Central Illinois

Weather Forecast Office

The April 3-4, 1974 Super Outbreak of Tornadoes -- Impacts on Illinois

Overview

On April 3, 1974, the beginning of a widespread severe weather outbreak was occurring in Illinois. Within a 24 hour period, a total of 148 tornadoes occurred in 13 states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and New York), as well as Ontario, Canada. This stood as the largest tornado outbreak on record, until 358 tornadoes occurred over a 4 day period from April 25-28, 2011.

This tornado outbreak killed 319 people across the nation, and was the deadliest tornado outbreak since April 5-6, 1936, when 454 people were killed over the southeast U.S. (primarily in Tupelo, MS, and Gainesville, GA). The 1974 outbreak remains the most violent on record, with 30 tornadoes ranked as F4 or F5 on the original Fujita Scale.

Illinois Tornadoes:

The outbreak began in Illinois early afternoon Central time on April 3. Twelve of the 148 tornadoes in this outbreak touched down in the state. Four of them were of F3 strength; these affected portions of Macon, McLean, Champaign, and Vermilion Counties. The one in Decatur did the most damage. Two deaths were reported in the state, with 30 injuries.

Map of April 3-4, 1974 tornado outbreak, courtesy of the Storm Prediction Center.

Map of tornado outbreak, from Storm Prediction Center and National Severe Storms Laboratory

Tornado
Storm Reports

Tornadoes:

Morris
Grundy County

Sequence Within Outbreak	#1
Time (Local)	1:10 pm CDT
F Rating	F0
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	0.1 mile
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	None
Summary: In addition to the tornado, half inch diameter hail was reported, and strong winds caused about $1000 damage. The storm also produced 1.5 inches of rain at Morris in only 30 minutes.

Track Map

Carlock
McLean County

Sequence Within Outbreak	#2
Time (Local)	2:07 pm CDT
F Rating	F0
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	0.1 mile
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	None
Summary: This tornado touched down 5 miles southeast of Carlock, but caused no damage.

Track Map

Lincoln to McLean
Logan and McLean Counties

Sequence Within Outbreak	#3
Time (Local)	2:08 pm CDT
F Rating	F1
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	16.7 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	None
Summary: This tornado touched down 2 miles southeast of Lincoln, and raced northeast at 70 mph into southwest McLean County. It arrived in the town of McLean at 2:16 pm, causing $600,000 damage.

Track Map

Colfax/Anchor
McLean County

Sequence Within Outbreak	#4
Time (Local)	2:30 pm CDT
F Rating	F3
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	7.4 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	None
Summary: This tornado touched down 3 miles south of Colfax and moved northeast, passing south of Anchor. Buildings and equipment were destroyed on 8 separate farms. Air surveys showed spiral damage patterns caused by multiple vortices within the tornado.

Track Map

Decatur
Macon County

Sequence Within Outbreak	#5
Time (Local)	2:30 pm CDT
F Rating	F3
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	20.9 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	26+ injuries, 1 fatality
Summary: This tornado touched down 10 miles west-southwest of Decatur, just north of the Sangamon River. It moved east-northeast, and crossed old US-36 about a mile west of Wyckles Corner, damaging a number of homes and power lines there. It then moved across the Macon County Fairgrounds, killing an elderly man and severely injuring his wife. It crossed I-72 4 miles north of Decatur, lifting a section of concrete where the interstate was being built. The tornado lifted 5 miles north-northeast of Decatur. Damage was estimated at $3.4 million, including the destruction of 52 homes and major damage to 110 others. In some locations, the damage was very close to F4 intensity.

Track Map

Decatur tornado

Farmer City
Piatt and Champaign Counties

Sequence Within Outbreak	#6
Time (Local)	3:10 pm CDT
F Rating	F1
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	10.9 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	None
Summary: This tornado touched down midway between Farmer City and Mansfield, and moved northeast to near the McLean/Champaign County line west of Fisher.

Track Map

Owaneco
Christian County

Sequence Within Outbreak	#7
Time (Local)	2:45 pm CDT
F Rating	F1
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	8.5 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	None
Summary: This tornado destroyed a building in Owaneco and damaged a grain elevator, before continuing northeast through mainly open country.

Track Map

Hammond
Piatt County

Sequence Within Outbreak	#8
Time (Local)	3:25 pm CDT
F Rating	F0
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	3.3 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	None
Summary: This tornado touched down just east of Hammond, and tracked to the northeast, causing about $3,000 damage.

Track Map

Tolono/Philo
Champaign County

Sequence Within Outbreak	#9
Time (Local)	3:48 pm CDT
F Rating	F3
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	5.9 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	1 fatality
Summary: This tornado touched down near Tolono, killing one person inside a mobile home. A large barn, 3 tool sheds and some farm equipment were destroyed 2 miles northeast of Tolono, killing 5 cows in the process. Four farms were damaged as the storm passed near Philo, and tracked northeast to pass just north of Philo.

Track Map

Homer/Fithian
Champaign and Vermilion Counties

Sequence Within Outbreak	#10
Time (Local)	3:55 pm CDT
F Rating	F3
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	14.9 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	None
Summary: This tornado touched down 4 miles south of Sidney, then moved northeast through the Homer Lake Conservation Area to just east of Ogden, continuing into Vermilion County. Several homes and the park headquarters were destroyed. The tornado blew 3 trucks off I-74 just east of Ogden.

Track Map

Bismarck
Vermilion County

Sequence Within Outbreak	#11
Time (Local)	4:25 pm CDT
F Rating	F2
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	7.8 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	12 injuries
Summary: This tornado, from the same thunderstorm that produced the F1 tornado near Homer and Fithian, touched down 2 miles southwest of Bismarck and moved northeast. It significantly affected homes on the west side of Bismarck, as well as the township high school. Damage in Bismarck was estimated at $1 million.

Track Map

Mattoon
Coles County

Sequence Within Outbreak	#17
Time (Local)	4:30 pm CDT
F Rating	F1
Est. Peak Winds	N/A
Path Length	14.8 miles
Max Width	N/A
Injuries/Deaths	None
Summary: Several funnel clouds were observed across Coles County during mid afternoon. One touched down near Mattoon, causing minor damage to some signage. However, the clouds mostly remained aloft over the path shown.

Track Map

Storm Reports

Mapping of tornado outbreak, from the University of Chicago. Numbers indicate the order of occurrence within the outbreak.


Some of the strongest damage that was observed in Decatur. Image from the Decatur Herald and Review.	A flight over the tornado track near Anchor showed spiral markings on the ground, caused by multiple suction vortices within the tornado. Image from T.T. Fujita.

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