Easter Tornado Outbreak Spawns 140 Tornadoes From Texas to Maryland (RECAP)

National Weather Service damage surveys confirmed at least 140 tornadoes touched down from early morning on Easter Sunday, April 12, through early afternoon on April 13, one of the nation's most prolific April two-day outbreaks in the modern era, according to Steve Bowen, meteorologist and head of catastrophe insight at Aon.

It was the fifth highest Alabama tornado count from a single outbreak - at least 27 tornadoes confirmed - dating to 1950, according to the National Weather Service.

The outbreak also produced over 600 reports of damaging thunderstorm winds in just 24 hours from Easter Sunday morning through the following Monday morning, more than any other 24-hour period since the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic derecho of June 2012, according to The Weather Channel senior meteorologist, Stu Ostro.

The storms claimed at least 37 lives. For more information on damage and aftermath from the storms, see our full article on impacts at this link.

The National Weather Service issued 141 separate tornado warnings from 7 a.m. CDT Sunday, April 12, to 7 a.m. CDT Monday, April 13, according to Greg Diamond, a weather producer at The Weather Channel. This was the most within the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 24-hour period since the March 2-3, 2012 tornado outbreak, according to Daryl Herzmann of the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

Notable Tornadoes

A pair of EF4 tornadoes carved through parts of southern Mississippi on Easter Sunday.

The first of these touched down in Walthall County, Mississippi, leveling two homes near the Lawrence County line, leaving only the slab foundation remaining of one of the homes, according to the NWS damage survey. The NWS found nearly every tree in its path in this part of northeast Walthall County was either snapped or uprooted.

A second EF4 tornado grew to over 2-miles in width, the largest documented tornado on record in Mississippi as it tore a 68-mile long path from Jefferson Davis County to Clarke County, devastating areas near the towns of Bassfield, Soso and Moss.

The scar from this tornado could be seen from satellite images taken on April 14.

Soso, Mississippi, was simultaneously under a National Weather Service tornado emergency for both tornadoes. The first tornado was striking the town when the National Weather Service issued the second tornado emergency for the tornado following behind it. Between the two, tornado emergencies spanned 75 miles across southern Mississippi at 5:30 p.m. CDT Sunday, April 12.

Just 24 minutes after this second EF4 tornado first touched down, the longest-track tornado of the outbreak, rated EF3, began an 84-mile long siege in about 90 minutes from Lawrence to Jasper Counties, Mississippi. This tornado was also just over a mile-wide at one time.

In east Tennessee, an EF3 tornado tore a 15-mile long path through parts of the Chattanooga metro area, including East Ridge and Ooltewah, leveling an auto parts store.

In Georgia, one severe thunderstorm spawned a pair of EF3 tornadoes which carved through Upson, Lamar and Monroe Counties, just northwest of Macon. The Southern Crescent Technical College and Raintree Golf and Country Club near Thomaston each took a direct hit, and one unoccupied home was shifted onto a road.

National Weather Service radar detected debris from the Upson County tornado was lofted as high as 25,000 feet.

At least 25 tornadoes tore through South Carolina, a number of them on the stronger end of the scale.

Particularly hard hit was Barnwell County, where the NWS confirmed four separate tornadoes - three rated EF3, the other an EF2 - tore distinct path through parts of the county. One home anchored to the ground was tossed and destroyed, according to the NWS damage survey.

As the squall line roared into neighboring Orangeburg County, a weird interaction of two tornadoes appears to have taken place, as documented in detail by The Washington Post's Matthew Cappucci.

Another large tornado, at least a half mile wide, carved a 16-mile path through Oconee and Pickens counties just north of Clemson around 3:20 a.m. EDT, causing at least one fatality. Top winds were estimated at 160 mph in this tornado, which was rated EF3.

At around 6 a.m. EDT Monday, a long-track tornado produced EF4 damage in Hampton County, South Carolina, the first F/EF4 rated tornado on record in South Carolina's Lowcountry and first anywhere in the state in over 24 years. This tornado caused least five fatalities and 60 injuries, according to the NWS.

Sixteen tornadoes, most of them weaker tornadoes, were spawned in North Carolina on April 13. Early in the afternoon, a couple of weak tornadoes - one rated EF0, the other EF1 - touched down briefly in Maryland near Baltimore Corner and Frizzzellburg, respectively.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.