Final stats from April 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th, 2011 Tornado Outbreaks

April 2011 Storm Data has been out for a little while, and I finally got around to putting together a map of all tornadoes from April 25th-28th on Google Earth. For the purposes of this analysis, I broke the event down into two separate outbreaks. The first was April 25th-early 26th and the second was the afternoon of April 26th-27th-28th.


Map of all tornadoes for April 25th-28th, 2011. Light blue = EF0, green = EF1, brown = EF2, blue = EF3, pink = EF4, purple = EF5.

For April 25th/early 26th:
51 tornadoes total

20 EF0, 24 EF1 (44 weak), 5 EF2, 2 EF3 (7 strong & significant, 2 intense, 0 violent)

Total fatalities: 5

Deadly tornadoes (listed in order of most-least fatalities): 2
Vilonia, AR EF2 (4)
Walnut Valley, AR EF3 (1)

States affected: 8

Tornadoes by State:
Arkansas: 18
Texas: 17
Kentucky: 6
Missouri: 3
Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee: 2 each

Fatalities by State:
Arkansas: 5

Map of tornadoes from April 25th-early on the 26th. Light blue = EF0, green = EF1, brown = EF2, and blue = EF3.

For afternoon April 26th/April 27th/April 28th:
290 tornadoes total

100 EF0, 113 EF1 (213 weak), 43 EF2, 19 EF3 (62 strong), 11 EF4, 4 EF5 (77 significant, 34 intense, 15 violent)

Total fatalities: 317

Deadly tornadoes (listed in order of most fatalities to least fatalities): 29
Hackleburg/Phil Campbell/Oak Grove/Mt. Hope/Langtown/Tanner/Harvest, AL EF5 (72)
Tuscaloosa/Concord/Pleasant Grove/McDonald Chapel, AL EF4 (64)
Smithville, MS/Shottsville, AL EF5 (23)
Fyffe/Rainsville/Sylvania, AL EF5 (23)
Shoal Creek/Ohatchee, AL EF4 (22)
Ringgold, GA/Apison, TN EF4 (21)
Boley Springs/Oakman/Cordova/Sipsey, AL EF4 (13)
Pisgah/Higdon/Flat Rock/Shiloh, AL/Trenton GA EF4 (13)
Horse Creek, TN EF3 (8)
Sawyerville/Eoline, AL EF3 (7)
Raleigh/Enterprise/Rose Hill, MS EF4 (7)
Central/Lake Martin/Dadeville, AL EF4 (7)
Cullman/Ruth, AL EF4 (6)
Anchor/Houston/New Wren, MS EF3 (4)
New Harmony, TN EF4 (4)
Preston, MS EF5 (3)
Cleveland, TN EF2 (3)
Glade Springs, VA EF3 (3)
Butler, TN EF2 (2)
Vaughn, GA EF3 (2)
Barnesville, GA EF3 (2)
Mathison, MS EF2 (1) Hanceville, AL EF2 (1) Pisgah, AL EF1 (1) Lookout Valley, TN EF2 (1)
Cleveland, TN EF1 (1)
Bridgeport, AL EF4 (1)
High Rock, VA EF2 (1)
Lake Burton, GA EF3 (1)

Italicized tornadoes occurred with the early-morning QLCS.

Of the 290 tornadoes, approximately 80 (from best estimate) occurred with the early-morning QLCS/embedded supercells across LA, MS, AL, GA, TN, KY, and OH. This 5 EF3s, 23 EF2s, and the 4 killer tornadoes italicized above.

States affected: 21

Tornadoes by State:
Tennessee: 66
Alabama: 62
Mississippi: 39
Virginia: 19
Texas: 17
Louisiana, Georgia: 16 each
North Carolina: 13
Arkansas: 12
Maryland: 11
New York: 9
Kentucky, Pennsylvania: 7 each
South Carolina: 3
Florida, Missouri: 2 each
Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia: 1 each

Fatalities by State:
Alabama: 235
Tennessee: 32
Mississippi: 31
Georgia: 15
Virginia: 4

Map of tornadoes from the afternoon of April 26th through April 27th and into April 28th. Light blue = EF0, green = EF1, brown = EF2, blue = EF3, pink = EF4, purple = EF5.

Other statistics from the outbreak:

1200 UTC-1200 UTC tornado numbers
25/1200 UTC to 26/1200 UTC: 51 tornadoes
26/1200 UTC to 27/1200 UTC: 121 tornadoes
27/1200 UTC to 28/1200 UTC: 156 tornadoes
28/1200 UTC to 29/1200 UTC: 13 tornadoes

Largest tornado: Tuscaloosa/Birmingham, AL EF4 (up to 1.5 miles wide)
Longest-tracked tornado: Hackleburg/Phil Campbell et al., AL EF5 (132.1 miles long)
Number of tornadoes with >100 mile path lengths: 3 (Hackleburg/Phil Campbell EF5 132.1 miles, Cordova EF4 125 miles, Rose Hill EF4 124 miles)
Number of tornadoes with 50-99 mile path lengths: 6 (Ohatchee EF4 98 miles, Tuscaloosa/Birmingham EF4 81 miles, Sawyerville/Eoline EF3 72 miles, Cumberland EF3 59 miles, New Wren EF3 53 miles, Ringgold/Apison EF4 50 miles)

If you are interested in the whole .kmz file, email me at tony DOT lyza AT valpo DOT edu.