The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak

While the weather is warm and sunny today, that was not the case 14 years ago on this day. On Sunday March 27, 1994 a slow moving cold front was pushing through Alabama and a very unstable air mass was in place. We had dew points in the upper 60’s to lower 70’s and the wind shear was extreme. During the 24 hour period there were four rounds of severe weather that moved through the state, leaving behind reports of damage. The National Weather Service detected that six tornadoes touched down on that day. The biggest was an F4; it touched down in St. Claire County near the city of Ragland and dissipated after it crossed the Alabama/Georgia state line. This tornado killed 22 people alone. Most of those people were inside the Goshen United Methodist Church which is a mile north of the Cherokee and Calhoun county line. The people inside the church had no clue that the tornado warning had been issued nor did they see the tornado coming. Twenty people in the church were killed and 92 were injured. The sanctuary part of the church was the hardest hit area. You can find more information by clicking here!

(Text and Images Source:NWS)

Steven Ray
WVUA Weather