April's tornado outbreaks the two largest in history - updated

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1796

Posted by: JeffMasters, 2:54 PM GMT on May 05, 2011

The largest tornado outbreak and greatest one-day total for tornadoes in history occurred during last week's historic super tornado outbreak, said NOAA in a press release on Wednesday. They estimate 190 tornadoes touched down during the 24-hour period from 8:00 a.m. EDT April 27 to 8:00 a.m. EDT April 28 (132 tornadoes have already been confirmed, with several weeks of damage surveys still to come.) NOAA's estimate for the number of tornadoes during the three-day April 25 - 28, 2011 Super Outbreak, is 305. This is nearly double the previous record for a multi-day tornado outbreak of 155 tornadoes, set just two weeks previously during the April 14 - 16, 2011 outbreak. There were tornado outbreaks in May 2004 (385 tornadoes) and May 2003 (401 tornadoes) that had more tornadoes, but these outbreaks occurred over an eight-day and eleven-day period, respectively, and were not due to a single storm system. Prior to April 2011, the most tornadoes in a 24-hour period, and in an outbreak lasting less than four days, was the 148 tornadoes in the Super Outbreak of April 3 - 4, 1974.

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The Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado is likely to be the most expensive tornado of all-time, and damage from the April 25 - 28 outbreak is the most expensive tornado outbreak in history. Insured damages have been rated at $2 - $5 billion, and uninsured losses will be several billion more. The previous most expensive tornado outbreak in history was the $3.5 billion price tag, in 2005 dollars, of the April 3 - 4, 1974 Super Outbreak .
The Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado caused at least 65 fatalities. This tornado had a maximum width of 1.5 miles and a track 80 miles long. These are the most fatalities from a single tornado in the United States since May 25, 1955, when 80 people were killed in a tornado in southern Kansas with 75 of those deaths in Udall, Kansas.

NOAA estimates there were more than 600 tornadoes during the month of April 2011, shattering previous records. The previous April tornado record was 267, set in 1974. April has averaged just 161 tornadoes over the past decade. The previous record number of tornadoes during any month was 542, set in May 2003. So far there have been an estimated 881 tornadoes in 2011. The annual tornado record is 1,817, set in 2004. May is historically the most active month for tornadoes.

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The outbreak had fourteen violent tornadoes--two EF-5s (the Smithville, MS tornado, and the Hackleburg, AL tornado), and twelve EF-4s. The Super Outbreak of 1974 had far more violent tornadoes, with an unprecedented seven F5s and 23 F4s.

The most violent and longest-lived tornado of the great April 26 - 28, 2011 outbreak was the Hackleburg tornado. This tornado initially touched down in Northwest Alabama near the Mississippi border, then roared to the northeast for 132.1 miles into Tennessee, causing EF-5 damage at many locations along its path. The most significant damage occurred in the town of Phil Campbell, wind in excess of 200 mph sucked up a 25-foot section of pavement and scattered it up to 1/3 mile away. Tornadoes that can suck up pavement are a rare breed, earning this twister its EF-5 rating. The tornado intensified even further as it hit the town of Oak Grove, where winds estimated at 210 mph over a swath more than one mile wide completely destroyed many buildings, tossed a Corvette 641 feet, and tossed another large car so far that it has not yet been found.

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http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1797

Yesterday, the Jackson, Mississippi office of the NWS upgraded the violent tornado that hit Neshoba, Kemper, Winston, and Noxubee Counties in the northeast part of the state to EF-5 status, with top winds of 205 mph. This tornado continued into Alabama and had a total path length of 92.3 miles. Three people died in the tornado, which was so powerful that it dug out the ground to a depth of two feet over an area 25 - 50 yards wide and several hundred yards long. This is the third tornado rated EF-5 from the April 27 outbreak; tornadoes that hit Smithville, MS and Hackleburg, AL also received EF-5 ratings.

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