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Tornado outbreak sequence of April 20–27, 2007
Weather event in the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An extended period of tornado activity occurred between April 20–27, 2007. The outbreak sequence is best known for producing a deadly tornado that struck the border cities of Piedras Negras, Coahuila (rated F4), and Eagle Pass, Texas (rated EF3), along the United States-Mexican border on April 24, 2007, killing ten people. Other strong tornadoes also caused damage and injuries in or near the towns of Moorefield, Nebraska, Gothenburg, Nebraska, Cactus, Texas, and Tulia, Texas. In all, 91 tornadoes were confirmed causing 10 fatalities and injuring at least 270 others.
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Meteorological synopsis
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Activity was not widespread on April 20, but two strong tornadoes were confirmed in southwestern Nebraska from a single supercell that suddenly developed. The first was an EF3 tornado near Moorefield, Nebraska, which destroyed six farmsteads and injured two people.[1] A large wedge EF2 tornado touched down near Gothenburg and injured nine people as it crossed over Interstate 80, before moving north through rural areas, damaging several farms.[2]
On April 20, the SPC issued a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms for the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and the southwestern part of Kansas for April 21, which was extended into Nebraska later. Widespread severe weather developed that evening, although the primary result of the supercells was large hail. The meteorological synopsis was virtually identical to March 28 except for the fact that the air mass was not as unstable.[3] In total, 24 tornadoes were confirmed[4] Despite this, five EF2 tornadoes were confirmed in the Texas Panhandle that day. A large high-end EF2 tornado struck Cactus, Texas damaging or destroying numerous structures and injuring 14 people. Another high-end EF2 tornado struck community was Tulia, Texas where more structures were heavily damaged or destroyed and three people were injured. Over 100 reports of hail were recorded on this day as well.[5] Only isolated severe weather activity occurred on April 22 with only one tornado being confirmed.[6]
A severe weather outbreak was forecast for April 23 and 24 across the southern Plains. In the early morning hours of April 22, the SPC issued a moderate risk of severe weather for South Central Kansas, Central Oklahoma, and North Central Texas. This was an extremely rare issuance; at the time, this was only the third time that such a risk been issued so far in advance with the others being for June 10, 2005 and January 2, 2006, although neither time did it result in a major outbreak.[7][8] Several tornadic storms were reported across northwest and south-central Texas, far western Oklahoma, and southwest Kansas on April 23. A total of 29 tornadoes were confirmed, although most stayed over sparsely populated area.[9] The activity quickly redeveloped late on the morning of April 24. Later in the afternoon, the risk that day was upgraded to a high risk over parts of East Texas. Tornadoes, along with large hail and damaging winds, occurred in the afternoon and evening hours across the Plains. Although there was virtually no activity in the high risk area, several tornadoes occurred elsewhere.[10] One large tornadic supercell produced a deadly F4 tornado in Piedras Negras, Coahuila in Mexico killing three people, the same supercell moved across the United States-Mexican border and into the Eagle Pass, Texas metro, with reports of significant damage on the U.S. side of the border and at least seven deaths and 80 injuries from the EF3 tornado, plus at least three deaths and at least 153 injuries across the river in Piedras Negras.[11] Isolated tornadic activity occurred on April 25, but a non-tornadic fatality occurred in Lake Village, Arkansas when 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) winds capsized a boat on Lake Chicot.[12]
Several tornadoes developed across the Midwest and into the Tennessee Valley on the afternoon and evening of April 26. The hardest hit communities were LaPorte, Indiana, which was struck by two EF1 tornadoes, and New Tazewell, Tennessee, which was also hit by an EF1 tornado, where structural damage was reported in both communities, and dozens of houses were damaged or destroyed.[13] Several other scattered tornadoes were reported, along with widespread wind damage.[14] In total, seven people were injured. Four other tornadoes were confirmed in Ohio and Illinois. In the final review of 2007, three EF0 tornadoes were confirmed on April 27. Two of which were in Missouri and the other touched down in Virginia.
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Confirmed tornadoes
- Note: Mexico used the Fujita Scale at the time the tornado that occurred was rated, hence the F4 rating.
April 20 event
April 21 event
April 22 event
April 23 event
April 24 event
April 25 event
April 26 event
April 27 event
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See also
Notes
- All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.
References
External links
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