Super Outbreak

The Super Outbreak was the largest tornado outbreak on record. On April 3–4, 1974, 148 tornadoes hit in 13 states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and New York. One tornado also hit near Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was the only one to hit outside the United States.

Related Topics:
Tornado - April 3 - 4 - 1974 - Illinois - Indiana - Michigan - Ohio - Kentucky - Tennessee - Alabama - Mississippi - Georgia - North Carolina - Virginia - West Virginia - New York - Windsor, Ontario - Canada - United States

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This outbreak also broke the record for most F5 and F4 (Fujita scale) tornadoes. There were six F5 tornadoes and 23 F4 tornadoes. The outbreak began in Morris, Illinois, at around 1 p.m. on April 3, 1974. As the storm system moved east where it had been sunny all day, the tornadoes became more severe. A tornado that hit near Monticello, Indiana, was an F4 and had a path length of 121 miles, the longest path length of any tornado for this outbreak. Nineteen people were killed in this tornado. The first F5 tornado of the day hit in Xenia, Ohio. It killed 33, injured 1,150, completely destroyed about one-fourth of the city, and caused serious damage in another fourth of the city. Xenia was hit again by another tornado on September 20, 2000.

Related Topics:
Fujita scale - Morris, Illinois - April 3 - 1974 - Monticello, Indiana - Xenia, Ohio - September 20 - 2000

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Five more F5s would go on to hit—one in Indiana, one more in Ohio, one in Kentucky, and two in Alabama. Twenty-eight were killed in Brandenburg, Kentucky, and 30 were killed in Guin, Alabama. The lowest number killed by an F5 tornado in this outbreak was six in Hanover, Indiana. During the peak of the outbreak, a staggering fifteen tornadoes were on the ground simultaneously.

Related Topics:
Brandenburg, Kentucky - Guin, Alabama - Hanover, Indiana

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There were 18 hours of continuous tornadic activity. The outbreak finally ended in the early morning hours of April 4, 1974. A total of 315-330 people were killed in 49 tornadoes and 5,484 were injured.

Related Topics:
April 4 - 1974

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The Super Outbreak occurred at the end of a very strong, nearly record-setting La Niña event. The 1973–74 La Niña was just as strong as the 1998–99 La Niña.

Related Topics:
La Niña - 1973 - 74 - 1998 - 99

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