Stats

Path length: 6 miles

Width:  800 yards

Fatalities:  3

Injuries:  48

Rating:  F4

County:  Dallas

Tornado Path

Click Map To Enlarge

SPC coordinates:  Start: 32.60 / -96.75   End:  32.67 / -96.67      

Note:  Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.

Summary

A quick-hitting F4 tornado moved 6 miles across parts of Dallas County, TX on this day in 1994.  80% of the Lancaster downtown square was destroyed.  223 homes were destroyed and 227 damaged.  58 businesses were destroyed.  Severe damage occurred to an elementary school and a junior high school.  There were 3 fatalities and 48 injuries reported.  Per Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes, F4 damage occurred just west of downtown Lancaster as a one-by-three block area of homes was leveled.  He also notes that storm chasers suggest that this tornado and another in Desoto (officially listed as separate tornadoes), were actually a single tornado.  

Videos

Newspaper Clippings

Discrepancies:

We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the April 1994 Storm Data Publication and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:

Time Stamp:

  • Grazulis has the start time at 20:40.
  • All other sources list the start time at 20:30.

      Sources:

      The Storm Prediction Center

      NCDC Storm Events Database

      April 1994 Storm Data Publication

      newspapers.com

      Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Page 1362.

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      Newspaper clips are embedded via newspapers.com. Please see their terms and conditions.

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