 | |
| Type: | Unknown |
| Active: | April 25 - 27, 2011 |
| Duration of tornado outbreak1: | 3 days, 7 hours, 18 minutes |
| Maximum rated tornado2: | F7 tornado |
| Highest winds | Unknown |
| Tornadoes confirmed: | 825 |
| Damage: | $571billion (2011 USD) |
| Injuries: | Unknown |
| Fatalities: | 1467 |
| Areas affected: | Mid United States and Canada |
|
1Time from first tornado to last tornado | |
The purpose of this arcticle is to explore what could have happened if the April 27th conditions were available throughout the whole of the severe weather outbreak.
| Confirmed Total |
Confirmed F0 |
Confirmed F1 |
Confirmed F2 |
Confirmed F3 |
Confirmed F4 |
Confirmed F5 |
Confirmed F6 |
Confirmed F7 |
Confirmed F8 |
Confirmed F9 |
Confirmed F10 |
Confirmed F11 |
Confirmed F12 |
Confirmed M1 |
Confirmed M2 |
Confirmed M3 |
Confirmed M4 |
| 825 | 380 | 245 | 76 | 36 | 67 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Synopsis[]
The outbreak was caused by a vigorous upper-level trough that moved into the Southern Plains states on April 25. An extratropical cyclone developed ahead of this upper-level trough between northeastern Oklahoma and western Missouri, which moved northeast. Conditions were similar on April 26, with a predicted likelihood of severe thunderstorms, including an extended threat of strong to violent long-track tornadoes during the afternoon and evening hours; mixed-layer CAPE values were forecast to be around 3000–4000 J/kg, around east Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. The storm mode on April 26 was predicted to consist of mostly discrete supercells during the afternoon and early evening, shifting over to a mesoscale convective complex, with more of a threat of damaging winds and hail during the nighttime hours. Over the following days, conditions got far worse, and 825 tornadoes touched down within the United States and Canada. As the outbreak progressed, the tornadoes became stronger, and more violent. Not only was the first F6 tornado ever documented, but so was an F7, which leveled a police station, killing 72 inmates and 5 staff.
Notable tornadoes[]
Asides from the F7 (see above), an F5 demolished a shopping center, killing 256, which also caused $23billion in damages. Another tornado was responsible for a petrol station exploding, causing the tornado to become flame infested.