The following is a combination of two reports released by the NOAA. The text is a report by NOAA's National Weather Service written by Curtis Carey. The statistical data is available all the NOAA website. I have taken just the data from April 3 & 4 and only the data pertaining to tornadoes. The site has every severe weather event cataloged for the last 50 years! All events are recorded by state and then time of the day. You will notice that the numbers aren't always sequential. I have removed the events that did not spawn a tornado. Prd is property damage and crd is crop damage.

The Widespread Tornado Outbreak of April 3-4, 1974

A Report to the Administrator

Description of the Outbreak

In terms of total number, path length, and total damage, the massive tornado occurrence of April 3-4, 1974, was more extensive than all previously known outbreaks. Of the 127 tornadoes so far documented (148 tornadoes according to revised statistics by T. Theodore Fujita, The University of Chicago), 118 had paths over a mile long. The total paths amounted to 2,014 miles (2,500 miles according to revised statistics by Mr. Fujita), resulting in 335 deaths (330 deaths according to revised statistics by Mr. Fujita). By comparison, during the tri-State out-break of March 18, 1925, seven tornadoes traveled 437 miles and caused 746 deaths. The Palm Sunday outbreak of April 11, 1965, spawned 31 tornadoes, which had paths totaling 853 miles, and killed 256.

The year 1973 went down in history as the year of the tornado. More than 1,100 tornadoes were reported--an all-time high. The first quarter of 1974 was just as busy, but severe weather forecasts generally were confined to a few watch areas on each storm day. This pattern was broken on Monday, April 1, when 11 severe weather watch areas were issued and more than 20 tornadoes developed from Alabama and Mississippi through the central States into Indiana and Ohio. Three deaths and much property damage were attributed to tornadoes. The storms of April 1 served to alert the forecasters to the potential for widespread outbreaks, and the impact of these storms was fresh in the minds of many people when they heard the watches and warnings of April 3. In Alabama and Tennessee, where severe damage occurred on both days, many lives were saved during the April 3-4 disaster because the public took protective actions that might not otherwise have been taken had it not been for the April I storms.

On Tuesday morning, April 2, the forecasters at the NSSFC determined that the developing storm system had the potential to produce severe thunderstorms the following day, although the precise location and timing Of Such activity was not yet evident. At that time, it appeared that the severe activity would occur somewhere in the middle or lower Mississippi Valley. Consequently, the Kansas City RWCC suggested in a teletypewriter message to 10 Central Region network radar stations that any needed maintenance be done by April 2. (Stations alerted were Garden City and Wichita, Kans.; Grand Island, Neb.; St. Louis and Monett, Mo.; Detroit, Mich.; Des Moines, Iowa; Minneapolis, Minn.; Marseilles, Ill.; and Evansville, Ind.) Meanwhile, the Fort Worth RWCC was phoning to advise several Southern Region WSFOs of the coming severe weather potential and the need for radar maintenance. (Offices contacted were WSFOs in Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Memphis, Birmingham, and Jackson.)

While this preliminary alert did not extend far enough east to include all the tornadoes that occurred, and did include a large area in the central and southern plains in which severe thunderstorms did not occur, it gave many NOAA offices over 24 hours in which to prepare for the outbreak.

Through the night on Tuesday, indications of the storms to come were accumulating but the tremendous magnitude and intensity of what was actually to occur, as well as the precise timing and location of the storms, were still not evident. Two severe weather watches were issued during the predawn hours on Wednesday, April 3, for portions of the lower Mississippi Valley, but little activity was noted in these areas. The pace increased in the NSSFC and field offices during the forenoon, as thunderstorms began to build. Severe Thunderstorm Watch No. 92 covering portions of the Ohio Valley was issued at 8:27 a.m. CDT. From that time until 3:00 a.m. CDT the next morning, NSSFC issued 28 Severe Weather Watches covering almost the entire area from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border and from the, Mississippi River to the East Coast. During this period, National Weather Service Offices issued about 150 tornado warnings. The major activity occurred between 2:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on April 3. In all, 13 States had tornadoes.

The rapid development and widespread extent of the tornado outbreak are evident in the reported times of the first tornado in the seven States struck during the afternoon hours of April 3. Around 2:00 p.m. CDT, tornadoes touched down in Bradley County, Tenn., and Gilmer County, Ga. Within 10 minutes, tornadoes were reported in McLean and Logan Counties, Ill. At 2:20 p.m. CDT, separate killer storms set down in the Indiana counties of Perry and Lawrence. In Ohio the first tornado was reported about 3:30 p.m. CDT, and the Brandenburg, Ky., storm touched down at 3:40 p.m. Alabama's first tornado followed by less than an hour, striking 8 miles west of Birmingham at 4:30 p.m. CDT.

For comparative purposes, for all the tornadoes reported during this outbreak, the mean path length was on the order of 18.7 miles whereas the mean path length for all tornadoes in 1973 was 4.7 miles. For all tornadoes in 1972 it was 3.3 miles. In a rating of intensity of tornadoes on a scale from F0 to F5, six tornadoes in this outbreak had an intensity of F5. In 1973, only one tornado had an intensity of F5. In 1972, no tornadoes reached this intensity. In 1971, two tornadoes had an intensity of F5.

Of the casualties and losses suffered in the 13 States surveyed by the American Red Cross, some were caused by straight-line winds rather than tornadic-storms, particularly those involving mobile homes. Some of the deaths reported by the Red Cross were caused by heart attacks and not by direct storm injury. Large hail during the severe thunderstorms and tornadoes contributed to the total damage. The States of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio were the region of greatest storm activity and damage. Detailed descriptions of tornado activity in each State are provided in the sections that follow. The extremely large number of storms that occurred, and their rapid movement, magnified the problems involved in determining the number and sequence of events. Detailed studies of individual storms and further analyses may modify the descriptions given in this report.

*Numbers assigned to the tornadoes correspond to those given on the University of Chicago map furnished with this report.

Alabama

The activity began about 4:30 p.m. CDT, when a brief tornado touchdown (99) caused damage, but no casualties, in the Concord area 8 miles west of Birmingham. Less than an hour later, another tornado strike (112) caused tree and power line damage 8 miles west of Jacksonville (Calhoun County). About 6:30 p.m. CDT a third tornado (108) hit Cherokee County, injuring 20 persons, while even more powerful storms were spawning farther to the northwest.

Alabama's major tornado activity began when a storm (90) touched ground near Newburg (Franklin County) at 6:30 p.m. CDT and plowed viciously northeastward. This tornado moved on the ground continuously for 85 miles in Alabama before it entered Tennessee. Reports at the time described it as "big and powerful and taking everything in its path." Severely damaged were rural areas of northern Lawrence County, the communities of Tanner, in Limestone County, and Harvest and Hazel Green, in Madison County. This tornado entered Limestone County about 7:05 p.m. CDT. At 7:35 p.m. CDT, in nearly the exact point of entry near the Tennessee River, a second major tornado (91) set down and followed the first tornado. Its 20-mile-long path varied from that of its predecessor by only a block to less than 2 miles. This storm struck hard and hindered rescue units moving into the area. Many communities were hit twice in 30 minutes. Well over half of Alabama's storm deaths and many of the injuries were dealt by these two tornadoes, which killed 55, injured 408, and caused destruction or heavy damage to over 1,100 buildings, more than 200 mobile homes, and numerous motor vehicles.

Even as these storms were occurring, other tornado activity was taking place farther south. At 7:00 p.m. CDT, a tornado (97) touched down 5 miles north of Aliceville (Pickens County) and moved almost continuously on the ground for nearly an hour before hitting Jasper (Walker County) at 7:58 p.m. CDT. It then began a skipping path northeastward and heavily damaged a four-block area in southeast Cullman about 8:40 p.m. This storm finally lifted over northeast Cullman County, leaving 3 dead and 178 injured.

As this tornado was dissipating, the final storms of the outbreak began their havoc. Earlier, strong winds and large hail had hit Columbus, just over the line in Mississippi, and a funnel cloud was sighted at Starkville, Miss. At 8:50 p.m. CDT a very powerful tornado (95) touched down 6 miles north of Vernon (Lamar County) and produced a path of destruction toward the northeast. It moved through Guin (Marion County) about 9:04 p.m. CDT, killing 23 and injuring 250 in the area. In Winston County, it left Delmar with 5 dead and heavy damage. In the Bankhead National Forest, it bit into deep gorges and exposed ridges and destroyed much timber. Shortly after this the tornado lifted, but another tornado (96) moved northeast to strike south Huntsville at 10:50 p.m. CDT. There was severe damage at the Redstone Arsenal and in south Huntsville. Staff members at the Weather Service Office in Huntsville were forced to temporarily abandon their hectic duties. Shortly after 11:00 p.m. CDT, this final storm of the outbreak in Alabama moved across Monte Sano (elevation 1,640 feet) just east of Huntsville, and broke up over western Jackson County. The final two tornadoes killed 28, injured 332, and, destroyed or heavily damaged over 850 buildings, 250 mobile homes, and 60 small businesses.

For more information contact Curtis Carey at (817) 978-4613 ext. 140.

Georgia

The first tornado (113) struck about 2:00 p.m. CDT near the community of Cherry Log, located just northeast of Ellijay in Gilmer County, and moved across the eastern edge of Blue Ridge Lake in Fannin County. Five persons were injured and severe damage, estimated at $800,000, occurred to homes, trees, and utilities in its path.

After a break of several hours, activity began again. About 6 p.m. CDT another tornado (114) moved across Haralson County and caused one death just east of Buchanan. It then continued northeastward through Paulding County and curved north-northeastward into Bartow County, just west of Lake Allatoona. This storm caused 20 injuries and damage estimated at $2 million. The discontinuous path of damage indicates this storm may have originated in Cleburne County, Alabama.

While this tornado was still on the ground, another storm (109) touched down about 6:40 p.m. CDT just Southwest of Sugar Valley community (Gordon County). This tornado passed through Resaca and into portions of Whitfield and Murray Counties and lifted about 7:20 p.m. CDT. It killed 9, injured 54, and caused damage estimated at $4.3 million.

Between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. CDT, another killer tornado (115) moved through portions of Pickens, Cherokee, and Dawson Counties, causing 6 deaths, 30 injuries, and property damage estimated at $2 million. During the evening two more tornadoes (110 and 111) hit sections of Fannin County. One of these (111) moved on to cause deaths in Murphy, N.C. At 9:00 p.m. CDT ' a tornado (116) touched down briefly near Dillard (Rabun County) in the extreme northeast comer of the State, and caused an estimated $90,000 damage to homes, businesses, trees, and utilities.

For more information contact Curtis Carey at (817) 978-4613 ext. 140.

Illinois

Thirteen tornadoes which killed two persons and injured more than 20, occurred in Illinois between approximately 2:07 and 5:00 p.m. CDT, April 3. Six primary tornado tracks have been identified in Logan, McLean, Macon, Champaign, and Vermilion counties. Brief or less destructive touchdowns were reported in Christian, Coles, Edgar, Piatt, and Grundy Counties. The two deaths were in mobile homes, one in Decatur (Macon County) about 2:40 p.m. CDT, the other near Tolono (Champaign County) at 3:48 p.m. CDT. At Decatur over $3 million in damage was reported. Other hard-hit communities included Anchor (McLean County) and Bismarck (Vermilion County).