Portal:Tornadoes/Anniversaries/April

April 1

1972 – A tornado leveled a large swath of Mymensingh, Bangladesh, killing at least 200 people.
1977 – A tornado killed 328 people and injured more than 1,000 near Madaripur, Bangladesh. About 200 of the fatalities were on a motor launch that capsized on the Meghna River. Another 111 people were killed in six nearby villages.

April 2

1957 – A highly-visible multiple-vortex F3 tornado struck Dallas, Texas, killing 10 people and injuring 216. Many poorly-built homes were leveled. The tornado was photographed or filmed by more than 100 people, including some of the highest-quality film of a tornado in the twentieth century. The wind speed, estimated from photogrammetry, was about 175 mph (280 km/h). Other tornadoes from the same outbreak killed 8 people across Texas and Oklahoma on this day.
1982 – A tornado outbreak hit the central and southern United States, resulting in 30 deaths. An F4 tornado destroyed 465 homes and apartments across the northern part of Paris, Texas, killing 10 people and injuring 170. An F3 tornado killed five people in Hope, Arkansas, all in one family. One tornado near Broken Bow, Oklahoma was officially rated F5, but that rating is disputed.
2006 – A large tornado outbreak killed 27 people across the Midwestern United States and Mississippi River Valley. An F3 tornado devastated Newbern, Tennessee, killing 16 people, Another F3 tornado killed six people in Bradford, Tennessee.

April 3

1956 – An F5 tornado (possibly a tornado family) devastated parts of Hudsonville and Grand Rapids, Michigan, killing 18 people. Other tornadoes on this day killed 19 people, including 7 killed by an F4 tornado in Berlin, Wisconsin.
1974 – The peak of the 1974 Super Outbreak devastated communities across the Eastern United States. With 30 tornadoes rated F4 and 7 rated F5, it was the most violent tornado outbreak on record. In all, 148 tornadoes confirmed, making it, at the time, the largest tornado outbreak on record and one of the deadliest, with 319 fatalities.

April 4

1923 – An F4 tornado tore through parts of Alexandria and Pineville, Louisiana, killing 15 people and injuring 150.
1977 – An F5 tornado devastated the northern part of Birmingham, Alabama, killing 22 people and injuring 130.
1981 – A highly unusual anticyclonic F4 tornado struck West Bend, Wisconsin, killing three people and injuring 53. It was the strongest anticyclonic tornado on record and the only one known to have caused fatalities. A tornado warning was not issued until 9 minutes after the tornado struck, as the storm that spawned it appeared weak on radar. The tornado lasted only 5 minutes.

April 5

1907 – A tornado outbreak killed at least 23 people in Louisiana and Alabama. The greatest loss of life was from an F3 tornado that killed 13 people in West and East Feliciana parishes, including 4 at a mental institute near Jackson, Louisiana. An F2 tornado killed 4 people in Alexandria, Louisiana and an F3 tornado killed 3 (possibly 7) people near Patsburg, Alabama.
1936 – An F5 tornado, one of the deadliest in United States history, devastated Tupelo, Mississippi, killing at least 216 people, with reports of up to 233 deaths. The death toll may have been higher, as the fate of many African American victims is not well-documented.
1972 – An F3 tornado caused significant damage in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, killing six people and injuring more than 300. Five people were killed by the collapsing walls of a store. About 150 students were injured by glass in an elementary school. The F3 rating is disputed.

April 6

1935 – An F3 tornado, possibly a family of two tornadoes, struck parts of Gloster and Gillsburg, Mississippi, killing 14 people and injuring 220, and caused unknown damage in Louisiana. An F2 tornado killed three children in Doloroso, Mississippi.
1936 – A pair of tornadoes devastated downtown Gainesville, Georgia, killing at least 203 people and injuring 1,400. More may have died as 40 people were still missing when the death toll was declared. The deaths of 70 people were in one building that collapsed and caught fire, the highest single-building death toll for any U.S. tornado.

April 7

2006 – The worst day of a three-day tornado outbreak caused damage across a wide swath of the Eastern United States, resulting in 10 deaths and 141 injuries. Most of the casualties were from an F3 tornado that hit Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, and Gallatin, Tennessee, killing 7 people and injuring 128. Officials stated that the death toll might have been higher if local schools had not practiced tornado drills.

April 8

1903 – An F4 tornado devastated Hopewell, Alabama, killing 19 people, most of them in three homes where even small vegetation was removed. There were seven deaths each in two families. Another 100 people were injured.
1998 – An F5 tornado moved through suburbs on the north side of Birmingham, Alabama, destroying about 600 homes, killing 32 people, and injuring 259. This was the deadliest tornado to hit the United States since 1979.

April 9

1919 – A tornado outbreak, which had started just before midnight on February 8, killed 95 people in the central and southern United States. A long-track F4 tornado, at times a mile wide, killed 24 people as it moved across Wood, Camp, and Titus counties. Another F4 tornado killed 20 people in Henderson and Van Zandt counties.
1947 – One of the deadliest tornadic events in U.S. history, a family of tornadoes up to F5 intensity and, at times 2 miles (3.2 km) wide, moved across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, killing 181 people and injuring more than 1,200. In Texas, all of Glazier and most of Higgins were destroyed, resulting in 17 and 51 deaths respectively. Another 107 people were killed and about 1,000 were injured in the devastation of Woodward, Oklahoma.
1953 – A hook echo was found to correspond with the location of an F3 tornado near Champaign, Illinois. This marks the first time a tornado was found to be associated with a signature detected by weather radar.

April 10

1929 – A deadly tornado outbreak killed 57 people in Arkansas. An F5 tornado, the strongest on record in Arkansas, obliterated the small town of Sneed, killing 23 people and inuring 80. An F4 tornado killed 17 people in and near Princedale and injured 100. Another F4 tornado killed 9 people in Herpel and Guion.
1979 – An F4 tornado, part of the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak, destroyed a large portion of Wichita Falls, Texas, killing 42 people and injuring more than 1,700. Damage was $400 million making it, at the time, the costliest tornado in United States history.

April 11

1965 – The peak of the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak brought numerous strong to violent tornadoes to the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region in one of the most intense tornado outbreaks on record, resulting in 260 deaths and more than 3,400 injuries. With 18 tornadoes rated F4, this event is surpassed only by the 1974 Super Outbreak in the number of violent (F4/EF4 and F5/EF5) tornadoes.

April 12

1927 – An F5 tornado destroyed all but 12 buildings in Rocksprings, Texas, killing 72 people and injuring 205. Two others were killed outside of town.
1945 – A major tornado outbreak killed at least 118 people in the Midwestern and Southern United States. The worst of these was an F5 tornado that destroyed a large portion of Antlers, Oklahoma, killing 69 people. Despite the devastation, news of this event was largely overshadowed, even in local newspapers, by the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

April 13

1921 – An F4 tornado devastated the central and eastern portions of Melissa, Texas, destroying every church in town and the entire business district except for the bank. About 40 homes were destroyed with some homes and farms swept away. A total of 11 people were killed and 80 were injured.

April 14

1886 – A major outbreak produced strong tornadoes across the Midwestern United States and Texas. The greatest loss was from an F4 tornado that devastated portions of St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, killing 72 people and injuring 213. The bottom of the Mississippi River was reportedly "swept dry" as the tornado crossed it.

April 15

1921 – A complex tornado family, with members up to F4 intensity, traveled 112 mi (180 km) across northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas, killing 59 people and injuring 300. The worst damage was in Hempstead County, Arkansas, where 34 people were killed in the destruction of eight communities. Another 16 people were killed in Miller County, Arkansas, and 6 died in Avinger, Texas. Two people were killed in Marion County, Texas and one in Pike County, Arkansas.
1956 – An F4 tornado devastated McDonald Chapel, Alabama, killing 25 people and injuring 200. About 400 buildings were damaged or destroyed and many poorly-built homes were swept away.

April 16

1939 – Forty-five people were killed by tornadoes across Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. An F4 tornado killed 27 people in Drew County, Arkansas, including 11 in a church near Center Point that had just held a funeral service, and 9 on a single plantation. Another F4 tornado "swept away" a subdivision in Haynesville, Louisiana, killing 8 people.
1944 – Two F4 tornadoes struck Georgia and South Carolina, killing 41 people and injuring 320. The first killed 25 people along a 40 mi (64 km) track as moved through Royston and Montevideo, Georgia, and passed near Nuberg, Georgia and Ava, South Carolina. Five people died in one family in Royston. The second tornado killed 16 people, most of them in Abbeville and Greenwood, South Carolina. Most of the dead from this tornado were children.
2011 – The third and deadliest day of one of the largest tornado outbreaks on record impacted the Southeastern United States, resulting in 26 deaths. An EF3 tornado killed 12 people in Askewville, North Carolina out of a population of about 240. A long-track EF3 tornado six people in Sanford, North Carolina and Raleigh, North Carolina and moved directly through downtown Raleigh. Four children were killed when a tree fell on a mobile home.

April 17

1922 – Twenty people were killed across Illinois and Indiana by a tornado outbreak. An F4 tornado killed 11 people in Hedrick, Indiana after undergoing "rapid and unexpected growth" and two others near Ogden, Illinois. Another F4 tornado swept away homes in Madison and Delaware counties, Indiana, killing 3 people, and carried a postcard 124 miles (200 km).

April 18

1880 - A major tornado outbreak killed at least 165 people, primarily in the Midwestern United States. Most of the deaths were from two long-track F4 tornadoes that carved parallel tracks across southern Missouri. The first killed 31 people on a 93 mi (150 km) long path from near Rocky Comfort to near Grove Spring and passing through McDowell. The second devastated Marshfield, destroying all but 15 buildings and killing 92 people in town out of a population of 1,100. The same tornado killed 7 others at Boaz. Another F4 tornado destroyed Barnettsville, Missouri, killing 8 people in town and 6 others elsewhere along its path.
1970 – An F4 tornado passed near Clarendon, Texas, killing at least 16 people (Thomas P. Grazulis lists 17 deaths). Thirteen of those deaths were in the mobile home community of Sherwood Shores, where all but one of 172 trailers were destroyed.

April 19

1882 – An F3 tornado destroyed much of Brownsville, Missouri (now Sweet Springs), killing 11 people. Debris was carried at least 2 miles (3.2 km).
1927 – A tornado outbreak in the Southern and Midwestern United States continued overnight and into the afternoon from the previous day. A long-track F4 tornado killed 11 people near Hardin, Carrollton, Wrights, Athensville, and Loami, Illinois. Another long-track F4 tornado killed 10 people along its path and destroyed the northern half of Cornland, Illinois.
1968 – A short-lived F4 tornado, lasting only 4 minutes, destroyed most of Greenwood, Arkansas, which was "reduced to matchsticks and kindling." Fourteen people were killed and 270 were injured.

April 20

1920 – A major tornado outbreak killed at least 224 people across the Southeastern United States. A devastating F4 tornado killed 88 people and injured 700 as it moved through Aberdeen, Mississippi and destroyed hundreds of homes near Cedarbluff and Starkville, Mississippi and Bexar and Waco, Alabama. Five other tornadoes on this day had death tolls in excess of 20.

April 21

1887 – A long-track F4 tornado or tornado family killed at least 21 people as it moved across eastern Kansas and western Missouri. At least 12 died in Prescott, Kansas, where two-thirds of the buildings were damaged or destroyed, and 5 died near Sprague, Missouri. Another tornado killed 3 people near Schell City, Missouri.
1967 – The 1967 Oak Lawn tornado outbreak resulted in 58 deaths across Illinois. The worst casualties were from an F4 tornado that tore through the south side of Chicago and nearby suburbs, killing 33 people and injuring 1,000. Sixteen people died in Oak Lawn, Illinois when cars, stuck in rush hour traffic, were thrown from a highway. Another F4 tornado devastated Belvidere, killing 24 people and injuring 500. Of those, 13 deaths and 300 injuries were in school buses.

April 22

1882 – An F4 tornado destroyed Monticello, Mississippi, leaving only three homes standing on the edge of town. Ten people were killed and 100 were injured. Other tornadoes killed an additional eight people across the Southeastern United States, including five deaths from an F2 tornado south of Selma, Alabama.
1883 – An extremely deadly tornado outbreak struck the Southeastern United States and left at least 101 people dead. A long-track F4 tornado completely destroyed Beauregard, Mississippi and devastated parts of Wesson and Georgetown, killing at least 56 people. Potentially more than 100 people died between this tornado and another, which started near Georgetown and killed at least 11 people.

April 23

1968 – A tornado outbreak hit the Ohio and lower Mississippi valleys. An F5 tornado devastated Wheelersburg and Gallipolis, Ohio, killing seven people and injuring more than 100. Its F5 status is disputed. An long-track F4 tornado (possibly F5) killed six people and injured more than 360 as it struck numerous towns in Ohio and Kentucky, most notably Falmouth, Kentucky, where four were killed and 350 were injured. One other person was killed by an F4 tornado near Newtonsville, Ohio.

April 24

1908 – An extremely deadly tornado outbreak killed at least 291 people across the Deep South. A major tornado family, with one tornado up to 2 miles (3.2 km) wide, devastated Amite, Louisiana and leveled most of Purvis, Mississippi along with numerous other communities impacted, killing 143 people and injuring 770. Another major tornado or tornado family killed 91 people, mostly on plantations in Concordia Parish, Louisiana and near Natchez and Church Hill, Mississippi. Yet another tornado killed 35 people, mostly in Bergens and Albertville, Alabama.
2010 – An EF4 tornado carved a damage path 149 miles (240 km) long across eastern Louisiana and central Mississippi, one of the longest reliably-documented tracks of a single tornado. At 1.75 miles (2.82 km) wide, it was also the widest tornado on record in Mississippi until it was superseded ten years later. Ten people were killed.

April 25

1880 – Much of the western part of Macon, Mississippi was destroyed by an F4 tornado. Twenty-two people, including several entire families, were killed. Railroad equipment and loaded freight cars were thrown up to 100 yards.
1893 – An F4 tornado up to 1.25 miles (2.01 km) wide moved through Newcastle and Moore, Oklahoma, killing 31 people, including 11 in one home. Many homes of light construction were swept away. This was the first of several devastating storms to strike Moore in its long history of major tornadoes.
1929 – The most significant tornado on record in southeastern Georgia killed at least 40 people as it swept away homes in Emanuel, Candler, and Bulloch Counties. The path of the F4 tornado was, at times a mile (1.6 km) wide.

April 26

1884 – A photographer in Garnett, Kansas took a picture of a tornado as it dissipated, marking the first time the funnel of a tornado had been photographed.
1989 – The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado, the deadliest tornado ever recorded, struck the Manikganj District of Bangladesh, killing an estimated 1,300 people.
1991 – A significant tornado outbreak hit the central United States. An F5 tornado tore through the Wichita, Kansas metropolitan area, hitting McConnell Air Force Base and causing its worst damage in Andover, resulting in 17 deaths and 225 injuries. Another 4 people were killed by other tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas.

April 27

1942 – An F4 tornado destroyed about a third of Pryor, Oklahoma, killing 52 people. Many of the homes destroyed had been hastily built during the town's wartime expansion.
2011 – The peak of the 2011 Super Outbreak saw 216 tornadoes produced in 24 hours across the Southeastern United States. Four EF5s and eleven EF4s were among the tornadoes that devastated parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. The death toll on April 27 was 319. For the entire outbreak, 360 tornadoes occurred over four days, resulting in 324 fatalities.

April 28

1893 – An F4 tornado severely damaged or destroyed every building in Cisco, Texas, killing at least 23 people. Half of the town's population was left with no shelter of any kind and 43 of the 45 businesses in town were destroyed. An entire train was thrown 80–200 feet (24–61 m) from the tracks.
1950 – Strong tornadoes killed 11 people in Oklahoma and Texas. Five died as an F4 tornado swept away two homes near Clyde, Texas. A refrigerator was carried half a mile (0.8 km) and stuck on top of a telephone pole. Another F4 tornado killed five people as it devastated Holdenville, Oklahoma. One other person died near Lone Wolf, Oklahoma.
2002 – Part of a larger outbreak, a rare F4 tornado hit La Plata, Maryland, killing three people and inuring more than 100. The tornado was initially rated F5, but it was downgraded after the swept-away houses were found to have been very poorly anchored. A report on this tornado led to the creation of a "Quick Response Team" for assessing damage from potential F4 and F5 tornadoes.

April 29

1909 – A major tornado outbreak hit the Midwestern and Southeastern United States, killing at least 132 people. A probable tornado family killed at least 29 people in and near Horn Lake, Mississippi and across rural areas of southern Tennessee. At least 29 others were killed by an F4 tornado in Bee Springs and Millville near Dellrose, Tennessee.
1947 – An F4 (possibly F5) tornado destroyed nearly all of Worth, Missouri, killing 14 people. Half of a building remained standing in the downtown area.
1972 – A tornado killed an estimated 300 people in Bhakua and Haripur, Bangladesh.

April 30

1924 – A tornado outbreak killed 111 people in the Southeastern United States. The greatest loss of life was from a long-track tornado family, with a maximum rating of F4, that killed 53 people in small communities across South Carolina, including 24 in Richland County, and 20 in Sumter County. An F3 tornado killed 14 people in Florence County, South Carolina.