Super Outbreak

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Super Outbreak (1974)

Paths of the 148 tornadoes generated during the Super Outbreak.
Date of tornado outbreak:	April 3-4, 1974
Duration1:	~18 hours
Maximum rated tornado2:	F5 tornado
Tornadoes caused:	148 confirmed (Most ever in a single-day outbreak)
Damages:	$3.5 billion (2005 dollars)
Fatalities:	315 - 330
Areas affected:	Most of central and eastern North America
1Time from first tornado to last tornado 2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita Scale

The Super Outbreak is the largest tornado outbreak on record. On April 3–4, 1974, there were 148 tornadoes confirmed in 13 states and one Canadian province: Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and New York. It extensively damaged approximately 900 square miles (1,440 square kilometers) along a total combined path length of 2,600 miles (4,160 km).^[1]

It is believed such an outbreak of this magnitude occurs once every 500 years, according to a 2004 special report of the 30th anniversary of the outbreak on WHAS-TV in Louisville.

Contents 1 Storm system 2 Events and aftermath 3 List of tornadoes 4 Ground Zero: Xenia, Ohio 5 Brandenburg, Kentucky tornado 6 Louisville tornado 7 Depauw & Madison, Indiana tornadoes 8 Cincinnati/Sayler Park area tornado 9 Monticello, Indiana tornado 10 Tanner, Alabama tornadoes 11 Guin & Huntsville, Alabama tornadoes 12 Windsor, Ontario tornado 13 See also 14 Related movies 15 Internet References 16 Further reading 17 External links

[edit] Storm system

A powerful spring-time low pressure system developed across the United States Plains on April 1. While moving into the Mississippi and Ohio Valley areas, a surge of very moist air intensified the storm further while there were sharp temperature contrasts between both sides of the system. NOAA officials were expecting a severe weather outbreak on April 3, but not of the extent which ultimately occurred. Several F2 and F3 tornadoes had struck portions of the Ohio Valley and South in a separate, earlier outbreak on April 1 and 2, and this earlier storm included three killer tornadoes in Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee. The town of Campbellsburg northeast of Louisville was hard-hit in this earlier outbreak, with a large portion of the town destroyed by an F3.^[2] Between the two outbreaks, an additional tornado was reported in the early morning hours of April 3, in Indiana, several hours before the official start of the outbreak.

On April 3, severe weather watches were already issued from the morning from south of the Great Lakes, while in portions of the Upper Midwest, snow was reported while heavy rain fell across central Michigan and much of Ontario.

By the early afternoon, numerous supercells and clusters of thunderstorms developed and the outbreak began quickly, with storms developing in central Illinois, with a secondary zone developing near the Appalachians across eastern Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. The worst of the outbreak shifted towards the Ohio Valley between 4:30 and 6:30 PM EDT where it produced four of the six F5s over a span of just two hours when three powerful supercells traveled across the area - one in central and southern Ohio, a second one across southern Indiana and Ohio and a third one in Northern Kentucky.

Activity also developed further to the south into Alabama during the evening hours and produced several violent tornadoes across the northern third of the state. Activity also spread to central Tennessee and eastern Kentucky, with numerous tornadoes concentrated in a small area. Additional supercells developed across northern Indiana and southern Michigan producing additional violent and/or killer tornadoes between 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM EDT including the Windsor, Ontario tornado.

Activity in the south moved towards the Appalachians during the overnight hours and produced the final tornadoes across the southeast during the morning of April 4.

In a 2004 survey for Risk Management Solutions, Dr. Ted Fujita reported that three-quarters of all tornadoes in the Super Outbreak were produced by 30 'families' of tornadoes, i.e. multiple tornadoes spawned in succession by a single thunderstorm cell.^[1]

[edit] Events and aftermath

Never before had so many violent (F5 and F4) tornadoes been observed in a single weather phenomenon. There were six F5 tornadoes and 24 F4 tornadoes. The outbreak began in Morris, Illinois, at around 1 p.m. on April 3, 1974. As the storm system moved east where it had been sunny all day, the tornadoes grew more intense. A tornado that struck near Monticello, Indiana, was an F4 and had a path length of 121 miles (193.6 km), the longest path length of any tornado for this outbreak. Nineteen people were killed in this tornado. However, the first F5 tornado of the day struck the city of Xenia, Ohio at 4:40 PM EDT. It killed 34, injured 1,150, completely destroyed about one-fourth of the city, and caused serious damage in another fourth of the city. Xenia was hardest hit that day, and is considered by many as "ground zero" of the super-outbreak.

Five more F5s would be observed—one each in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, and two in Alabama. Twenty-eight were killed in Brandenburg, Kentucky, and 30 died in Guin, Alabama. The lowest number killed by an F5 tornado in this outbreak was three in Hamilton County, Ohio near Cincinnati. One tornado also occurred in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, killing nine and injuring 30 others there, most of them at the former Windsor Curling Club. During the peak of the outbreak, a staggering fifteen tornadoes were on the ground simultaneously. At one point forcasters in Indiana, frustrated because they could not keep up with all of the simutanious tornado activity, put the entire state of Indiana under a blanket tornado warning. This was the first and only time in U.S. history that an entire state was under a tornado warning.^{[citation needed]}.

There were 18 hours of continuous tornadic activity. The outbreak finally ended in Caldwell County, NC, at about 7:00 A.M. on April 4, 1974. A total of 315-330 people were killed in 48 tornadoes and 5,484 were injured.

The Super Outbreak occurred at the end of a very strong, nearly record-setting La Niña event. The 1973–74 La Niña was just as strong as the 1998–99 La Niña. Another tornado outbreak, which may be linked to La Niña, was the March 12, 2006 tornado outbreak. Despite the apparent connection between La Niña and two of the largest tornado outbreaks in US history, no definitive linkage exists between La Niña and this outbreak or tornado activity in general.

Some tornado myths were soundly debunked (not necessarily for the first time) by tornado activity during the outbreak.^[3]

[edit] List of tornadoes

Main article: List of Super Outbreak tornadoes

Confirmed Total	Confirmed F0	Confirmed F1	Confirmed F2	Confirmed F3	Confirmed F4	Confirmed F5
148	23	31	30	35	24	7

[edit] Ground Zero: Xenia, Ohio

Costliest tornadoes in United States history
Rank	Area affected	Date	Damage1	Adj. damage2
1	North-central Georgia	March 31, 1973	1,250,000	5,175,000
2	Topeka, Kansas Tornado	June 8, 1966	250,000	1,420,000
3	Lubbock, Texas Tornado	May 11, 1970	250,000	1,185,000
4	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	May 3, 1999	1,000,000	1,100,000
5	Xenia, Ohio	April 3, 1974	250,000	932,500
6	Omaha, Nebraska	May 6, 1975	250,603	857,062
7	Wichita Falls, Texas	April 10, 1979	277,841	702,938
8	Grand Island, Nebraska	June 3, 1980	285,050	635,662
9	Windsor Locks, Connecticut	October 3, 1979	250,000	632,500
10	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	May 8, 2003	370,000	370,000
Source: Storm Prediction Center
1. These are the unadjusted damage totals in thousands of US dollars. Prior to 1994, official records used categories for "Damage class", so these values represent inflation-adjusted medians for a given damage class. If better numbers are available, a source is indicated. 2. Raw damage totals adjusted for inflation, in thousands of 2003 USD.

The Xenia Tornado was the deadliest individual tornado of the Super Outbreak. The tornado started in southwest Greene County just outside of Dayton at about 3:30PM CDT (4:30PM EDT). It initially started as a small tornado, then intensified while moving northeast at about 50 mph (80 kph). A passing motorist filmed the tornado at its early stages and noticed that at one point two tornadoes formed and merged into one larger tornado. When reaching Xenia shortly thereafter, numerous structures were completely destroyed, including apartment buildings, homes, businesses, churches and schools. Several train cars were blown over as the tornado crossed a track. The hardest hit area was the Arrowhead subdivision near U.S. Route 68, where many houses were completely swept away. The Pinecrest Garden district was also extensively affected.

One resident recorded the tornado from inside an apartment complex. Before the tornado hit the building, the resident left the tape which continued the recording. When the cassette player was found after the storm, the tape was then made public.^[4]. A few pictures were taken of the tornado (possibly frames of a film) as it was entering Xenia, and at least one photo was taken of the twister inside of Xenia. Also, this tornado was caught on film. A sixteen year-old boy captured 1 minute and 42 seconds of the infamous twister, and up close with an 8 mm "super 8" video recorder, as it roared through the city. After passing through Xenia, the tornado passed through Wilberforce heavily damaging the university and several campus and residential buildings.^[5] Afterwards, the tornado weakened and dissipated in Clark County near South Vienna after traveling nearly 30 miles (48 km). Its maximum width was less than one-half mile (0.8 km) in Xenia. The same parent storm later spawned a weaker tornado northeast of Columbus in Franklin County.

34 were killed by the tornado (including two Ohio National Guard servicemen in a fire several days after) and about 1,150 were injured in Xenia alone. About half of the town or about 1,400 buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed. Damage was estimated at $400 million US. Then-US president Richard Nixon personally visited Xenia, and declared the area a disaster area. It took several months for the city to recover from the tornado with the help of the Red Cross and the Ohio National Guard which assisted the recovery efforts.^[6] Most of the town was quickly rebuilt afterwards.

The Xenia tornado was rated an F5. It was one of two F5s that affected Ohio during the outbreak, the other being in the Cincinnati area (see Cincinnati / Sayler Park area tornado, below). The town was later hit by an F4 tornado in September 2000, which killed 1 and injured about 100.

Prior to the 1974 storm, the city had no tornado sirens. However, after the F5 hit, 10 sirens were installed across the area and their presence helped to limit casualties in the 2000 event.^[7]. A memorial was also installed near Xenia City Hall to commemorate the tornado victims.

[edit] Brandenburg, Kentucky tornado

Outbreak death toll

State	Total	County	County total
Alabama	77	Cullman	1
		Fayette	2
		Lawrence	14
		Limestone	16
		Madison	16
		Marion	23
		Winston	5
Georgia	16	Dawson	5
		Gordon	6
		Haralson	1
		Murray	1
		Pickens	1
		Whitfield	2
Illinois	2	Champaign	1
		Macon	1
Indiana	47	Clark	1
		Decatur	2
		Franklin	2
		Fulton	6
		Hancock	1
		Harrison	2
		Jackson	1
		Jefferson	10
		Kosciusko	1
		Noble	4
		Perry	2
		Randolph	1
		Scott	1
		Steuben	2
		Washington	1
		White	10
Kentucky	71	Boyle	1
		Clinton	8
		Franklin	4
		Hardin	2
		Jefferson	3
		Madison	7
		Meade	31
		Nelson	1
		Pulaski	6
		Rockcastle	1
		Simpson	1
		Warren	2
		Wayne	4
Michigan	2	Hillsdale	2
North Carolina	6	Cherokee	4
		Graham	2
Ohio	42	Adams	1
		Greene	36
		Hamilton	5
Ontario	9	Essex	9
Tennessee	45	Bradley	3
		Cannon	1
		Fentress	7
		Franklin	5
		Knox	2
		Lincoln	6
		McMinn	1
		Overton	3
		Pickett	5
		Polk	1
		Putnam	10
		Warren	1
Virginia	1	Washington	1
West Virginia	1	Fayette	1
Totals	319
All deaths were tornado-related

This other powerful F5 tornado touched down in Breckinridge County at about 4:30 PM CDT and followed a 34-mile (54 km) path that included the community of Brandenburg near the Ohio River and dissipated in Indiana. 31 were killed in the storm including 18 at a single block of Green Street in Brandenburg.^[8] The vast majority of homes and businesses including the High School, the Bapitist Church, the old bank building and the Meade Hotel were either damaged or destroyed. The radio station WMMG was also destroyed.

Several tombstones in the Cap Anderson cemetery were toppled, broken and even some were displaced a small distance. Most of the trees vanished as well.

A complete description of homes and other structures destroyed in order by the tornado in Brandenburg can be found here.^[9]

When the twister struck on April 3, 1974, many of the Brandenburg residents at that time had also experienced a major flood of the Ohio River that affected the area in 1937 as well as numerous communities all along it including Louisville and Paducah.

The same storm would later produce tornadoes in the Louisville metro area.

[edit] Louisville tornado

About an hour after the Brandendurg tornado, an F4 tornado formed in the southwest part of Jefferson County near Kosmosdale. Another funnel cloud formed over Standiford Field Airport, touched down at The Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, and destroyed the majority of the horse barns at the center and part of Freedom Hall (a multipurpose arena). The tornado continued its 22-mile (35-km) journey northeast where it demolished most of Audubon Elementary School and affected the neighborhoods of Audubon, Cherokee Triangle, Cherokee-Seneca, Crescent Hill, Indian Hills, Northfield, Rolling Hills, and Tyler Park. The tornado ended near the junction of Interstates 264 and 71 after killing two people, injuring 207 people, destroying over 900 homes, and damaging thousands of others. Cherokee Park, an historic 409-acre municipal park located at Eastern Parkway and Cherokee Road, had thousands of mature trees destroyed. A massive re-planting effort was undertaken by the community in the aftermath of the tornado.

In addition to the two fatalities directly associated with the event, two other deaths were indirectly associated; a heart attack in the immediate aftermath and a construction worker who fell while repairing Freedom Hall two weeks later.

Dick Gilbert, a helicopter traffic reporter for WHAS-AM Radio, had followed the tornado through portions of its track including when it damaged a water tower. A WHAS-TV reporter also filmed the tornado when it passed just east of the Central Business District of Louisville.

[edit] Depauw & Madison, Indiana tornadoes

The Depauw tornado was probably the least-known of the F5 tornadoes in the outbreak as it travelled through rural areas in southern Indiana northwest of Louisville, traversing about 65 miles (104 km) through parts of Perry and Harrison Counties. F5 damage was observed near the community of Depauw. Overall, six were killed by the storm and over 75 were injured. It was the only F5 that had a path width in excess of 1 mile (1.6 km).

Soon after the Depauw tornado lifted, the Hanover/Madison F4 twister formed and travelled through Jefferson County and levelled many structures in the small towns of Hanover and Madison. Eleven were killed in this storm while an additional 300 were injured. According to a WHAS-TV Louisville reporter in a special report about the outbreak, 90% of Hanover was destroyed or severely damaged, including the Hanover College campus. Despite the fact that no one was killed or seriously injured at the college, 32 of the College’s 33 buildings were damaged, including two that were completely destroyed and six that sustained major structural damage. Hundreds of trees were down, completely blocking every campus road. All utilities were knocked out and communication with those off campus was nearly impossible. Damage to the campus alone was estimated at about $10 million US.

The same storm would later strike the Cincinnati area, producing multiple tornadoes including another F5.

[edit] Cincinnati/Sayler Park area tornado

The tornado was the only one of two F5 tornadoes in recorded history to have traveled through three states, the other being the Tri-State Tornado that pummeled Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 25, 1925. The Cincinnati/Sayler Park tornado traveled through portions of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

The Sayler Park tornado was among a series of tornadoes that earlier struck portions of southern Indiana from north of Brandenburg, Kentucky to the Ohio border. It began shortly before 4:30 PM CDT or 5:30 PM EDT in southeastern Indiana in Ohio County north of Rising Sun near the Ohio River. It then traveled towards Boone County, Kentucky before reaching its maximum strength in the western suburbs of the Cincinnati Metropolitan area. Most severely affected was Sayler Park at the western edge of the city where F5 damage occurred. Homes were swept away in a hilly area near a lake, and boats were thrown and destroyed. Other areas near Cincinnati also suffered extensive damage to structures. This tornado was witnessed on television by thousands of people, as WCPO aired the tornado live during special news coverage of the tornadoes.

Other areas affected were Bridgetown, Mack, Dent and Delhi. Damage in Delhi was rated as high as F4.^[10]

The second so-called "Tri-State" tornado killed 3 and injured over 100 in Hamilton County, Ohio. It was considered the most-photographed tornado of the outbreak.

This tornado dissipated west of White Oak but the same thunderstorm activity was responsible for two other tornado touchdowns in the Montgomery and Mason areas. The Mason tornado, which started in the northern Cincinnati subdivisions of Arlington Heights and Elmwood Place, was rated F4 and killed two, while the Warren County tornado was rated an F2 and injured 10. The storm that spawned this family of tornadoes weakened before moving through Dayton and the previously-devastated Xenia areas.

[edit] Monticello, Indiana tornado

This half-mile (0.8 km) wide F4 tornado developed (as part of a tornado family that moved from Illinois to Michigan) during the late afternoon hours. This tornado produced the longest damage path recorded during the Super Outbreak, on a SW to NE path that nearly crossed the entire state of Indiana. This tornado formed near Otterbein in Benton County in west central Indiana to Noble County just northwest of Fort Wayne - a total distance of about 121 miles (194 km). It also struck portions of six other counties with the hardest hit being White County and its town of Monticello. Much of the town was destroyed including the Courthouse, some churches and cemeteries, 40 businesses and numerous homes as well as three schools. It also heavily damaged the Penn Central bridge over the Tippecanoe River. Overall damage according to the NOAA was estimated at about $250 million US with $100 million US damage in Monticello alone.

Other communities such as Rochester and Ligonier were hard hit.

19 were killed during the storm including five from Fort Wayne when their mini-bus fell 50 feet (15 meters) into the Tippecanoe River near Monticello. One passenger did survive the fall.^[11] Five others were killed in White County, six in Fulton County and one in Kosciusko County.^[12] The National Guard had assisted the residents in the relief and cleanup efforts and then-Governor Otis Bowen visited the area days after the storm.

One of the only consolations from the tornado was that a century-old bronze bell that belonged to the Monticello Courthouse and served as timekeeper was found intact despite being thrown a great distance.^[13]

The tornado itself had contradicted a long-time myth that a tornado would "not follow terrain into steep valleys" as while hitting Monticello, it descended a 60-foot (18-meter) hill near the Tippecanoe River and damaged several homes afterwards.^[14]

[edit] Tanner, Alabama tornadoes

Most of this small Alabama town located west of Huntsville in Limestone County was destroyed when two violent tornadoes struck the community 30 minutes apart. The first tornado cut a swath of over 80 miles (128 km) through several counties in northwest Alabama, continuing into south central Tennessee. The first tornado formed at 6:30 PM CDT in Franklin County, Alabama and ended just over 90 minutes later in Franklin County, Tennessee. Eyewitnesses reported that the tornado was quite large and demolished everything along its path.

While rescue efforts were underway to look for people under the destroyed structures, few were aware that another equally violent tornado would strike the area. The path of the second tornado, which formed at 7:35 PM CDT was much shorter than the first, but otherwise closely parallelled its predecessor. Many of the structures that were missed by the first tornado in Tanner were demolished along with remaining portions of already damaged structures.

Many other structures in Franklin, Limestone and Madison counties were completely demolished, including significant portions of the communities of Harvest and Hazel Green just northeast of Tanner.^[15] The death toll from the two tornadoes was over 50 and over 400 were injured. Most of the fatalities occurred in and around the Tanner area. Over 1,000 houses, 200 mobile homes and numerous other outbuildings, automobiles, power lines and trees were completely demolished or heavily damaged.

Meanwhile, in Tennessee, another (although weaker) tornado followed roughly the same path as the first Tanner tornado. Numerous killer tornadoes were reported in that state between Nashville and Knoxville including one from the same supercell in Franklin County killing at least 11.

At least the first of the Tanner tornadoes is rated as an F5 according to most sources. However, NWS record shows that both of them were rated the highest-scale.^[16][17]

The rating of the second Tanner tornado is still disputed by scientists and some of the regional NWS offices. Nevertheless, a tornado that later struck Guin just south of the first Tanner tornado was also rated an F5 (See below).

This was the second state been hit by more than two F5's during the Super Outbreak. The next occurrence of two F5's hitting the same state on the same day happened in March 1990 in Kansas. Meanwhile, the next F5 to hit the state was on April 4, 1977 near Birmingham

[edit] Guin & Huntsville, Alabama tornadoes

The Guin tornado was the longest-duration F5 tornado recorded in the outbreak. It formed at around 8:50 PM CDT near the Mississippi-Alabama border and travelled over 100 miles (160 km) to just west of Huntsville and lifted just after 10:30 PM CDT; the formation of this tornado was preceded by a number of reports of large hail and straight-line wind damage around Starkville, MS. The path of the Guin tornado was just a few dozen miles south of where the Tanner tornadoes struck about two hours earlier.

The tornado killed 23 in Guin in Marion County and another five in the community of Delmar in Winston County. Close to 300 in total were injured, and Guin was left in ruins.

A large number of homes were levelled and the Bankhead National Forest lost a considerable number of trees when the tornado hit.

Huntsville was affected shortly later by a strong F3 tornado produced by the same thunderstorm; this tornado produced heavy damage in the south end of the city, destroying nearly 1,000 structures. The tornado then reached the Monte Santo Mountain, which has an altitude of 1,640 feet (492 meters).

[edit] Windsor, Ontario tornado

Deadliest tornadoes in Canadian history Death counts before 1900 may be approximate
Rank	Tornado	Date	Deaths
1	"Regina Cyclone"	June 30, 1912	≥28
2	Edmonton Tornado	July 31, 1987	27
3	Windsor-Tecumseh, Ontario tornado	June 17, 1946	17
4	Pine Lake Tornado	July 14, 2000	12
5	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec	August 16, 1888	9
	Windsor, Ontario tornado	April 3, 1974	9
7	Barrie, Ontario tornado	May 31, 1985	8
8	Sudbury, Ontario tornado	August 20, 1970	6
	Sainte-Rose, Quebec tornado	June 8, 1953	6
10	Bouctouche, New Brunswick tornado	August 6, 1879	5
	Portage la Prairie, Manitoba tornado	May 11, 1953	5
Source: Environment Canada

In addition to its numerous other records, this outbreak also spawned one of the deadliest tornadoes in Canadian history. Affecting Windsor, Ontario and surrounding areas in southwestern Essex County, the F3 twister killed eight people and injured over 20. Most of the fatalities occurred inside a rink near the downtown area that was heavily damaged.

While it was the only tornado reported in Canada from the outbreak, it was the country's deadliest since 1946, when a tornado killed 17 – ironically, less than one mile (1.6 km) from the path of this tornado.

[edit] See also

• List of Canadian tornadoes
• List of tornadoes striking downtown areas
• List of F5 tornadoes
• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks

[edit] Related movies

• Gummo (1997)

[edit] Internet References

[edit] Further reading

• Tornado! the 1974 super outbreak, by Jacqueline A. Ball; consultant, Daniel H. Franck. New York: Bearport Pub., 2005. 32 pages. ISBN 1-59716-009-1 (lib. bdg), 1597160326 (paperback).
• Tornado at Xenia, April 3, 1974, by Barbara Lynn Riedel; photography by Peter Wayne Kyryl. Cleveland, OH, 1974. 95 pages. No ISBN is available. Library of Congress Control Number: 75314665.
• Tornado, by Polk Laffoon IV. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. 244 pages. ISBN 0-06-012489-X.
• Tornado alley: monster storms of the Great Plains, by Howard B. Bluestein. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 180 pages. ISBN 0-19-510552-4 (acid-free paper).
• Delivery of mental health services in disasters: the Xenia tornado and some implications, by Verta A. Taylor, with G. Alexander Ross and E. L. Quarantelli. Columbus, OH: Disaster Research Center, Ohio State University, 1976. 328 pages. There is no ISBN available. Library of Congress Control Number: 76380740.
• The widespread tornado outbreak of April 3-4, 1974: a report to the Administrator. Rockville, Md: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1974. 42 pages. There is no ISBN available. Library of Congress Control Number: 75601597.
• The tornado, by John Edward Weems. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977. 180 pages. ISBN 0-385-07178-7.
• Butler, William S. (editor) (2004). Tornado: A look back at Louisville's dark day, April 3, 1974. A 30th Anniversary Publication. Butler Books. 176 pages. ISBN 1-884532-58-6. 
• Deitz, Robert E., et al. (editor) with an introduction by John Ed Pearce (1974). April 3, 1974: Tornado!. The Courier-Journal and The Louisville Times. 128 pages. Library of Congress Catalog Number 74-80806. 
• Hartsfield, Ray J. with Robin Garr, Phyllis Morrisette, Jay Harris, Dave Knapp, Tom Scott, Terry Cowan, Mary Ann Woosley, Allen Hammer (editorial staff) (1974). April 3, 1974: The Kentucky Tornadoes. C. F. Boone, Publisher. 96 pages. 

[edit] External links

• 1974 Windsor Tornado - CBC Archives
• NOAA and the 1974 Tornado Outbreak
• Super Tornado Outbreak of April 3-4, 1974 (National Climatic Data Center)
• April 3, 1974 Superoutbreak (NWS Indianapolis, IN)
• Super Outbreak of April 3rd 1974 (NWS Northern Indiana)
• The April 3rd and 4th 1974 Tornado Outbreak in Alabama (NWS Birmingham, AL)
• The Super Outbreak: Outbreak of the Century (22nd Conference on Severe Local Storms, American Meteorological Society)
• Potential insurance losses from a major tornado outbreak: the 1974 Super Outbreak example (22nd Conference on Severe Local Storms, American Meteorological Society)
• A website dedicated to the Super Outbreak
• The Weather Channel's Storm of the Century list - #2 The Super Outbreak
• Super Outbreak 30th Anniversary Special (WHAS Louisville)
• WHAS April 3, 1974 Live Breaking News Coverage part 1
• WHAS April 3, 1974 Live Breaking News Coverage part 2
• The Tornado History Project The Super Outbreak of April 3-4, 1974 overlaid on a Google Map
• 1974 Alabama tornado table including tornadoes from the Super Outbreak - Courtesy of NWS Birmingham, Alabama