The April 3-4, 1974, Tornado Super Outbreak: A Case Study

In-depth discussion of the one of the most prolific tornado outbreaks of all time: the April 3-4, 1974, Super Outbreak. The event spawned 148 tornadoes, 30 of which were F4+, killing 335 and injuring over 6000. In this video, we'll take a deep dive into the meteorology behind the 1974 Super Outbreak to determine why it was such a prolific event.

Thumbnail images from Frank Altenau via NWS Wilmington OH (top left), NWS Wilmington OH (bottom left), and Dr. Ted Fujita via NWS Indianapolis (right).

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Chapters:

0:00 Introduction
1:55 Conditions leading up to the outbreak
5:25 Meteorological analysis of the outbreak
10:59 Observed sounding analysis
14:52 Satellite analysis begins
15:05 Convective band 1
17:33 Convective band 2
20:25 Convective bands 3 and 4
21:59 WRF model output using reanalysis data
24:28 Radar imagery
24:55 Wrap-up

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Resources:

Corfidi et al. (2010): "Revisiting the 3–4 April 1974 Super Outbreak of Tornadoes" - https://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications...

Locatelli et al. (2002): "A New Look at the Super Outbreak of Tornadoes on 3–4 April 1974" - https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/jou...

Miller and Sanders (1980): "Mesoscale Conditions for the Severe Convection of 3 April 1974 in the East-Central United States" - https://texmex.mit.edu/pub/emanuel/Sa...

Hoxit and Chappell (1975): "Tornado Outbreak of April 3-4, 1974; Synoptic Analysis" - https://repository.library.noaa.gov/v...

Agee et al. (1975): "Some Synoptic Aspects and Dynamic Features of Vortices Associated with the Tornado Outbreak of 3 April 1974" - https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/jou...

Fujita (1974): "Jumbo Tornado Outbreak, April 3 1974" - https://www.weather.gov/media/ohx/PDF...

NWS Wilmington (OH) event page: https://www.weather.gov/iln/19740403

NWS Indianapolis event page: https://www.weather.gov/ind/april3_19...

Brian Bernard's website with WRF model data for the April 3-4, 1974 outbreak: https://www.goldenhorseshoewx.ca/case...

Tornado Archive: https://tornadoarchive.com/home/

SPC Violent Tornado Webpage: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/outbre...