1925 Miami tornado
 View of the tornado | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 5, 1925, 1:00 p.m. EST (UTC−05:00) |
| Dissipated | April 5, 1925, 2:00 p.m. EST (UTC−05:00) |
| F3 tornado | |
| on the Fujita scale | |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 5 |
| Injuries | 35 |
| Damage | $250,000 ($4,480,000 in 2024 USD)[a] |
| Areas affected | Dade County, Florida |
Part of the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1925 | |
On Sunday, April 5, 1925, an intense tornado hit the northern edge of Miami in South Florida, killing five people and injuring 35. The deadliest tornado to affect Dade County, it was rated F3 on the Fujita scale—one of only two such twisters recorded there.[b] Up to 100 yd (91 m) wide, it formed over the Everglades near Hialeah and moved northeast, toward the Atlantic Ocean, destroying or damaging about 50 homes, with losses of $250,000.
Summary
[edit]At about 1:00 p.m. local time, Hialeah Herald editor J. W. Wendler first noted a funnel cloud to the southwest. Nearby golfers also observed it around that time. Attended by damaging 3-inch (7.6 cm) hail, a tornado formed along the Miami Canal near 36th Street, but soon dissipated. Seen for miles, at the Hialeah Municipal Golf Course it killed a mule, overturned wagons, hurled a few trucks, snagged a clubhouse post, and unroofed a shed.[4][5] It redeveloped at the White Belt Dairy, Florida's largest dairy farm, wrecking a mess hall, four frame homes, an apartment, 10 motor trucks, and five automobiles, with a loss of $100,000. A car was lofted 1⁄4 mi (0.40 km) and set down in a field, while a barn was partly unroofed. Three cows were lifted 15 ft (4.6 m) off the ground, carried 50 ft (15 m) through the air, and let down uninjured. A woman hospitalized by flying debris died, and several other severe injuries occurred. The Miami Herald stated that the dairy was "a scrambled mess of everything", including utensils, furniture, and wood bits. Hundreds of onlookers swarmed the area, forcing police to deploy.[6][7]
I saw the roof of a building over by the golf course lifted straight into the air and carried at least 200 feet away. There was a terrific bang, as if there had been an explosion inside the house. It was as if a huge high-speed derrick had slung the roof off.
— Arthur Pryor, [8]
The tornado then headed north 3⁄4 mi (1.2 km), ripping up trees and demolishing six or more homes. It "literally picked up" a house, carried it 300 ft (91 m) over a road, and left it "a mass of kindling wood", the Herald reported. Another house lost its combination roof and garage.[4] A barn and house were swept off their foundations and tossed 1⁄4 mi (0.40 km).[6] At Elizabeth Park the tornado tore apart 10 homes, leaving homesites bare, and killed hundreds of chickens. It destroyed 12 more homes at Hillside Acres.[7][4] As it crossed northwestern Miami, thousands of sightseers watched the tornado. The twister then briefly lifted before reforming near the Little River,[4] where it struck several homes, leveling a large vacant frame house.[6] A few people died at the West Wood Inn, near the river.[9] Meteorologist Richard Gray, writing in the Monthly Weather Review, remarked that at this point the tornado resembled a "very slender cone extending in a straight line" from cloud to ground.[5]
After passing Little River, the tornado affected a thinly settled area,[4] becoming obscured by rain.[5] Entering Biscayne Park, it destroyed three homes, one of which was newly built, and afflicted a few automobiles. "Only skeleton walls" of a two-story stucco home were left upright, the Herald noted, and large roof pieces were wrapped around trees.[4] After destroying some power poles,[5] the tornado then moved out over Biscayne Bay and was no longer sighted.[4] For most of its 12-mile (19 km) path, the tornado was less than 100 yd (91 m) wide, moved at about 15 mph (24 km/h), and once stalled for five minutes, often lifting for short periods. Gray likened debris swirling around the funnel to smoke from an oil fire.[5][10] The thunderstorm that spawned the tornado affected the communities of Hialeah, Ojus, West Little River, Biscayne Park, and Lemon City, tracking from Homestead to Fort Lauderdale.[7] Hundreds of people were homeless after the storm,[9] and along its path the tornado felled large trees. Observers saw up to seven funnel clouds at once.[4] A cookstove was tossed 100 yd (91 m).[10] Based on damage photographs, the tornado is estimated to have been an F3 on the Fujita scale,[11] the only other such tornado to hit Miami having occurred in 1959; to date it is the only deadly twister to strike Dade County,[12][13] belonging to a small group of tornadoes that have killed three or more people in Florida.[14]
See also
[edit]- List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
- 1997 Miami tornado – A much weaker event, also quite visible, that hit the same area
Notes
[edit]- ^ All losses are in 1925 United States dollars unless otherwise noted.
- ^ Tornadoes in the United States were unrated before 1971.[1][2] Ratings were retroactively applied to events prior to the formal adoption of the F-scale by the National Weather Service. While official ratings extended back to 1950, tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis rated older events.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 141.
- ^ Grazulis 2001a, p. 131.
- ^ Edwards et al. 2013, p. 641–643.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "3 Dead; 34 Hurt". Miami Herald. Vol. 15, no. 133. Miami. April 6, 1925. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e Gray 1925.
- ^ a b c "Dairy farm hit". Miami Herald. Vol. 15, no. 133. Miami. April 6, 1925. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Written at Miami. "Three Perish, Heavy Damage in Tornado Near Miami, Florida". Portsmouth Daily Times. Portsmouth, Ohio. United Press. April 6, 1925. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Story of the tornado as told by Arthur Pryor". Miami Herald. Vol. 15, no. 133. Miami. April 6, 1925. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Florida Tornado Takes Toll of 4 Lives on Sunday". La Crosse Tribune. Vol. 20, no. 324. Associated Press. April 6, 1925. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Grazulis 1993, p. 797.
- ^ Gregoria, Dan. "WFO Miami, Florida severe weather climatology" (PDF). NWS Forecast Office Miami - South Florida. Miami: National Weather Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2008.
- ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 798.
- ^ Lushine, James B. (November 1, 2005). "Summary of Severe Weather Outbreak in South Florida: February 2, 1998". NWS Forecast Office Miami - South Florida. Miami: National Weather Service. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
- ^ Grazulis, Thomas P.; Grazulis, Doris (April 26, 2000). "The United States' Worst Tornadoes". The Tornado Project. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Environmental Films. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
Sources
[edit]- Edwards, Roger; LaDue, James G.; Ferree, John T.; Scharfenberg, Kevin; Maier, Chris; Coulbourne, William L. (May 1, 2013). "Tornado Intensity Estimation: Past, Present, and Future". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 94 (5). American Meteorological Society: 641–653. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00006.1.
- Gray, Richard W. (1925). Written at Miami. "The Tornado of April 5, 1925, near Miami, Fla" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. 53 (4). Washington, D.C.: United States Weather Bureau: 145–146. Bibcode:1925MWRv...53..145G. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1925)53<145:TTOANM>2.0.CO;2. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 8, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2008 – via American Meteorological Society.
- Grazulis, Thomas P. (May 1984). Violent Tornado Climatography, 1880–1982. OSTI (Technical report). NUREG. Washington, D.C.: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. OSTI 7099491. CR-3670.
- — (November 1990). Significant Tornadoes 1880–1989. Vol. 2. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-02-3.
- — (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.
- — (2001a). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0.
- — (2001b). F5-F6 Tornadoes. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films.