1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado
The tornado outbreak of April 1–2, 1974, affected much of the eastern and central United States. Four fatalities and more than seventy injuries were confirmed in this outbreak. Damaging, deadly tornadoes struck Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama—including the Nashville and Huntsville metropolitan areas. In the latter areas, tornadoes produced F3 damage on the Fujita scale and impacted areas that would later sustain damage on April 3. Large hail and severe thunderstorm winds also impacted a broad area.
Background
The outbreak began when a powerful area of low pressure formed across the Great Plains on April 1 and moved into Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. As it did, a surge of very moist warm air intensified the storm. As a result, a series of tornado outbreaks occurred. The outbreak produced 23 confirmed tornadoes, three of which caused at least one fatality.[nb 1] The outbreak ended approximately 30 hours before the Super Outbreak of 1974 began. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a total of 11 severe weather watches on April 1 alone.[3] These watches, along with the damage and deaths that followed, prompted alertness among the general public that may have reduced casualties and losses during the larger outbreak of April 3 to April 4. According to the NWS, the severe weather on April 1 spurred appropriate protective measures a few days later, and consequently "many lives were saved."[3]
The first tornado of the outbreak briefly touched down, causing moderate damage to structures in or near Merigold. The tornado wrecked a trailer and damaged twenty-five residences. A boxcar fell off its track, and a hangar sustained damage.[6][5][7]
This was the first of three intense tornadoes to form during the outbreak. A storage for school buses sustained damage, as did trees, residences, and power lines. The tornado also damaged a few mobile homes.[10] A reanalysis by Thomas P. Grazulis did not list this tornado as significant (F2 or stronger on the Fujita scale).[5][11]
A strong tornado touched down in downtown Lafayette, severely damaging a lumber yard. A mobile home and several garages were leveled.[5][12] Additionally, one home had its roof torn off, and several windows were smashed.[12][13]
A tornado affected Moores Bridge and surrounding environs, damaging an expansive area. Six people sustained non-life-threatening injuries.[14][15] Grazulis did not list this tornado as an F2 or stronger.[5]
A tornado produced sporadic damage at several scattered points. Two homes and several farm buildings sustained damage. Winds wrecked the uppermost floor of a two-story structure in Coldwater.[16][17]
A short-lived tornado toppled a tree onto and destroyed a vehicle. A nearby farm also sustained damage.[12][18] Grazulis did not list this tornado as an F2 or stronger.[5]
1 death – A powerful, large thunderstorm generated an intense tornado in Henry County.[21] The tornado severely damaged Campbellsburg, leaving one-fifth of the population homeless. More than forty homes and businesses were badly damaged or destroyed.[5] The tornado killed one person in a mobile home.[21] Grazulis considered the damage to be F2 rather than F3 in intensity.[5] Twenty injuries occurred along the relatively short path.[22]
A tornado struck the Sandy Hook area, causing extensive damage. It damaged or destroyed many barns, garages, other structures, and a gas station. The tornado leveled six trailers and affected forty barns.[5] Three people sustained injuries.[23] Grazulis assigned an F2 rating to the tornado, based on the severity of the damage it produced.[5]
1 death – A strong tornado tracked through Nashville, doing over $3.6 million in damage. Most of the losses occurred at a pair of shopping centers, where losses reached $1 million, and at an apartment complex. The complex, which contained seventy units, received $100,000 in damage. The tornado also passed over Nashville International Airport, where it wrecked twelve airplanes.[5] Authorities reported $2.5 million in damage to the airport.[24] In all, the tornado damaged seventy-two residences and tore off roofs.[5] The tornado injured twelve people.[28] Operationally, the NWS reported two fatalities, not one, and both may have been lighting- rather than tornado-related.[24]
A tornado briefly touched down, moderately damaging thirteen to fifteen buildings. Three of the structures were mobile homes.[6] Grazulis did not assess this tornado to be F2 or stronger.[5][29]
A tornado caused widespread damage to homes and to a local high school. The roof at the school received substantial damage. The tornado also struck trees and power lines in its path.[24] Total losses from Mount Juliet and Lebanon reached $1.05 million. Preliminary reports indicated six injuries,[24] but this total was later reduced to four in the finalized data.[30]
A strong tornado produced patchy damage to outbuildings and barns. Additionally, the tornado damaged two homes, one of which was a mobile home. Several cotton wagons were wrecked as well.[6][31] Grazulis did not consider the tornado to be F2 or stronger.[5]
A tornado produced intermittent damage as it skipped across part of Blount County. Most of the damage was reported from the Hayden area, but additional damage occurred at a mobile home park near Oneonta. The tornado leveled sixteen residences, thirteen of which were trailers. Eleven other structures, all homes and trailers, sustained damage.[5] Eleven people were injured.[32]
1 death – A powerful nighttime tornado struck the northern edge of Huntsville. The tornado produced its most severe impact to the Sherwood Park subdivision on the northern outskirts of Huntsville.[33] There, winds tore off roofs and caused some walls to collapse. Grazulis assigned an F2 rating to this damage, rather than the official F3 ranking.[5] The fatality occurred in a mobile home; seven other occupants did not sustain injuries.[33] The tornado injured six people.[34]
1 death – A tornado produced scattered damage near Cherryville, damaging several mobile homes. The tornado wrecked fifteen mobile homes in the area. One person died as the tornado destroyed her mobile home. A nearby house also lost its roof. Grazulis assigned an F2 rating to the damage, rather than the official F1 ranking.[5] Ten people sustained injuries,[39] primarily in mobile homes.[26]
Non-tornadic effects
Peak wind gusts reached 69 mph (111 km/h) in the strongest thunderstorms, over Daviess County, Kentucky.[40] The largest hailstones peaked at 3 in (7.6 cm) in circumference, as measured in Washington County, Mississippi.[41]
^Numbers for early outbreaks are likely underestimated, due in part to limited human and technological monitors. More complete documentation began in the 1990s, when NEXRAD premiered and the National Weather Service systemized detailed storm surveys.[1][2]
^All losses are in 1974 USD unless otherwise noted.
^Coordinates, if any, derived from the Storm Events Database.[4]
^All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.
^ abcd"Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena". Storm Data. 16 (4). Asheville, North Carolina: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 10. April 1974.