocking systems(Omega and Rex type) with the ridge centered over the plain states. In May, however, two "cut-off" lows snuck underneath the ridge producing severe weather in Texas. Most tornadic days werenot obvious days in advance as in past years which made "chasing on the spur-of-the-moment", therule.

April 25th was the day (or I should say the night) parts of Lancaster, Texas were wiped out by anF-4 tornado. Carson Eads and I journeyed into Oklahoma the previous day and found ourselvesracing back home to catch the first tornado of the series at Cedar Hill, Tx in the southern partof Dallas, County after sunset. Some chasers cashed in big on April 26th, when tornadoes struckGainesville, Texas during the early afternoon. I had to work, so I missed the show. Then on April29th, supercells formed south and east of Dallas County producing three night time tornadoes. May25th, started out with numerous mushy storms in the Texas panhandle, but one cell in Hall Countysqueaked out 15 minute cone-shaped tornado periodically wrapped in rain and observed by VORTEXpersonnel. Then on May 26th, tornadoes formed in upslope flow in southeast new Mexico and nearAustin, Texas. Panhandle magic worked on May 28th when an 18 minute tornado was produced by alone supercell around 8pm near Miami, Texas and was filmed by several chasers. This day caughtseveral chasers off guard, including the editor. However, May 29th was a classic tornado day.Several supercells spawned tornadoes from south of Wichita Falls to Abilene with a 21 minutetornado occurring near Newcastle, Texas photographed by Greg Stumpf and Bill Martin. Many chaserssaw tornadoes near Scotland and Graham, Texas. I missed the show again, caught in-between storms.A few chasers can say they had a good year, whereas most of us did not fare so well.

II. CHASER NEWS

The American Geophysical Union announces the publication of The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics,Prediction, and Hazards. This is a compilation of papers presented at the Tornado Symposium IIIheld a few years ago in Norman, OK. This is a must book for any chaser. To order, send an $85.00check to American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Ave., NW, Washington D.C., 20009, or call themat 202-462-6900.

Oxford University Press is having a summer book sale. Howard Bluesteins' two volume set entitled:Synoptic-Dynamic Meteorology in the Midlatitudes is available for $100 plus $2.50 shipping(Regularly $125). To order call toll free: 1-800-451-7556.

Tom Grazulis has produced a beautiful poster which every chaser should have on their wall. Writeto him at: The Tornado Project, Box 302, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819.

Chase equipment is available from Tornado Alley, Inc., P.O. Box 129, Perkins, OK 74059. Writethem for a brochure.

The updated Thunderstorms and Lightning brochure is now available. For more details contact LindaKremkau at NWS, W/OM11, 1325 E. West Highway, Rm. 14370, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

III. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

TONY WOMACK announces: "We have started a severe storm research/intercept team here atMississippi State called the North Mississippi Severe Storm Intercept Team. It is broken intothree teams, four members each. Two teams will be out in the field while the third team staysat the lab. We have a ham radio operator on each chase team so they are able to relay theirobservations to me in the weather lab. I'm still getting compliments from the local hamssaying we probably had one of the most organized skywarn nets in the area. The weather lab atMississippi State has a WSI 5000, 5500, and 1010N Doppler workstation. Lightning data is alsoincluded in the package. We have 3 PC-McIdas workstations, a SHARP workstation, and a COMETworkstation. We receive difax charts and numerous other products through the MARTA system. Asyou can see the lab is well equipped for severe weather forecasting and hopefully we can putit to good use during severe weather. I would be interested in talking with any local SKYWARNnet controllers. Mailing address: P.O. Box 6839, Mississippi State, MS 39762, phone numbers:601-325-0579, or the weather lab: 601-325-2800.

DUDLEY LAUFMAN writes about an event that occurred in mid-August, 1993 in Caterbury, N.H.:"My neighbor, Tim Meeh, had just finished raking hay in a field just south of the Shakercemetery, and had gone to his house situated on a hill 1/4 mile to the north up the road.Suddenly, he heard a roaring sound, looked out and saw that much of the hay he had just rakedwas swirled up in the air and spread out on the road and adjoining field. He noticed a darkcloud dipping down and ran to get his camera. By the time he was able to take a picture, thestorm moved east over the woods and forest ponds. The photo (not shown) shows a definitetornado. As usual, I was away at the time so I missed the occasion. It passed 100 yards frommy house and I wasn't even there! I wasn't even told about this until December!"

STEVE KRUCKENBERG, formally with the NWS Goodland, KS office and now with the MinneapolisRiver Forecast Center responds with regard to the Amarillo NWS letter in the January-Februaryissue of STORMTRACK. "I tend to agree with Douglas Crowley about the problem of storm chaseretiquette, or should I say lack of etiquette. When I was working at the Goodland, KS NWS, Ican remember several instances when our office was completely overrun by storm chasers. Onone particular day in June, 1993, SELS had progged a potentially "big day" for northwestKansas, southwest Nebraska, and eastern Colorado. The severe weather conditions were slow indeveloping that day and as a result, the Goodland office was crowded with chasers waiting forthe first echoes to appear on the 88-D radar. The forecaster and met tech that came in on thefour to midnight shift counted at least 40 chasers during the first two hours of their shift.Chasers were crowding the radar, map boards, etc., or were milling around aimlessly. Thissituation was both irritating and distracting for the swing shift crew. A chase crew shouldshould send in one person from the group to get information.

I can also remember other instances where chasers sat down (without permission) at AFOSterminals and accidentally erased unfinished forecast products. There was even one "yahoo"who plopped down in a chair and tied up the forecaster phone line for an hour while he talkedwith his friend. A met tech finally had to yell at him to hang up the phone. The Goodlandstaff is generally tolerant of chasers and most of the staff will render assistance to them,but if these kinds of problems continue, I could see that office (and other offices) closingtheir doors to chasers. As a fellow chaser, reading Doug Crowleys' letter made me feelembarrassed. I feel like bringing a couple six packs of beverage to the AMA staff the nexttime I visit that office. Maybe its a good way to provide a peace offering."

SEND IN YOUR CHASE STORIES NOW TO STORMTRACK. We need good quality photographs with a writeup of any length. First hand accounts of chases, or educational articles will receive toppriority. Since the year was thin for many, chase accounts from any previous year will bereviewed. -- The editor.

Gilbert Sebenste lists ten top ways to tell if you are a storm chaser.

10. You jump up and down with excitement at the first sight of a cumulonimbus.9. For dinner, you take the family out to Dairy Queen --through the drive-in.8. At the gas station, you ask your spouse to run in and pay for the gas while you gas upthe car.7. You zig-zag diagonally while driving to intercept grandmothers house.6. You chase the slight risk area rather than seeing your mother on Mothers Day.5. There is a TV in your bathroom that gets the Weather Channel.4. The inside of your car looks like a cross between a radio station and a garbage barge.3. At the dinner table, you always pass food around cyclonically.2. When you go to the movies, you always sit in the front left or right rear quadrants ofthe theater.1. When you bust after 12 hours of driving, you get up the next day and drive 12 hours andbust again, you get up the next day and drive 12 hours and bust again, you get up the nextday and drive 12 hours and bust again....

IV. FUNNEL/FOTO FUNNY: Chaser’s Breakfast & Severe Storm Risk Forecast

Large beaver with beaver tail and cinnamonswirl encountered on a bust chase in theOklahoma panhandle, with Carson Eads(left), Tim Marshall (right). Photographby Steve Tabb.

PALM SUNDAY TWISTERS by Sue Gruning

On March 27, 1994, an intense and deadly early spring storm system spawned violentthunderstorms that produced 32 tornadoes over the deep south. In addition, there werecountless reports of hail, high winds, and flooding from Louisiana to North Carolina.Northern Alabama, northern Georgia and western South Carolina bore the brunt of this deadlyoutbreak. A total of 44 people were killed and 350 others were injured. Many homes,businesses, churches, and farms were damaged or destroyed.

Springtime outbreaks of this kind are not unusual. This was the second outbreak in recenthistory to strike on this religious holiday. Some of you may recall the April 11-12, 1965outbreak that stretched from Iowa to Ohio. A total of 51 tornadoes were produced killing 256people and injuring over 3,000 people. That outbreak still ranks near the top as one of thelargest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.

On the morning of March 27, 1994, the folks at the National Severe Storm Forecast Center(NSSFC) in Kansas City were very much aware of the severe weather situation. Plenty oftornado watch boxes were issued early in the day. The set up was a quasi- stationary frontdraped across the southeast with deepening low pressure moving along it. South of the front,the air was quite warm and oppressively humid. Many areas of south Georgia and Alabama weresunny which added more instability to the air. South surface winds added additional forcingover the front. Dewpoint temperatures were in the 60's and low 70's (degrees Fahrenheit)south of the front. A strong subtropical jet stream was poised high overhead moving parallelwith the surface front. Storms forming along the surface front could enhance their inflow bymoving parallel with the front. Likewise, the strong jet stream aloft would enhance thevertical velocity.

By mid to late morning, thunderstorms began to explode rapidly along the front and becametornadic quickly. Two swaths of tornadic storms raked across northern Alabama before noon.Tornadoes occurred south and east of Huntsville and extended towards Chattanooga, Tennessee.Another series of tornadoes struck north and east of Birmingham, Alabama. One long-trackedtornado began at Ragland, Alabama and extended northeast for 55 miles before ending in FloydCounty, Georgia. This tornado was the one that struck the Goshen United Methodist Church nearPiedmont, Alabama around 11:30 am CST. The church was packed with 147 worshipers that wereevidently not aware of the approaching tornado. A total of 20 persons died and over 90 wereinjured as the sanctuary portion of the church collapsed. A tornado warning had been issuedfor this county just minutes before the tornado struck the church (the church was very closeto the county line) . This tornado had traveled about 40 miles and had been on the ground forabout 50 minutes prior to the church being struck. Over 80 phone calls to 911 were madereporting this tornado in St. Croix County just to the southwest of the church. However, theGoshen church was in rural country and the nearest town of Piedmont did not have any tornadowarning sirens.

The activity shifted eastward into Georgia during the afternoon. The storm that produced thetornado at Goshen kept producing tornadoes across north Georgia, western South Carolina andsouth-central North Carolina. A second wave of supercell storms raked north Georgia around 3p.m, with a third wave of supercells arriving around 7 p.m. EST. Most of the tornadoes movedbetween 50 and 60 mph to the northeast on a constant heading of about 60 degrees.Fortunately, most of the tornadoes traveled over rural areas with few homes in the way.However, six people of the Turner family were killed when their douhle-wide mobile home wastossed over 100 feet northeastward into a field. There home was located on top of Hendersonmountain in Pickens County. Thousands of acres of forests were flattened. Many chicken farmswere levelled and over one million chickens were killed.

The tornadoes that struck near Greensville and Spartanburg in South Carolina caused noserious injuries. However, near Charlotte, North Carolina, one man was killed by a bolt oflightning and a women was electrocuted by a downed power line in Lincoln Co.

ALABAMA-GEORGIA APOCALYPSE by Tim Marshall

Few people will ever realize the magnitude of the disaster that took place in the forests ofAlabama and Georgia on March 27, 1994. Days after the storms, all eyes of the country werefocused on a little church in Goshen, Alabama where 20 people lost their lives and more than90 people were injured. But many other rural places were hit. Actually, I was most impressedby the scores of tornadoes (several were one mile wide) that scoured the hillsides ofnorthern Alabama and Georgia uprooting trees from one state border to another. The averagepath length of each tornado was about 50 miles. A one mile wide tornado in Pickens County,Georgia uprooted about 1000 trees per SECOND as it raced 60 mph through the dense forests.Eyewitnesses described an incredible roaring sound, even the ground shook. Some described itas a rotating fog bank filled with exploding trees. Imagine what Steven Speilberg could dowith this scene.

I have always been amazed by tornado damage, but this outbreak was especially horrific. Hadthe stationary front which spawned the waves of supercells been positioned a little furtherto the south, the tornadoes would have struck Atlanta. Once again, fate intervened and theworst tornado disaster (in terms of loss of life) was avoided. I was grateful to get a callfrom NOAA headquarters asking me to be on the disaster survey team. Naturally, I jumped atthe task and spent three days surveying the devastation. My efforts concentrated on thetornadoes which struck the Goshen church in Alabama and Turner mobile home in Pickens County,Georgia.

The Goshen, Alabama church was situated in an open area surrounded by a few houses and farmfields. As the large tornado topped the hill to the west, strong south inflow windsbroadside' the 18 foot tall and 60 foot wide unreinforced concrete masonry south wall of thesanctuary. The steep gable roof acted like a sail to catch the wind. In an instant, thesanctuary windows blew in, the heavy timber roof lifted slightly and shifted, then thesanctuary walls and roof fell in unison to the north. Church members were caught withoutwarning. The walls had no intervening columns or lateral braces. As a result, falling masonrycrushed persons in the southern one-half of the sanctuary whereas the heavy timber roof fellto the floor in the northern one-half of the sanctuary. Solid wooden pews splintered underthe impact of falling debris. A long hallway next to the sanctuary could have provided safehaven as it remained untouched. If only the people sought shelter in the hallway, no onewould have died. The deaths and injuries seemed senseless to me especially since the tornadohad been on the ground about 40 minutes prior to striking the church. The nearby town ofPiedmont had no tornado sirens.

The tornado centerline passed about 200 yards north of the church. Minor roof damage (F-1)occurred to the surrounding brick houses. The only walls that had collapsed were the churchsanctuary and outbuilding. Even most of the shingles on the sanctuary roof remained. The newsmedia thought the tornado just set down and picked on the church sanctuary, but I knewbetter.

As the storm system moved into Georgia around mid-day, a string of supercells moved northeastalong the stationary front. One eyewitness near Lindale, Georgia reported seeing tornadoespassing by at noon, 3:30pm, and around 7:30pm. One of the widest and longest tornado tracksin Georgia passed through Pickens County near the Jerusalem community. High on a mountain topwas a double-wide mobile home owned by the Turner family. They saw the tornado coming and thefamily of six and a neighbor huddled in the hallway at the center of the house. Theirunanchored home which sat on blocks was made easy prey by the tornado and was lofted to thenorth the length of a football field before impacting the ground. Five occupants were killedinstantly while a teenage boy (gored in the necks by a tree limb) survived briefly but bledto death before ambulances could clear a path through the downed trees. A nearby wooden andsheet metal shanty stood virtually untouched, all three occupants survived. I stood atop themountain at sunset gazing over distant hills and valleys, and could identify the tornadopaths by the string of bonfires leading towards the distant horizon.

Mobile home flipped near Ragland, AL --note anchored front porch remained

Unanchored house fell into basement --bolts in foundation had no nuts or washers

Unanchored home slid off block foundation Tree gathering along tornado centerline

Aerial view of Goshen, AL church -- notesanctuary

Solid wooden pews were crushed by fallingroof

Long hallway at church could have providedsafety

Doppler reflectivity of Goshen, AL storm

Unanchored two-story home slid sideways Unanchored two-story home pivoted andcollapsed -- note unanchored front porchremained

Shredded unanchored rural home Six supercells all in a row in northGeorgia

Sheet of plywood pierced van in Lindale,GA

Wall stud harpooned rear seat in van

Remains of the Turner family home Location where Turner home impacted ground

LANCASTER, TX TORNADO: APRIL 25, 1994 by Tim Marshall

As the final week of April 1994 approached, I anticipated an active chase week. The progsshowed April 25th to be a one shot tornadic event in western Oklahoma and Kansas, soCarson Eads, Steve Tabb, and myself headed up to Woodward, Oklahoma the night of the 24thto get into position. Little did I realize the progs misjudged the movement of the system(the first of many such prog goofs this year) and I would have to chase back home the nextday.

April 25th dawned the perfect chase day. Low broken strato-cu raced north under a stiff,moist surface wind. However, by 10 am, I knew we were doomed. A line of storms alreadydeveloped in the eastern Texas panhandle and was racing eastward at about 45 mph. Anvilsstreaked towards the south horizon. I decided we'd head back to Oklahoma City where thesquall-line caught up with us just after noon. The line slowed and died north of OklahomaCity while a second line fired in western Oklahoma and raced eastward. I plotted up a 3pm, surface map and saw that temperatures in eastern Oklahoma were near 70 degrees. Cloudyskies kept temperatures down throughout the day. However, in north Texas, temperatureswere closer to 80 degrees. I knew we needed to head south to the warmer air. However, withthe main dynamics racing through Oklahoma, I was not hopeful that tail-end charlie wouldbe within reach.

At 3:30 pm, Carson and I headed south on I-35 from Oklahoma City. We were convinced thiswas another bust chase, so Steve Tabb drove on home. An hour later, we sighted a line ofstorms to the southeast near Ada, Oklahoma. The storms quickly died upon seeing our chasevan. More dejected than ever, we continued back to Dallas. Crossing the Red River around7pm, we could see a line of storms to the south. Carson tuned to the local ham station andwe heard about a mesocyclone in a storm over southern Fort Worth. The storm was movingeast into southern Dallas County. Perfect, I said. We were tired, wet streets wereeverywhere, road construction lay just ahead, and there was heavy traffic too. But thanksto Carsons excellent driving and good road selection, we made it to the southern end ofDallas county by 8:30 pm.

As we punched the precipitation core from the north we briefly encountered golfball- sizehail. We broke out of the core and passed underneath a huge beaver tail which intersectedthe north side of a barber pole shaped updraft. I knew instantly, we were on to violentstorm. We stopped and set up our cameras at Cedar Hill, a suburb which has the highestelevation around. Around 8:50pm, a lightning illuminated tornado formed over Joe Pool Lakelasting about two minutes. Then, a large wall cloud formed to the east and wrapped inrain.Slowly, reports of destruction were being aired over the radio. Only daylight would showthe true power of the tornado. The tornado damage path began at the newly constructedDeSoto City Hall; its styrofoam walls were punched out easily. Moving east-southeast, thetornado removed the roofs off several houses before crossing I-35 into Lancaster. Justwest of downtown Lancaster, the tornado damage increased to F-4. A one by three block areaof homes was levelled. Some of these homes were just sitting on blocks, whereas otherswere anchored to concrete foundations. Trees were shredded by the flying debris and autoswere crushed. The tornado weakened as it continued moving east passing through theLancaster town square. Several old wooden and masonry structures collapsed.

Doppler analysis of this event was most interesting. There were actually two supercellsoriented east-west in tandem over southern Tarrant and Dallas counties. The storm thatproduced the Lancaster tornado had a well defined hook echo and broad mesocyclone. A smallhigh velocity couplet was visible in a few low level scans within the mesocyclone. Ofinterest is why this storm produced tornadoes, whereas the westernmost supercell neverdid, although it also had a well defined, broad mesocyclone that lasted almost an hour.

Tornado damage path from DeSoto through Lancaster, TX

Large wall cloud and beaver tail at 8:45pm (video frame by Tim Marshall)

Lightning illuminated tornado from CedarHill, TX (video frame by Tim Marshall)

Close-up views of lightning-illuminatedtornado (video frame by Tim Marshall)

Same as above (video frame by TimMarshall)

What's left of Desoto city hall (TimMarshall)

Downtown historic Lancaster was destroyed(Tim Marshall)

F4 damage to home just west of town square(Tim Marshall)

Possible chase van that got too close!(Tim Marshall)