Tornado outbreak of April 14–16, 2011
Map of tornado warnings and confirmed tornadoes from the outbreak. | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Duration | April 14–16, 2011 |
| Tornado outbreak | |
| Tornadoes | 178 |
| Maximum rating | EF3 tornado |
| Duration | 2 days, 4 hours, 20 minutes |
| Highest winds | Tornadic – 165 mph (266 km/h) (Sanford, North Carolina EF3 on April 16) |
| Highest gusts | Non-tornadic – 70 mph (110 km/h) in northern New York |
| Category 1 "Notable" blizzard | |
| Regional Snowfall Index: 1.83 (NOAA) | |
| Maximum snowfall or ice accretion | Snow – 16 in (41 cm) in Paxton, Nebraska Ice – 0.3 in (7.6 mm) near Pike Lake, Michigan |
| Extratropical cyclone | |
| Lowest pressure | 984 hPa (mbar); 29.06 inHg |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 38 fatalities (+5 non-tornadic) |
| Injuries | 588 injuries |
| Damage | $2.1 billion (2011 USD) |
| Areas affected | High Plains, Central, Midwestern, Eastern United States |
Part of the tornado outbreaks of 2011 and the 2010–11 North American winter | |
From April 14–16, 2011, a tornado outbreak, among the largest recorded tornado outbreaks in U.S. history, produced 178 confirmed tornadoes across 16 states, resulting in severe destruction on all three days of the outbreak. A total of 38 people were killed from tornadoes and an additional five people were killed as a result of straight-line winds associated with the storm system. The outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes led to 43 deaths in the Southern United States. This was the largest number of fatalities in an outbreak in the United States since the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak. It is locally referred to as the "Forgotten Outbreak" in Alabama as it was vastly overshadowed by the 2011 Super Outbreak less than two weeks later.
The system brought a late season snowstorm to the Midwest and Northern Plains, and blizzard conditions to parts of South Dakota and northern Nebraska. With surface temperatures near freezing the snow was unusually wet for the region. This lead for bad driving conditions on Interstate 80 and Interstate 90.