It’s been nine years, and nothing has even come close to April 27, 2011, when it comes to severe weather in Alabama.
Or, by some measures, even the nation.
There were 62 confirmed tornadoes in Alabama on that one day alone, making it one of the largest tornado outbreaks in Alabama history.
Alabama averages about 65 tornadoes over a whole year.
Across the nation, the total number of tornadoes from April 25-28 was 305.
According to NOAA, 321 people were killed. According to the National Weather Service, more than 250 people lost their lives in Alabama alone.
One of the more recent comparisons, the April 1974 super outbreak, had 148 tornadoes and 315 deaths. Eight of those tornadoes hit Alabama, killing 86 people and injuring 949 others, according to the weather service.
However, there was also a major tornado outbreak on March 21, 1932, that claimed the lives of 270 in Alabama. Although the true number of tornadoes that day may never be known, there were at least 15, including several that caused damage equivalent to an EF4, according to the weather service.
The 2011 tornadoes struck from Texas to New York and caused an estimated $11 billion in damage.
Alabama alone had eight EF4 tornadoes and two EF5s on April 27. Both EF5s were incredibly deadly.
One tracked through six counties — Marion, Franklin, Lawrence, Morgan, Limestone and Madison — and had top winds of 210 mph.
Seventy-two people lost their lives in that storm, and 145 were injured.
It was on the ground for 106 miles, according to the National Weather Service, and was 1.25 miles wide.
Another EF5 struck in DeKalb County with winds estimated at 200 mph. Twenty-five people were killed. That tornado was in the ground for more than 30 miles.
An annual memorial event in DeKalb County was called off because of the need to avoid crowds due to coronavirus, but flags are being lowered to honor storm victims there.
One of the costliest and most destructive tornadoes that day, according to NOAA, was the EF4 that struck both the Tuscaloosa and Birmingham metro areas.
Denny Chimes will ring 53 times Monday afternoon at the University of Alabama to honor each person who died when a massive twister hit on April 27, 2011. More than 5,000 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed in Tuscaloosa that day.
At its peak it was nearly 1.5 miles wide and had winds of 190 mph.
It killed 65 people and injured more than 1,000.
The storm that spawned that tornado tracked more than 380 miles from Mississippi to North Carolina and produced several other tornadoes that day.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, that tornado is the second-costliest to hit the U.S., at $2.45 billion. It’s second only to the EF5 that hit Joplin, Mo., in May 2011 and caused $2.8 billion in damage.
Alabama has had its share of tornadoes since 2011, with the most powerful being an EF4 that struck Macon and Lee counties and killed 23 people last March.
Jan. 23, 2012: 11 tornadoes, including an EF3 that killed one person and injured 75 others in Jefferson and St. Clair counties. Another tornado, an EF2, also tracked through Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties and killed one person.
March 2, 2012: 12 tornadoes, including an EF2 that killed one person in Tallapoosa County.
Dec. 25, 2012: 16 tornadoes, including EF2s in Pike County (two injuries), Lowndes County, Mobile County, Choctaw County and one that tracked through Clarke and Wilcox counties.
April 11, 2014: 10 tornadoes, with an EF2 in Macon and Lee counties that injured one person.
April 28, 2014: 22 tornadoes, including an EF3 in Limestone County that killed two people as well as an EF3 Etowah and DeKalb counties, and an EF3 in Cullman County. There were also five EF2s.
Nov. 29, 2015: 14 tornadoes, with the strongest an EF3 in Morgan County. There were also four EF2s, one of which caused three injuries in Franklin and Colbert counties.
Jan. 21, 2017: 12 tornadoes. The strongest was an EF2 in Choctaw and Marengo counties that caused four injuries.
March 19, 2018: 16 tornadoes, including an EF3 in Calhoun and Cleburne counties that injured four people in Jacksonville.
March 3, 2019: 12 tornadoes, including the EF4 storm that killed 23 people in Lee County and injured 90 others.
March 14, 2019: 16 tornadoes, including an EF2 in Elmore County.
Dec. 16, 2019: 13 tornadoes, including an EF2 that killed two injured three people in Lawrence and Limestone counties and an EF2 that also injured three people in Marengo County.
April 12, 2020: The National Weather Service has now confirmed 26 tornadoes on Easter Sunday across Alabama. Six people were injured.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
by Leigh Morgan (2020, Apr 27) AL.com
