The following is a combination of two reports released by the NOAA. The text is a report by NOAA's National Weather Service written by Curtis Carey. The statistical data is available all the NOAA website. I have taken just the data from April 3 & 4 and only the data pertaining to tornadoes. The site has every severe weather event cataloged for the last 50 years! All events are recorded by state and then time of the day. You will notice that the numbers aren't always sequential. I have removed the events that did not spawn a tornado. Prd is property damage and crd is crop damage.

The Widespread Tornado Outbreak of April 3-4, 1974

A Report to the Administrator

Description of the Outbreak

In terms of total number, path length, and total damage, the massive tornado occurrence of April 3-4, 1974, was more extensive than all previously known outbreaks. Of the 127 tornadoes so far documented (148 tornadoes according to revised statistics by T. Theodore Fujita, The University of Chicago), 118 had paths over a mile long. The total paths amounted to 2,014 miles (2,500 miles according to revised statistics by Mr. Fujita), resulting in 335 deaths (330 deaths according to revised statistics by Mr. Fujita). By comparison, during the tri-State out-break of March 18, 1925, seven tornadoes traveled 437 miles and caused 746 deaths. The Palm Sunday outbreak of April 11, 1965, spawned 31 tornadoes, which had paths totaling 853 miles, and killed 256.

The year 1973 went down in history as the year of the tornado. More than 1,100 tornadoes were reported--an all-time high. The first quarter of 1974 was just as busy, but severe weather forecasts generally were confined to a few watch areas on each storm day. This pattern was broken on Monday, April 1, when 11 severe weather watch areas were issued and more than 20 tornadoes developed from Alabama and Mississippi through the central States into Indiana and Ohio. Three deaths and much property damage were attributed to tornadoes. The storms of April 1 served to alert the forecasters to the potential for widespread outbreaks, and the impact of these storms was fresh in the minds of many people when they heard the watches and warnings of April 3. In Alabama and Tennessee, where severe damage occurred on both days, many lives were saved during the April 3-4 disaster because the public took protective actions that might not otherwise have been taken had it not been for the April I storms.

On Tuesday morning, April 2, the forecasters at the NSSFC determined that the developing storm system had the potential to produce severe thunderstorms the following day, although the precise location and timing Of Such activity was not yet evident. At that time, it appeared that the severe activity would occur somewhere in the middle or lower Mississippi Valley. Consequently, the Kansas City RWCC suggested in a teletypewriter message to 10 Central Region network radar stations that any needed maintenance be done by April 2. (Stations alerted were Garden City and Wichita, Kans.; Grand Island, Neb.; St. Louis and Monett, Mo.; Detroit, Mich.; Des Moines, Iowa; Minneapolis, Minn.; Marseilles, Ill.; and Evansville, Ind.) Meanwhile, the Fort Worth RWCC was phoning to advise several Southern Region WSFOs of the coming severe weather potential and the need for radar maintenance. (Offices contacted were WSFOs in Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Memphis, Birmingham, and Jackson.)

While this preliminary alert did not extend far enough east to include all the tornadoes that occurred, and did include a large area in the central and southern plains in which severe thunderstorms did not occur, it gave many NOAA offices over 24 hours in which to prepare for the outbreak.

Through the night on Tuesday, indications of the storms to come were accumulating but the tremendous magnitude and intensity of what was actually to occur, as well as the precise timing and location of the storms, were still not evident. Two severe weather watches were issued during the predawn hours on Wednesday, April 3, for portions of the lower Mississippi Valley, but little activity was noted in these areas. The pace increased in the NSSFC and field offices during the forenoon, as thunderstorms began to build. Severe Thunderstorm Watch No. 92 covering portions of the Ohio Valley was issued at 8:27 a.m. CDT. From that time until 3:00 a.m. CDT the next morning, NSSFC issued 28 Severe Weather Watches covering almost the entire area from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border and from the, Mississippi River to the East Coast. During this period, National Weather Service Offices issued about 150 tornado warnings. The major activity occurred between 2:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on April 3. In all, 13 States had tornadoes.

The rapid development and widespread extent of the tornado outbreak are evident in the reported times of the first tornado in the seven States struck during the afternoon hours of April 3. Around 2:00 p.m. CDT, tornadoes touched down in Bradley County, Tenn., and Gilmer County, Ga. Within 10 minutes, tornadoes were reported in McLean and Logan Counties, Ill. At 2:20 p.m. CDT, separate killer storms set down in the Indiana counties of Perry and Lawrence. In Ohio the first tornado was reported about 3:30 p.m. CDT, and the Brandenburg, Ky., storm touched down at 3:40 p.m. Alabama's first tornado followed by less than an hour, striking 8 miles west of Birmingham at 4:30 p.m. CDT.

For comparative purposes, for all the tornadoes reported during this outbreak, the mean path length was on the order of 18.7 miles whereas the mean path length for all tornadoes in 1973 was 4.7 miles. For all tornadoes in 1972 it was 3.3 miles. In a rating of intensity of tornadoes on a scale from F0 to F5, six tornadoes in this outbreak had an intensity of F5. In 1973, only one tornado had an intensity of F5. In 1972, no tornadoes reached this intensity. In 1971, two tornadoes had an intensity of F5.

Of the casualties and losses suffered in the 13 States surveyed by the American Red Cross, some were caused by straight-line winds rather than tornadic-storms, particularly those involving mobile homes. Some of the deaths reported by the Red Cross were caused by heart attacks and not by direct storm injury. Large hail during the severe thunderstorms and tornadoes contributed to the total damage. The States of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio were the region of greatest storm activity and damage. Detailed descriptions of tornado activity in each State are provided in the sections that follow. The extremely large number of storms that occurred, and their rapid movement, magnified the problems involved in determining the number and sequence of events. Detailed studies of individual storms and further analyses may modify the descriptions given in this report.

*Numbers assigned to the tornadoes correspond to those given on the University of Chicago map furnished with this report.

Alabama

The activity began about 4:30 p.m. CDT, when a brief tornado touchdown (99) caused damage, but no casualties, in the Concord area 8 miles west of Birmingham. Less than an hour later, another tornado strike (112) caused tree and power line damage 8 miles west of Jacksonville (Calhoun County). About 6:30 p.m. CDT a third tornado (108) hit Cherokee County, injuring 20 persons, while even more powerful storms were spawning farther to the northwest.

Alabama's major tornado activity began when a storm (90) touched ground near Newburg (Franklin County) at 6:30 p.m. CDT and plowed viciously northeastward. This tornado moved on the ground continuously for 85 miles in Alabama before it entered Tennessee. Reports at the time described it as "big and powerful and taking everything in its path." Severely damaged were rural areas of northern Lawrence County, the communities of Tanner, in Limestone County, and Harvest and Hazel Green, in Madison County. This tornado entered Limestone County about 7:05 p.m. CDT. At 7:35 p.m. CDT, in nearly the exact point of entry near the Tennessee River, a second major tornado (91) set down and followed the first tornado. Its 20-mile-long path varied from that of its predecessor by only a block to less than 2 miles. This storm struck hard and hindered rescue units moving into the area. Many communities were hit twice in 30 minutes. Well over half of Alabama's storm deaths and many of the injuries were dealt by these two tornadoes, which killed 55, injured 408, and caused destruction or heavy damage to over 1,100 buildings, more than 200 mobile homes, and numerous motor vehicles.

Even as these storms were occurring, other tornado activity was taking place farther south. At 7:00 p.m. CDT, a tornado (97) touched down 5 miles north of Aliceville (Pickens County) and moved almost continuously on the ground for nearly an hour before hitting Jasper (Walker County) at 7:58 p.m. CDT. It then began a skipping path northeastward and heavily damaged a four-block area in southeast Cullman about 8:40 p.m. This storm finally lifted over northeast Cullman County, leaving 3 dead and 178 injured.

As this tornado was dissipating, the final storms of the outbreak began their havoc. Earlier, strong winds and large hail had hit Columbus, just over the line in Mississippi, and a funnel cloud was sighted at Starkville, Miss. At 8:50 p.m. CDT a very powerful tornado (95) touched down 6 miles north of Vernon (Lamar County) and produced a path of destruction toward the northeast. It moved through Guin (Marion County) about 9:04 p.m. CDT, killing 23 and injuring 250 in the area. In Winston County, it left Delmar with 5 dead and heavy damage. In the Bankhead National Forest, it bit into deep gorges and exposed ridges and destroyed much timber. Shortly after this the tornado lifted, but another tornado (96) moved northeast to strike south Huntsville at 10:50 p.m. CDT. There was severe damage at the Redstone Arsenal and in south Huntsville. Staff members at the Weather Service Office in Huntsville were forced to temporarily abandon their hectic duties. Shortly after 11:00 p.m. CDT, this final storm of the outbreak in Alabama moved across Monte Sano (elevation 1,640 feet) just east of Huntsville, and broke up over western Jackson County. The final two tornadoes killed 28, injured 332, and, destroyed or heavily damaged over 850 buildings, 250 mobile homes, and 60 small businesses.

For more information contact Curtis Carey at (817) 978-4613 ext. 140.

Georgia

The first tornado (113) struck about 2:00 p.m. CDT near the community of Cherry Log, located just northeast of Ellijay in Gilmer County, and moved across the eastern edge of Blue Ridge Lake in Fannin County. Five persons were injured and severe damage, estimated at $800,000, occurred to homes, trees, and utilities in its path.

After a break of several hours, activity began again. About 6 p.m. CDT another tornado (114) moved across Haralson County and caused one death just east of Buchanan. It then continued northeastward through Paulding County and curved north-northeastward into Bartow County, just west of Lake Allatoona. This storm caused 20 injuries and damage estimated at $2 million. The discontinuous path of damage indicates this storm may have originated in Cleburne County, Alabama.

While this tornado was still on the ground, another storm (109) touched down about 6:40 p.m. CDT just Southwest of Sugar Valley community (Gordon County). This tornado passed through Resaca and into portions of Whitfield and Murray Counties and lifted about 7:20 p.m. CDT. It killed 9, injured 54, and caused damage estimated at $4.3 million.

Between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. CDT, another killer tornado (115) moved through portions of Pickens, Cherokee, and Dawson Counties, causing 6 deaths, 30 injuries, and property damage estimated at $2 million. During the evening two more tornadoes (110 and 111) hit sections of Fannin County. One of these (111) moved on to cause deaths in Murphy, N.C. At 9:00 p.m. CDT ' a tornado (116) touched down briefly near Dillard (Rabun County) in the extreme northeast comer of the State, and caused an estimated $90,000 damage to homes, businesses, trees, and utilities.

For more information contact Curtis Carey at (817) 978-4613 ext. 140.

Illinois

Thirteen tornadoes which killed two persons and injured more than 20, occurred in Illinois between approximately 2:07 and 5:00 p.m. CDT, April 3. Six primary tornado tracks have been identified in Logan, McLean, Macon, Champaign, and Vermilion counties. Brief or less destructive touchdowns were reported in Christian, Coles, Edgar, Piatt, and Grundy Counties. The two deaths were in mobile homes, one in Decatur (Macon County) about 2:40 p.m. CDT, the other near Tolono (Champaign County) at 3:48 p.m. CDT. At Decatur over $3 million in damage was reported. Other hard-hit communities included Anchor (McLean County) and Bismarck (Vermilion County).

Indiana

The largest tornado outbreak in Indiana history occurred during the afternoon and early evening hours of April 3. At least 20 tornadoes caused 49 fatalities, 768 injuries, and property losses to 5,966 families. There was a brief tornado touchdown at 9:30 a.m. CDT in an open field in Boone County; however, the major outbreak began about 2:20 p.m. CDT in the south-central part of the State and ended shortly before 8:00 p.m. in the northeast. In all, 39 counties had damage (compared with 20 counties that had damage during the Palm Sunday storms of 1965, which killed three times as many people in the State). Nine people were killed in mobile homes. Most of the tornadoes in Indiana moved at speeds of 50 to 60 mph and several were visually observed to have multiple funnels.

Kentucky

The first storm (47) was the most severe. It touched ground 5 miles southwest of Hardinsburg (Breckinridge County) at 3:40 p.m. CDT and 30 minutes later slammed into Brandenburg (Meade County). This tornado, which had an intensity rating of F5 on the Fujita scale and a path 500 yards wide where it tore through Brandenburg, killed 31, including a number of children who apparently were playing outside after school.

Within an hour of the Brandenburg death and destruction, five other tornadoes (43, 48, 51, 52, and 59) touched down at locations ranging from Louisville (48) and Boone County (43) in the north to Simpson County (59) near the Tennessee border. The pattern of rapid development farther south and east, with individual tornadoes moving rapidly northeastward, continued into the evening hours. Tornado activity ended in the north-central part of Kentucky by 7:00 p.m. CDT. From then until midnight, activity was concentrated in the south-central part of the State.

The Louisville tornado (48) touched down at 4:37 p.m. CDT one-quarter mile north of Standi ford Field. It was witnessed by National Weather Service employees at the Weather Service Forecast Office. This storm was on or close to the ground as it traveled through 10 miles of residential property in the metropolitan area. It widened and increased in intensity as it moved northeastward. In the eastern 3 to 4 miles of the metropolitan area its maximum intensity was F4. Three deaths were attributed directly to the tornado. Three others were reported killed by heart attacks. A total of 225 injuries were reported in Louisville and Jefferson County.

Pulaski County, in south-central Kentucky, was struck by three separate tornadoes during the evening. The first of these (74) touched down near Mt. Victory at 7:55 p.m. CDT and moved into Rockcastle County before lifting. This storm killed 6 and injured 30 in Pulaski County. One death and 10 injuries were reported in Rockcastle County. The second tornado (73) moved into southern Pulaski County shortly after 9:00 p.m. after killing 2 and injuring 16 in eastern Wayne County. The storm hit Alpine at 9:2O p.m. CDT and caused 29 injuries in Pulaski County. The County apparently was struck by Kentucky's final tornado of the outbreak (64) between 11:30 p.m. and midnight, as the storm moved from Piney Grove Church near the Russell County line through Nancy and Bobtown to Level Green (in Rockcastle County).

Killer storms also were reported in Boyle, Clinton, Franklin, Hardin, Madison, Nelson, Simpson, and Wayne

Michigan

In addition to the tornado activity discussed above, tornadoes and/or severe thunderstorms wrought havoc to a lesser degree in a number of other States during the outbreak. Affected were Missouri, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Preceding the major tornado outbreak, a very severe thunderstorm struck St. Louis, Mo., about 1:05 p.m. CDT on April 3. This storm, which had high winds and hail the size of baseballs, caused 25 injuries and a record $45 million in damage.

Michigan was affected by several types of severe weather. Heavy snow and freezing rain hit portions of the upper peninsula, flash flooding from thunderstorm downpours washed out roads and a bridge in Sanilac County, and damaging wind gusts were reported in St. Clair County. The major activity came between 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. CDT, when tornadoes struck parts of six southeastern counties. The most severe of these entered the State from Indiana about 7:30 p.m. CDT, causing intermittent damage in southeast Branch County and southwest Hillsdale County, then continuous damage from just west of Hillsdale to just west of Clark's Lake (Jefferson County) where it lifted. This storm accounted for Michigan's three deaths and 31 of 37 reported injuries. The two deaths and 27 of the injuries were in mobile homes. Weaker tornadoes were reported later in southeast Hillsdale County and from Monroe County into south Detroit (Wayne County). One of these storms killed eight persons in Windsor, Ontario.

Severe activity was reported in Mississippi between 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. CDT, including one tornado and several funnels aloft. Large hail and local wind damage affected six counties in the extreme eastern part of the State. The tornado (98) skipped across Jones County around 5:00 p.m. CDT to cause one injury and damage estimated at $150,000.

In New York, a small tornado (46) struck about 10:00 p.m. CDT. This tornado caused minor damage to the business section of Frewsburg (Chatauqua County).

North Carolina had two separate periods of severe activity. The first wave struck between 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. CDT. At least three tornadoes caused seven deaths and many injuries in the extreme western counties. The communities of Stecoah (Graham County) and the Bealtown section of Murphy (Cherokee County) were in the paths of these storms. About 9:00 a.m. CDT the following morning, Cherokee County again had tornado activity. Brief touchdowns were reported at Marble and Brasstown. At the same time, 140 miles to the east northeast, a skipping tornado injured several persons and caused damage south of Lenoir (Caldwell County).

While South Carolina recorded no tornadoes, a series of severe thunderstorms invaded the northwest part of the State during the afternoon and early evening. Communities damaged included Travelers Rest, Campobello, Pickins, Spartanburg, and Greenville, where three injuries occurred.

During the predawn hours of April 4, a squall line struck West Virginia and extreme western Virginia. It moved eastward as the morning progressed. The area south and east of Beckley, W. Va., was struck by several tornadoes between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. CDT. Thirty-two persons were injured and six people died including a child in a mobile home.

In Virginia, damage was widespread, with 19 counties affected by severe thunderstorms or torndoes. At least four tornadoes occurred. One of these (124) struck near Saltville (Smyth County) about 3:30 a.m. CDT April 4, where it caused property damage but no injuries. Another (126) touched down about 5:00 a.m. CDT just outside Roanoke near Salem (Roanoke County). This storm caused over $500,000 damage, including extreme damage to two apartment houses. There were two deaths in Virginia including one which occurred when a thunderstorm gust destroyed a mobile home in Washington County before sunrise

NOTE: This description was published in December, 1974. Revised statistics currently being used, which became available after publishing, are noted in parenthetical statements.

Mississippi
For description please see Michigan

1

New York
For description please see Michigan

North Carolina
For description please see Michigan

Ohio

Less than an hour later, between about 4:30 and 5:10 p.m. CDT, other tornadoes (43, 44, and 45) struck the western and northern portions of the greater Cincinnati area. Twin funnels were reported for two of these storms. These tornadoes caused four deaths, two in mobile homes.

Weaker tornadoes (23, 25, 27, 50 and 55) were reported between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. CDT in Paulding, Putnam, Brown and Adams Counties.

Tennessee

Eastern Tennessee was the first to feel the outbreak, as a tornado (100) touched down at 2:00 p.m. CDT and moved across the southeast section of Cleveland and into rural Bradley County, resulting in property damage but no casualties. Two hours later, a second tornado (104) struck Cleveland, this time injuring 100 and killing the occupant of a mobile home. This storm moved on to Etowah, where it caused two deaths, 50 injuries, and left most of the town's business area in ruins. Meanwhile, a small tornado had touched down briefly about 3:00 P.M. CDT just northeast of Maryville (Blount County), injuring one person. At 5:00 p.m. CDT separate and brief tornado strikes were reported in Monroe County and Loudon County where two were injured.

At this time, the action shifted from eastern to middle Tennessee, as a tornado (65) moving across the southeast part of Nashville about 5:18 p.m. CDT heavily damaged the Edge o' Lakes subdivision. One heart attack victim was reported during this storm and property damage exceeded $500,000. About 6:00 p.m. CDT, two more tornadoes (66 and 81) occurred, one about 25 miles east-northeast and another about 35 miles south of Nashville, but only a few injuries and damage were caused by these storms. The major part of the outbreak, with its toll of lives and property, was yet to come to Tennessee.

After dark, from sunset to shortly after midnight, 18 tornadoes traveled through a narrow corridor, only 50 miles across at its widest, stretching from Franklin and Lincoln Counties on the Alabama border northeastward to Pickett and Scott Counties on the Kentucky line. Between 7:45 and 8:45 p.m. CDT a very destructive storm (90) moved from Alabama into Tennessee. This storm was accompanied along part of its path by a second tornado (92). Eleven people were killed and 121 in jured in Lincoln and Franklin Counties. Between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. CDT, 9 persons were killed and I died of a heart attack as a tornado (82) swept through Putnam County southeast of Cookeville; 7 died in Fentress County as a tornado (84) passed south of Jamestown; and 5 perished in Pickett County as two other tornadoes (72, 75) moved through Moodyville and the Caney Creek area to the Kentucky border.
Between 11:00 p.m. and midnight CDT, 3 people were killed in mobile homes and 120 others were injured by a storm in Overton County. Twenty more were injured as a tornado (79) struck Scott County.

The last tornadoes of the night occurred near 12:30 a.m. CDT on April 4. One of these, tornado 88, occurred in the main corridor of destruction. This storm moved across portions of White, Putnam, and Cumberland Counties, injuring 28 people and causing heavy property damage in Pleasant Hill, Mayland, and Woody. The other, the last killer storm in Tennessee, was an isolated tornado (101) about 10 miles northeast of Knoxville. This tornado struck a mobile home park, killing two children and injuring 21 people in Knox County.

Virginia
For description please see Michigan

West Virginia
For description please see Michigan