Notable April Severe Weather Events

Hail, Charles County, Maryland (Courtesy: Kristen Leitch)

There is typically an uptick in the frequency and amount of severe weather in the United States during the month of April.  Such has been the case during the last three days with over 1,000 severe weather reports from Texas to upstate New York.  Damage reports will be investigated to determine if damage was caused by straight-line winds, a microburst or a tornado.  

There have already been 44 confirmed tornadoes with a tragic 33 fatalities between April 11 – 13.  Of those 44 tornadoes, the National Weather Service determined one was an EF-4, six were EF-3’s, seven were EF-2’s and the remaining 30 were all either EF-1’s or EF-0’s.  There are still multiple NWS crews out surveying storm damage, so it will be several days before a complete tally is available.  

The DC Metro Area also experienced a significant amount of severe weather yesterday.  Plus, the Nation’s Capital had its rainiest day since last July, with 2.33” at National Airport.  The DC Metro Region has experienced other notable April severe weather outbreaks over the past decade, as chronicled below.

2019:  Last April was an active severe weather month in the United States.  The Mid-Atlantic Region had several days with severe weather, most notably April 19.  Nearly 60 tornadoes touched down from Pennsylvania to Florida, with several reported in Virginia.  The closest to the Nation’s Capital was an EF-0 in Reston in nearby Fairfax County, VA.  Fortunately no fatalities occurred in the DC Metro Area.

2017:  The April 6, 2017 severe weather outbreak wasn’t memorable for being a large one, but for the type and location where it occurred.  The local National Weather Service Forecast Office in Sterling, Virginia confirmed a total of seven tornadoes touched down in the DC Metro Area.  They were all weak tornadoes and no fatalities were reported.  However, two of the seven tornadoes occurred within the District of Columbia.  Given its relatively small geographic size, few tornadoes happen within the Nation’s Capital.  These were the first tornadoes to touch down in the Nation’s Capital since September 24, 2001.    

2011:  One of the largest severe weather outbreaks on record occurred from April 25 – 28.  NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center counted a four-day total of more than 2,300 national severe weather reports.  Of that total, nearly 500 of those events were confirmed tornadoes.  The most active severe weather day of this four-day stretch was April 27, when nearly 300 tornadoes touched down and caused more than 200 fatalities.  A total of four EF-5 tornadoes were observed on April 27, 2011.  That remains the highest daily total since the “Super Outbreak” of April 3-4, 1974.  

The DC Metro Area also saw some severe weather, including tornadoes, on April 27-28, 2011.  A total of 19 confirmed tornadoes occurred in Maryland and Virginia during this two-day period.  The strongest was an EF-2 with winds of 130 mph in Rockingham and Shenandoah Counties in Virginia.