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Tornado outbreak and derecho of April 1–3, 2024
Tornados and storms in the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A significant tornado outbreak, along with a derecho, affected much of the Midwestern and Southeastern United States from April 1 to 3, 2024. The National Weather Service issued dozens of severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings across those regions during the event. The outbreak first began over portions of the Great Plains and Midwest on April 1, with widespread large hail and damaging winds and a few tornadoes being reported. The outbreak then spread to the Midwest and Ohio Valley on April 2, where the derecho occurred. This was followed by supercell development later in the afternoon. Severe storms also affected parts of the Mid-Atlantic on April 3 as well. A total of 32 million people were estimated to be under watches or warnings, and over 700,000 people were estimated to be without power. Twenty-five people were injured; and five people were killed, all of them by non-tornadic events; three of which happened when downed trees fell onto vehicles in Pennsylvania and New York. The storm system was also responsible for causing flooding in parts of the Northeast, and heavy snow over parts of the Midwest and Northern New England.
The Storm Prediction Center first outlined on April 1 an enhanced risk in areas from north Texas to eastern Illinois, encompassing much of the central United States. In the afternoon hours of the same day, supercell thunderstorms began to develop across northern Texas, moving northeastward and producing large hail. As the event progressed, many tornadic supercells produced brief and weak tornadoes along with high wind gusts; a gust of 90 mph (140 km/h) was recorded in West Virginia, classifying the squall line as a derecho.
The National Weather Service declared the tornado outbreak "historic", stating that not only did it set a daily record for West Virginia, but also broke the yearly record, in one day.[3] Ten tornadoes occurred in West Virginia; which also set a state record for the most tornadoes confirmed in a single day. The previous record was seven; set on both April 4, 1974 and June 2, 1998.[4]
The outbreak was the largest of 2024 prior to the tornado outbreak of April 25–28. In all, 86 tornadoes touched down in total, the highest of which were 14 EF2-rated tornadoes confirmed during the event.
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Meteorological history
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On March 28, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) first delineated a risk of organized severe weather across the Central and Southern Plains, as well as the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys for the beginning of April.[5] By the morning of April 1, a broad Enhanced Risk spanned from north-central Texas northeastward toward the Illinois–Indiana border, where widespread supercell thunderstorms were anticipated. The impetus for the severe weather setup came as a large, positively tilted upper-level trough progressed eastward from the Southwestern United States into the Central Plains region.[6] Morning surface observations revealed an area of low pressure over central Kansas, supporting a north-moving warm front to the east into Ohio and a trailing cold front southwestward into Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. Meanwhile, an eastward-shifting dry line resided from the Texas Panhandle southward into northern Mexico.[7] Within the warm sector of this low, an unstable environment was expected to develop, with averaged instability values of 2,000–3,000 J/kg, dewpoints in the mid- to upper-60s °F, very strong wind shear throughout the atmosphere, and rapidly cooling temperatures with height. Given these conditions, the SPC upgraded much of the eastern half of Oklahoma and a small section of northern Texas to a Moderate Risk. In this area, the capping inversion aloft was expected to erode throughout the afternoon, giving way to multiple supercells capable of producing large hail in excess of 3 in (7.6 cm). A conditional threat of strong/EF2+ tornadoes was also noted as wind shear close to the surface strengthened with time.[8]
Through the afternoon hours, semi-discrete supercells developed across north and central Texas, contributing to widespread reports of large hail the size of baseballs, in addition to hurricane-force wind gusts upwards of 90 mph (140 km/h).[9] Further to the northeast, isolated severe weather occurred in Oklahoma, though it was curtailed by persistent cloud cover and a broad rain shield across the risk area.[10] Even farther to the northeast, training supercell thunderstorms tracked across the St. Louis metropolitan area, producing large hail.[11] By the evening hours, a quasi-linear convective system developed across eastern Oklahoma and progressed toward Missouri and Illinois.[12] In spite of modest instability, strong vertical wind shear maintained organized convective activity as it spread eastward from southern Illinois and eventually into West Virginia during the pre-dawn and early morning hours.[13][14]
Numerous reports of damaging winds were received, including gusts in excess of 90 mph (140 km/h) near Huntington, West Virginia.[15][16] The squall line posthumously met the criteria of a derecho, and post-storm surveys revealed dozens of tornadoes along its track. In particular, 10 tornadoes were confirmed across West Virginia on April 2, the most observed in a single calendar day on record.[3] Convective activity finally lost vigor as it moved toward the West Virginia–Virginia border into a more stable environment.[17]
As the derecho tracked from Missouri to West Virginia early on April 2, another widespread outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes was expected to occur across the broader Ohio River Valley region. On April 1, the SPC issued a Moderate risk across much of Ohio and adjacent portions of surrounding states, that outlook was valid for April 2. Despite questions about the influence of widespread morning thunderstorms, forecasters felt there was sufficient confidence that the atmosphere would recover over subsequent hours, contributing to discrete or clusters of storms capable of producing damaging winds, large hail, and multiple significant tornadoes.[18]
By the afternoon hours of April 2, forecasters expressed concern that morning convection would stunt the degree of destabilization across portions of the risk area, particularly in Ohio. Farther to the west, an environment characterized by surface temperatures of in the low- to mid-70s °F, dewpoints between 65–70 °F (18–21 °C), and strong vertical wind shear was still expected to promote a substantiative risk for strong tornadoes.[19] Storms across southern Indiana and western Kentucky initially struggled to intensify during the afternoon,[20] but they eventually matured into tornado-producing supercells as they continued eastward into western Ohio.[21] As convective activity to the north continued eastward into a drier and more stable environment,[22] a cluster of storms developed farther south across Alabama and Georgia, which contributed to additional tornadoes.[23][24] Additional severe weather occurred along frontal boundaries across several states from Florida to Virginia on April 3 before activity behind offshore.[25][26]
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Confirmed tornadoes
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April 1 event
April 2 event
April 3 event
Watson, Indiana/Prospect–Brownsboro, Kentucky
This strong tornado began along the north side of SR 265/SR 62 west of Watson, Indiana in Clark County. It moved eastward, uprooting trees and damaging an outbuilding at EF0 strength. The tornado then quickly intensified to EF1 strength as it crossed SR 62 and moved through Watson, knocking over three tractor trailers on SR 62 and uprooting several trees. After uprooting additional trees and damaging two homes and an outbuilding, the tornado moved through the neighborhood of Brookhollow in the far northern part of Jeffersonville. In Brookhollow, numerous garage doors were blown out, windows were broken, brick facade crumbled, trees were uprooted, and large sections of roofs were blown off structures. Many boards were impaled and driven more than a foot into the ground with others being impaled into homes. A large metal building also had portions of its walls removed.
The tornado then crossed SR 265 and struck an industrial business at the International Drive/Old Salem Road interchange. The building had parts of its roof section pulled and twisted and a 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) salt pod was lifted up over a 4 ft (1.2 m) concrete barrier and thrown down a hill approximately 40 yd (37 m). The tornado then crossed SR 265 again and broke windows and peeled metal roofing off of more homes in the northern part of Utica before beginning an erratic eastward movement crossing the Ohio River into Kentucky.[114][89]
As it entered Jefferson County, the tornado widened and reached its peak intensity of EF2 as it moved into Prospect and struck the Beechland Beach neighborhood. Three well-built two-story homes suffered significant roof damage, had broken windows had air conditioner units twisted and torn from the sides of them. Another home suffered a collapsed exterior wall, and three large pin oak trees were snapped. Continuing to move erratically eastward, the tornado weakened but reached its maximum width as it moved through Hays Kennedy Park and entered the Sutherland neighborhood at high-end EF1 intensity. Numerous homes suffered roof damage, power lines were downed, power poles were snapped, and trees were uprooted. One homeowner was trapped in the basement of his home when a tree fell on his home; he had to be freed by his neighbors.
Nearby, a 7 ft (2.1 m) section of a locust tree was torn off, thrown 20 yd (18 m), and impaled about 4 ft (1.2 m) into the ground. A personal weather station on the fence at a home on the edge of the tornado's path recorded a wind gust of 79 mph (127 km/h). The tornado then crossed US 42 and entered the Hunting Creek neighborhood, where more trees were uprooted and more roof damage was dealt to homes, including two homes that suffered total roofing loss; this damage was rated low-end EF2 while the rest of the peak damage received an EF1 rating. The tornado then exited Hunting Creek and crossed into Oldham County as it entered Hidden Creek at a weaker low-end EF1 intensity. Trees were uprooted, barns took damage to their overhead doors and sheet metal, and some homes incurred roof damage. The tornado finally exited Prospect, weakened to EF0 strength as it crossed KY 1694, and turned northeast, striking the southern portion of a golf course, uprooting trees and damaging barns. The tornado then lifted northeast of the golf course as it crossed KY 329/KY 1694 near Brownsboro as another EF2 tornado was forming to the north.[114][89]
The tornado was on the ground for 14 minutes, traveled 11.59 mi (18.65 km), and reached a peak width of 450 yd (410 m). There were 22 injuries in Jefferson County.[114][89]
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Non-tornadic effects
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Many areas of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia were put under flood watches prior to the event.[115][116] In West Virginia, there were dozens of reports of straight-line wind damage along with the tornadoes. A wind gust of 92 mph (148 km/h) was recorded at Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Virginia, which set an all-time record for that station.[117][3] Heavy snowfall also affected the Midwest, with up to 17 in (43 cm) of snow falling in Wisconsin.[118] The University of Kentucky campus in Lexington suffered minor damage from high winds, and afternoon classes and on-campus activities were canceled. The Scioto Audubon Metro Park was completely flooded.[119]
Severe storms across the Northeastern United States on April 3 produced a daily rainfall record of 1.75 in (44 mm) of precipitation at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, with even heavier rainfall totals in Newark, New Jersey.[120] Wind gusts in Central Park reached 59 mph (95 km/h).[121] Lightning also struck the Statue of Liberty during the storms, resulting in viral social media attention.[122] Two Major League Baseball games at Citi Field were postponed during the storm.[123] On April 2, two people were fatally crushed by fallen trees in Pennsylvania. Another fatality occurred in New York on April 3 due to downed trees.[120] In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a woman's body was found in a drainage ditch; they were likely swept away during flooding.[124] Another person was also killed in Campbell County, Kentucky.[125] Further north, up to 21.5 in (55 cm) of snow fell in Northern New England, with over 600,000 customers losing power.[126][120]
Over 250,000 people were left without power in the wake of the storm; with many of those outages in West Virginia.[127] On the afternoon of April 2, the state of Kentucky issued a state of emergency.[128] West Virginia also declared a state of emergency for 21 counties.[4] President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for portions of Kentucky,[129] and several counties in West Virginia also qualified for individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which allowed storm victims to receive federal money to repair damage caused by the storms.[130]
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See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tornado outbreak and derecho of April 1–3, 2024.
Wikisource has several original texts related to
Tornado outbreak and derecho of April 1–3, 2024.
- List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
- List of derecho events
- Weather of 2024
- List of United States tornadoes in April 2024
- 1974 Super Outbreak – A historic and deadly tornado outbreak that occurred almost exactly 50 years earlier and impacted many of the same areas.
- 1991 West Virginia derecho – another severe derecho event that occurred in some of the same areas during the month of April.
- Tornado outbreak of March 31 – April 1, 2023 – a historic outbreak that happened the year prior.
- Tornado outbreak of March 13–15, 2024 – another significant outbreak that happened earlier in the year.
- Tornado outbreak sequence of May 19–27, 2024 – yet another tornado and severe storm event that impacted many of the same areas.
- Tornado outbreak and floods of April 2–7, 2025 – another outbreak that impacted similar areas one year later.
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Notes
- All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.
References
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