1974 Xenia tornado
Clockwise from top: The tornado tearing through the southeast Pinecrest Garden district; Track map of the 1974 Xenia tornado through the city of Xenia and the town of Wilberforce; Radar image of the tornado captured by the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base radar | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 3, 1974, 4:33 p.m. EDT (UTC–04:00) |
| Dissipated | April 3, 1974, 5:12 p.m. EDT (UTC–04:00) |
| Duration | 39 minutes |
| F5 tornado | |
| on the Fujita scale | |
| Path length | 31.3 miles (50.4 km) |
| Highest winds | 305 mph (491 km/h) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 32 (+2 indirect) |
| Injuries | 1,150 |
| Damage | $250 million (1974 USD) $1.59 billion (2024 USD) |
| Areas affected | Xenia and town of Wilberforce, Ohio |
Part of the 1974 Super Outbreak and Tornadoes of 1974 | |
The 1974 Xenia tornado was a violent, large and extremely powerful F5 tornado that destroyed a large portion of Xenia and Wilberforce, Ohio, United States in Metro Dayton on the afternoon of April 3, 1974. It was the deadliest individual tornado of the 1974 Super Outbreak, the 24-hour period between April 3 and April 4, 1974, during which 148 tornadoes touched down in 13 different U.S. states. The 1974 Xenia tornado is considered one of the worst tornadoes in American history and has been a major driving force behind improvements to warning systems, alarms, and safety protocols across the United States. Across the state, 2,000 individuals were injured, 7,000 homes were destroyed, and 39 people were killed during the 1974 Super Outbreak, 32 of them being in Xenia. Despite Ohio being better equipped for a tornadic disaster than many other states, a survey team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found the lack of tornado sirens to be one of the leading causes of unpreparedness. It was one of two tornadoes to be assigned a preliminary F6 rating by Dr. Ted Fujita, the other being the 1970 Lubbock tornado; however, the rating was later downgraded to an F5.