Replay · TO20240426
Late April 2024 tornado outbreak: the story
Apr 26, 15:00 UTC – Apr 28, 08:00 UTC. Radar, severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings, storm reports and ground stops, in order, with 533 links that show their evidence.
- 940 NWS warnings
- 622 storm reports
- 4 FAA airport programs
- 114 surveyed tornado tracks
- 533 rule-based links
- 46,863 customers out at the peak, in Texas
- 411 radar frames
Chapter 1: First warnings
Apr 26
- NWS Dallas/Fort Worth, TX issues the first Tornado Warning.Replay from here
Chapter 2: Nebraska
Apr 26–27
- The strongest tornado, an EF4, touches down: a 32 mi track.Replay from here
- NWS Omaha / Valley, NE declares a tornado emergency.Replay from here
- Peak outages: 46,863 customers out of power in Texas. The most in one county: Carter County, OK, 16,525 out (55% of its customers) at 06:30 UTC on Apr 28.Replay from here
Chapter 3: Iowa
Apr 27
- The largest hail reported: 3 in at Mount Ayr, IA.Replay from here
Chapter 4: Oklahoma
Apr 27–28
- The strongest measured gust: 78 mph at 4 W Rotan, TX.Replay from here
How we link records
| Rule | What it checks | Links |
|---|---|---|
| R4 solid | A storm report inside a warning polygon while it was in effect | 478 |
| R6 solid | A surveyed tornado track that began inside a Tornado Warning, with the warning's lead time | 51 |
| R2 dashed | An airport program inside a warning that had been in effect for over 60 min (context) | 1 |
| R1c solid | A weather airport program inside a convective warning or watch, within 60 min of issuance | 3 |
Solid lines mark rules that passed an independent check; dashed lines are context. Links are rule-based facts: each shows two records that overlap in place and time. How we know
Where this storm's data comes from
Every layer, the provider behind it and the period it covers.
| Layer | Provider | Period | Records |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRMS SeamlessHSR | NOAA/NSSL via Iowa Environmental Mesonet | Apr 26, 15:00 UTC – Apr 28, 08:00 UTC | 411 |
| NWS storm-based warning polygons | NOAA National Weather Service via Iowa Environmental Mesonet | Apr 26, 15:00 UTC – Apr 28, 08:00 UTC | 940 |
| NWS Local Storm Reports | NOAA National Weather Service via Iowa Environmental Mesonet | Apr 26, 15:00 UTC – Apr 28, 08:00 UTC | 622 |
| FAA airport programs (ground stops and ground delay programs) | FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center | Apr 26, 15:00 UTC – Apr 28, 08:00 UTC | 4 |
| ORNL EAGLE-I | Oak Ridge National Laboratory | Apr 26, 15:00 UTC – Apr 28, 08:00 UTC | 535 |
- Radar: NOAA/NSSL MRMS SeamlessHSR, via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM), Iowa State University
- Warnings: NOAA/NWS, storm-based polygons via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet
- Storm reports: NOAA/NWS Local Storm Reports via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet
- Airport programs: FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center
- Tornado tracks: NOAA/NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit damage surveys
- Power outages: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, EAGLE-I (CC BY 4.0)
- County boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau
