The historic tornadoes of April 2011
Advanced Search
Select up to three search categories and corresponding keywords using the fields to the right. Refer to the Help section for more detailed instructions.
 
 
i

Superseded

This Document Has Been Replaced By:

i

Retired

This Document Has Been Retired

i

Up-to-date Information

This is the latest update:

The historic tornadoes of April 2011
Filetype[PDF-4.32 MB]


Details:
  • Corporate Authors:
    United States, National Weather Service,
  • Description:
    "On April 27, 2011, a series of devastating tornadoes struck the southeastern United States. This tornado event was one of the deadliest in the country since systematic tornado record keeping began in 1950. With 316 fatalities (31 in Mississippi, 234 in Alabama, 32 in Tennessee, 15 in Georgia, and 4 in Virginia), it ranks with the 1974 Super Tornado Outbreak and resulted in more deaths than the 1965 Palm Sunday Outbreak. In addition, there were more than 2,400 injuries. Damages from this outbreak totaled over $4.2 billion. The National Weather Service (NWS) formed a Service Assessment Team to evaluate its performance. To strengthen NWS relationships with other federal agencies involved with disaster work, for the first time this assessment had a co-leader from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The team interviewed staff and reviewed products from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), Weather Forecast Offices at Memphis and Morristown, TN, Jackson, MS, Huntsville and Birmingham, AL, and Peachtree City, GA. The team gathered feedback from partners and users of NWS products including media outlets, Emergency Managers at the state and local level, first responders, and the public. One of the team's tasks was to assess societal impacts of this event. This tornado outbreak was anticipated and forecast days in advance. The SPC began focusing on the affected area in its convective outlook products 5 days prior to the event. It continued emphasizing, refining, and enhancing the threat leading up to the event, ultimately issuing a high risk convective outlook on the morning of April 27 for a large portion of the impacted area. The Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) in the affected area prepared for severe weather operations and indicated the risk of severe weather and tornadoes as much as 5 days in advance. Hazardous Weather Outlooks, Web images, pre-recorded multimedia briefings, and webinars discussed the potential impacts. Emergency Managers and media staff interviewed indicated they were well prepared for the severe weather that occurred."--Page 1.
  • Keywords:
  • Document Type:
    Service Assessment
  • Place as Subject:
    Southern States
  • Collection(s):
    National Weather Service (NWS)
  • Main Document Checksum:
  • File Type:
  • Supporting Files:
    No Additional Files
    1. Filetype[PDF - 7.05 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2016
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "The combination of a surface low-pressure system located along a stationary frontal boundary off the U.S. Southeast coast, a slow moving upper low to the west, and a persistent plume of tropical moisture associated with Hurricane Joaquin resulted in...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 7.05 MB]
    2. Filetype[PDF - 1.55 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2009
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "Mother's Day Weekend, May 10-11, 2008, brought severe weather to many sections of the country. The greatest impact was in northeast Oklahoma and southwest Missouri. A tornado, rated EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, moved southeast from the town of ...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 1.55 MB]
    3. Filetype[PDF - 2.41 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2002
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "A violent tornado, rated F4 on the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale (see appendix A), moved across southern Maryland and devastated the town of La Plata. Tornadoes along the Atlantic coast are not common, and tornadoes of this magnitude are extremely ...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 2.41 MB]
    4. Filetype[PDF - 1.27 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2009
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "During a 12-hour period in the evening and early morning of February 5-6, 2008, 87 tornadoes occurred in nine states with 57 fatalities in four states. This is the second largest February tornado outbreak since 1950 (beginning year of official torna...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 1.27 MB]
    5. Filetype[PDF - 1.18 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2006
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "Hurricane Charley made landfall on the southwest coast of Florida near Cayo Costa, just west of Ft. Myers around 3:45 p.m. EDT on August 13, with maximum sustained surface winds near 150 mph. This made Charley a category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpso...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 1.18 MB]
    6. Filetype[PDF - 323.15 KB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      1998
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "On the evening of April 8, 1998, tornadoes powerful as F5 on the Fujita Scale swept through the northern half of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia causing considerable loss of life, injuries and property loss. The National Weather Service's Southern...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 323.15 KB]
    7. Filetype[PDF - 2.77 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2012
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "During the winter and spring of 2010-2011, record to near-record setting snow fell across a large portion of the northern United States Rocky Mountains and eastward into the Northern Plains states. A cool spring held the snowpack in place later than...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 2.77 MB]
    8. Filetype[PDF - 1.87 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      1996
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "January 6-8, 1996, a major "nor'easter" paralyzed the Eastern Seaboard for the better part of a week. Right on the heels of a Federal Government shutdown that furloughed most Federal employees, some of the heaviest snow of the late 20th century blan...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 1.87 MB]
    9. Filetype[PDF - 486.12 KB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      1999
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "Torrential rains over south and southeast Texas during the weekend of October 17-18, 1998, led to widespread and deadly flooding. A total of 31 people died during this event, and property damage estimates approached three quarters of a billion dolla...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 486.12 KB]
    10. Filetype[PDF - 5.28 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2009
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "During June 2008, record or major flooding occurred across large areas of the central United States. The flooding had devastating impacts, with 11 people losing their lives. Damages have been estimated at over $5 billion. The states most severely af...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 5.28 MB]
    11. Filetype[PDF - 826.97 KB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2007
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "During the afternoon and evening of March 1, 2007, deadly tornadoes moved across southern Alabama and Georgia. In a 14-hour period beginning at 12:30 p.m. CST, 31 tornadoes occurred, resulting in 19 fatalities across the two states. Eleven of the to...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 826.97 KB]
    12. Filetype[PDF - 235.41 KB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2005
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "On June 14, 2005, an earthquake measuring magnitude 7.2 occurred approximately 90 miles off the northern California coast, prompting NOAA's West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami warning for the West Coast of the United Stat...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 235.41 KB]
    13. Filetype[PDF - 789.35 KB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2005
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "At approximately 4:00 p.m. local time on March 6, 2004, a cluster of thunderstorms moved through the Baltimore metropolitan area producing wind gusts of 40 to 55 mph. A water taxi loaded with 25 people in Baltimore's Inner Harbor capsized in the thu...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 789.35 KB]
    14. Filetype[PDF - 2.78 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      1998
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "This report on the series of tornadoes which struck central Texas on May 27, 1997, was prepared by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Service Assessment Team following a 4-day visit to the storm sites. The meteorological analys...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 2.78 MB]
    15. Filetype[PDF - 5.19 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service
      Published Date:
      2011
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "On May 1-2, 2010, record-breaking rains struck Kentucky and the Tennessee Valley region. Western and Middle Tennessee were hardest hit with local amounts of 18-20 inches to the south and west of Greater Nashville along the Interstate 40 corridor. Mu...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 5.19 MB]
    16. Filetype[PDF - 1.28 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2012
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "Large scale weather patterns allowed tropical moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee and the Atlantic Ocean to stream northward across the Mid-Atlantic Region, September 6-9, 2011. This pattern allowed continuous rain, very heavy at times,...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 1.28 MB]
    17. Filetype[PDF - 2.62 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2003
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "Super Typhoon Pongsona (Pong-sahn-WAH) was one of the most intense typhoons to ever strike the island of Guam. It was comparable to Super Typhoon Paka (1997) and was exceeded only by Karen (1962) and the Typhoon of 1900. Due to the magnitude of this...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 2.62 MB]
    18. Filetype[PDF - 2.62 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      2013
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "On June 29, 2012, a devastating line of thunderstorms known as a derecho (deh REY cho) moved east-southeast at 60 miles per hour (mph) from Indiana in the early afternoon to the Mid-Atlantic region around midnight. The states most significantly impa...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 2.62 MB]
    19. Filetype[PDF - 3.59 MB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service
      Published Date:
      2012
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "The year 2011 began with extremely wet soil conditions over much of the northern plains in the north central United States. By early March, significant snow had accumulated over the same region resulting in one of the highest snow-water equivalents ...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 3.59 MB]
    20. Filetype[PDF - 552.84 KB]
      Corporate Authors:
      United States, National Weather Service,
      Published Date:
      1997
      Series:
      Service assessment
      Description:
      "The primary purpose of this Service Assessment is to document the National Weather Service's (NWS) performance in fulfilling its mission of providing timely warnings and accurate forecasts prior to and during the tornado outbreak of March 1, 1997, i...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 552.84 KB]

You May Also Like:

  1. Filetype[PDF - 7.05 MB]
    Corporate Authors:
    United States, National Weather Service,
    Published Date:
    2016
    Series:
    Service assessment
    Description:
    "The combination of a surface low-pressure system located along a stationary frontal boundary off the U.S. Southeast coast, a slow moving upper low to the west, and a persistent plume of tropical moisture associated with Hurricane Joaquin resulted in...
    File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 7.05 MB]
  2. Filetype[PDF - 1.55 MB]
    Corporate Authors:
    United States, National Weather Service,
    Published Date:
    2009
    Series:
    Service assessment
    Description:
    "Mother's Day Weekend, May 10-11, 2008, brought severe weather to many sections of the country. The greatest impact was in northeast Oklahoma and southwest Missouri. A tornado, rated EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, moved southeast from the town of ...
    File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 1.55 MB]