NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
Visit:NCEI U.S. Tornadoes
According to data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, during April, there were 73 preliminary tornado reports. This is well below, less than half, of the 1991-2010 average of 155 tornadoes for the month of April and is the lowest April total since 1993. Only 4 Aprils since 1990 have had under 100 tornadoes: 2013 (86), 1992 (53), 1993 (85) and 2021 (73). Despite the low April tornado count there were still several days that were active in producing tornadoes.
The first significant tornado day of the month was April 7 in which 15 tornadoes occurred across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. The majority of these tornadoes were clustered across northern and central Louisiana. There was also one tornado in eastern Iowa. All of these tornadoes were rated as either EF-1 or EF-0 and caused damage to homes, vehicles, outbuildings and at least 1 school that suffered roof and wall damage in Louisiana. There were no reported fatalities associated with the April 7 tornadoes, and there was at least 1 reported injury in Louisiana. The 15 tornadoes on April 7 represented the highest tornado count for any day during the month.
April 9-10 was another noted tornado event, as a combined 17 tornadoes were scattered across numerous southeastern states including Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. There was also one isolated tornado in southern Michigan. Most all of these tornadoes were rated as either EF-1 or EF-0, with the exception of a low-end EF-3 that touched down in south-central Louisiana. There was also an EF-2 that began as a strong waterspout that came ashore and did damage in Laguna Beach, Florida. Both of these tornadoes caused substantial damage to homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure. The EF-3 tornado also caused 1 fatality and at least 7 reported injuries.
Another tornado event was on April 23-24 in which there were a combined 13 tornadoes. These tornadoes were scattered across Texas, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. All of these tornadoes were rated as either EF-1 or EF-0 and caused damage to homes, vehicles, farm buildings and other infrastructure. There were no reported fatalities from these tornadoes.
April 27 was also a notable day with 12 tornadoes reported across Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. Most of these were weaker EF-0 or EF-1 tornadoes producing scattered damage to homes, farm buildings, vehicles and other infrastructure. However, there was also an EF-3 tornado that impacted north-central Texas. This tornado produced damage to vehicles, farm outbuildings and infrastructure including steel utility poles that were bent from the high wind. There were no reported injuries or fatalities.
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.