SPC Stats

Path length: 0.1 miles

Width:  10 yards

Fatalities:  2

Injuries:  9

Rating:  F2

County:  Pima

August 27, 1964:  The first tornado on record in Arizona to cause fatalities. It was a quick-hitting tornado later rated F2.  It hit a Native American Settlement near the San Xavier Mission about 4 miles from Tucson.  The Storm Data entry had no path length or width listed.  Thomas Grazulis states the tornado “moved erratically N, then W, then N again.”  An article in the Arizona Daily Star mentioned a 3 1/4 mile path.  

Mrs. Lucy Norris and her 9-month-old son, Marcian were killed.  They were crushed by a pile of adobe bricks.  Four dwellings were demolished and there was damage to the convent of the nuns of St. Francis.  

Tornado Path

Click Map To Enlarge

SPC coordinates:  Start: 32.20 / 111.02   

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

Newspaper Clippings

Discrepancies:

We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the August 1964 Storm Data Publication and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:

Path Length:

  • SPC has 0.1 path length.
  • NCDC has a path length of zero.
  • Grazulis and Storm Data have no path length listed.

Width:

  • SPC has a 10 yard width.
  • NCDC has a 33 yard width.
  • Grazulis and Storm Data have no width listed.

      Sources:

      The Storm Prediction Center

      NCDC Storm Events Database

      August 1964 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 1056.

      Questions or comments about this summary?  Contact us here!

      Note:  There are some images/videos in our summaries that were licensed to us to be used only on this website. If you would like to use an image/video in your project or blog, please contact us and we will grant permission if possible.

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

      ————————————————

      Would you like to see more summaries like this one?  Support Tornado Talk on Patreon! Become a Patron!


      0 Comments

      Leave a Reply

      Avatar placeholder

      You cannot copy content of this page