Overview
On a mild Wednesday and Thursday, April 3 and 4, 1974, the United States experienced one of the biggest outbreak of tornadoes in our nation's recorded history. Meteorologists refer to this as the Super Outbreak in which 148 tornadoes swept across 13 states in roughly a 24 hour time frame. From Illinois to North Carolina and from Michigan to Mississippi, tornadoes and severe thunderstorms killed 335 people and injured over 6,000. Over 15,000 homes, businesses and farm buildings were destroyed and another 17,000 buildings were damaged.Tornadoes:
(Overview of the tornado outbreak. For a breakdown in timing of Indiana Tornadoes,
see below the narrative).
Indiana experienced its most devastating tornado outbreak in history. A brief tornado touchdown in Boone County the morning of April 3 was the prelude to the major outbreak. Between 2:20 PM EST and 8:00 PM EST, 20 additional tornadoes struck across an additional 45 counties killing 47 and injuring nearly 900 with property losses for nearly 6,000 families. Below are some pictures from the event. Click any image for a larger version.
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| F4 tornado near Hanover, Indiana, April 3, 1974. Photos Courtesy of Rosie Graves. | |
The tornadoes moved at a forward speed of 60 to 65 mph, and several tornadoes were observed with multiple vortices/funnels.
At many times, there were several tornadoes in progress at the same time. A huge tornado about a half mile wide began near Otterbein northwest of Lafayette and tracked to near LaGrange north of Ft. Wayne. This violent tornado was on the ground for about 109 miles killing 19 people. (The original path length of the tornado was 121 miles, but Dr. Ted Fujita later determined that there were actually 2 tornadoes. The longest one was about 109 miles).
The worst destruction from this tornado was in Monticello, Rochester and Ligonier. Another tornado became an F5 as it moved across Southern Indiana near DePauw killing 6 and injuring 76. There were also 2 long tornado paths from near Madison to just west of Cincinnati. Both of these reached F4 in intensity killing 11 and injuring nearly 300. The rest of the tornadoes mostly occurred across the eastern half of the state with F4's at Parker and Kennard.
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| F4 Tornado near Parker City, Indiana just east of Muncie. April 3, 1974. Photos Courtesy of Mick Deckman. | |
Survey teams including meteorologists, engineers and psychologists found utter devastation in many areas. They found most everyone was aware of the potential severe weather that day. The survey teams were also surprised that most people took the correct action when the storms struck, saving many lives.
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| April 3, 1974 tornado damage in Monticello, Indiana. Photos Courtesy of the Monticello Herald Journal. | |
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| Reports from 7:00 to 10:00 AM EST | Reports from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM EST | Reports from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM EST |
| Images/Data from: Corfidi, Stephen F., et al. "Revisiting the 3–4 April 1974 super outbreak of tornadoes." Weather and Forecasting 25.2 (2010): 465-510. | ||
Photos
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| Tornado Near Parker City (Dr. Ernest Agee & Purdue University) |
Tornado Near Parker City (Dr. Ernest Agee & Purdue University) |
Tornado Near Knightstown (Dr. Ernest Agee & Purdue University) |
Tornado Near Knightstown (Dr. Ernest Agee & Purdue University) |
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| Wall Cloud Near Purdue University (Dr. Ernest Agee & Purdue University) |
Radar
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| Radar of Monticello Tornado (courtesy of NWS Northern Indiana) |
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| Hand Drawn Radar Map valid at 9:35 AM EST April 3 |
Environment
Surface Maps
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| Figure 1: Surface Map at 7 AM EST | Figure 2: Surface Map at 1 PM EST | Figure 3: Zoomed Surface Map at 1 PM EST |
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| Figure 4: Surface Map at 4 PM EST | Figure 5: Zoomed Surface Map at 4 PM EST | Figure 6: Surface Map at 7 PM EST |
Figures 1,2,4 and 6 are from: Corfidi, Stephen F., et al. "Revisiting the 3–4 April 1974 super outbreak of tornadoes." Weather and Forecasting 25.2 (2010): 465-510.
Other Data
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| Figure 7: 850mb at 1 PM EST | Figure 8: 500mb at 1 PM EST | Figure 9: Mid-Level Lapse Rates in Mid Afternoon |
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| Figure 10: Mid Afternoon Lifted Condensation Levels (LCLs) | Figure 11: Surface to 1 km Helicity at 4 PM | Figure 12: Lafayette and Indy Hodographs at 7 PM |
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| Figure 13: Visible Satellite Loop. Click to View. (Courtesy of NWS Northern Indiana) |
Additional Information
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| Warnings Issued (More info on warnings issued by NWS Indianapolis) |
Watches Issued |
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| Comparison of 1974 Tornado Warning with a 2023 Tornado Warning (Full Size Image) |
Comparison of 1974 Tornado Watch with a 2023 Tornado Watch (Full Size Image) |
Other Information
Summaries from other NWS Offices
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