NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
Visit:NCEI U.S. Tornadoes
According to preliminary data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, during April, there were 384 preliminary tornado reports. This was more than double the 1991-2020 average of 182.4 tornadoes for the month of April, the second highest April count on record, and the most tornadoes reported since April 2011. This is also more than double the 3-year tornado average during the month of April for the years 2021-2023. The preliminary tornado count for the January-April year-to-date period was 547, which is similar to the total from the last couple of years and above the 1991-2020 average of 337.9 tornadoes. It was also the third highest count for this period on record. April began and ended with impactful tornado outbreaks, which the following summary highlights below in more detail.
On April 1-2, a tornado outbreak from Oklahoma to West Virginia produced more than 85 tornadoes. These tornadoes were rated as: EF-0, 52 EF-1, 14 EF-2 and several EF-U (unknown or unconfirmed) tornadoes. Southern Indiana, southern Ohio, northern Kentucky and western region of West Virginia were most impacted. These tornadoes and associated severe weather caused extensive impacts to homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure. Ten tornadoes touched down in West Virginia on April 2, making it the state's largest single-day tornado outbreak since records began in 1950. There were no tornado-related fatalities but more than two dozen injuries were reported.
On April 25-28, severe weather produced over one hundred and fifty preliminary tornadoes across parts of the Midwest and Great Plains. The states most affected were Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. This outbreak included at least 40 EF-0, 59 EF-1, 16 EF-2, eight EF-3, one EF-4 tornado and dozens of EF-U tornadoes, causing widespread damage to many homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. Eastern Nebraska was particularly impacted by numerous strong tornadoes. Multiple EF-3s struck the state for the first time since 2014, wreaking havoc along their paths. Lincoln narrowly avoided a direct hit, with a large tornado packing 158 mph winds touching down on the edge of the city. The same storm also spawned a mile-wide tornado that heavily damaged the towns of Elkhorn, Bennington, and Blair on the outskirts of Omaha. On April 27, an EF-4 tornado struck Marietta, Oklahoma damaging a large commercial distribution center. This was the first EF-4 tornado recorded in Oklahoma since May 9, 2016. Near downtown Omaha another EF-3 touched down at Eppley Airfield, which destroyed several hangars and airplanes. Several tornadoes also touched down close to Topeka, Kansas while an EF-3 tornado caused extensive damage to the town of Westmoreland. The National Weather Service in Omaha issued 48 tornado warnings on April 26, which was the most the office has ever issued in a single day. Across the entire multi-state region during this multi-day outbreak, three fatalities were reported in addition to an unknown number of injuries.
Did You Know?
Tornado Count
Final monthly tornado counts are typically less than the preliminary count. This can be due to some phenomena being inaccurately reported as tornadic activity or a single tornado being reported multiple times. Tornado accounts are reported to the local National Weather Service forecast offices who are responsible for going into the field and verifying each tornado reported. This process often takes several months to complete. Once all reports have been investigated, the final count is published by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC).
The Tornado Monthly Climate Reports are written using the preliminary numbers because the final data is not available at the time of production. Historically, for every 100 preliminary tornado reports, at least 65 tornadoes are confirmed. An error bar is depicted on the tornado count graphic representing this uncertainty in the preliminary tornado count.
The following U.S. studies performed by SPC meteorologists offer deeper context and discussion regarding the frequency and distribution of tornado intensity climatologies:
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Edwards, R., H. E. Brooks, and H. Cohn, 2021: Changes in tornado climatology accompanying the Enhanced
Fujita scale. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 60, 1465-1482
DOI: 10.1175/JAMC-D-21-0058.1. - Mccarthy, Daniel & Schaefer, Joseph. (2004). Tornado trends over the past thirty years. paper presented at 14th Conference on Applied Meteorology.