April 3-4 1974 Super Outbreak

The 1974 Super Outbreak occurred on April 3-4, 1974 and is the second largest outbreak on record. This outbreak still holds the record for the most F5 tornadoes to occur on a single day (7 total). A total of 148 tornadoes occurred within 24 hours on April 3-4, touching down in 13 states and killing more than 300 people and injuring over 6,000 people.

The hardest hit areas were in the Midwest, particularly in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. These states alone had approximately 200 fatalities. Most of which occurred on April 3rd from 2 pm to 10 pm.

The Appalachian region was not immune to the tornadic outbreak either. Several tornadoes occurred during the early morning hours of April 4th, resulting in significant damage in portions of southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia. This more or less debunked the long-standing myth that tornadoes do not occur in the mountains.

• Number of tornadoes: 148
• Number of F4 and F5 tornadoes: 30
• States where tornadoes struck: 13
• Deaths: 319
• Injuries: 5, 484
• $843 million in 1974, equivalent to $5.6 billion in 2024
• Both NWS Blacksburg and Charleston forecast areas' average 2 tornadoes per year.
• The peak month for tornadoes in the Blacksburg forecast area is July, followed by April and June. In the Charleston forecast area, June is the peak month, followed by July, and then April and May.
• EF2 and EF3 tornado occurrences overwhelmingly favor the month of April in the Blacksburg forecast area, and in April and July for the Charleston forecast area.
  • NWS Blacksburg tornado data was taken from Stonefield and Hudgins, cited at end.
  • NWS Charleston tornado data was taken from Webb, Zwier, Gregg, cited at end.

Here are links to more information on tornadoes and tornado safety:

 National Weather Service Tornado Safety 

 Storm Prediction Center Tornado FAQ