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In total, 348 people were killed as a result of the outbreak, including 324 tornado-related deaths across six states and 24 fatalities caused by other thunderstorm-related events such as straight-line winds, hail, flash flooding or lightning.[11][12] In Alabama alone, 238 tornado-related deaths were confirmed by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and the state's Emergency Management Agency.[2][11] April 27's 316 fatalities were the most tornado-related fatalities in the United States in a single day since the "Tri-State" outbreak on March 18, 1925 (when at least 751 people were killed).[13][14][15][16] Nearly 500 preliminary local storm reports were received for tornadoes over four days, including 292 in 16 states on April 27 alone.[17] This event was the costliest tornado outbreak in United States history, with total damage reaching $10.2 billion (equivalent to $14 billion in 2023).[18] In 2023, tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis created the outbreak intensity score (OIS) as a way to rank various tornado outbreaks. The 2011 Super Outbreak received an OIS of 378, making it the second most intense tornado outbreak in recorded history.[19]
A high risk of severe weather was issued for April 26 for portions of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas along and near the Interstate 30 corridor as conditions became even more favorable for extreme weather.[31] A large PDS tornado watch with very high possibilities for tornadoes was issued for that same area that afternoon.[32] Widespread tornado warnings were then issued in that area later that evening.[33][34][35]
The second surface low corresponded to an area of strong upper level divergence ahead of the downstream shortwave. As the low formed across Texas and deepened while moving east, a tightening pressure gradient force further strengthened the low-level jet, therefore creating a broad warm sector across the southeastern states. This also generated stronger wind shear, providing better organization for the supercell storms as a result. Numerous tornadoes touched down across several states, including Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Most of those tornadoes were weak, but a few of them caused considerable damage. A long-tracked wedge tornado caused EF2 damage in rural portions of Texas and Louisiana.[38] An EF3 tornado destroyed structures and caused severe damage at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as well.[39] A total of 55 tornadoes were confirmed on the 26th, although no fatalities occurred.
Significant severe weather was ongoing early on April 27 (in the overnight hours) and continued for the entire calendar day virtually unbroken. For the second day in a row, the SPC issued a high risk of severe weather for the Southern United States. Later that morning, the SPC even increased the probability for tornadoes to 45 percent along a corridor from Meridian, Mississippi, to Huntsville, Alabama, an extremely rare issuance exceeding the high risk standards. Conditions became increasingly favorable for tornadoes during such an extreme tornado outbreak.[40]
During the early morning hours, a cold front with several embedded low pressure areas extended from east Texas northeastward into the Ohio River Valley. An upper-level disturbance that had moved across the frontal boundary the previous evening sparked an area of thunderstorms that morphed into a squall line. This line of severe thunderstorms would produce tornadic activity from the evening on April 26 into the late morning of April 27. Early in the morning the squall line, packing straight-line winds and numerous embedded tornadoes, moved through Louisiana and Mississippi before proceeding to affect North and Central Alabama and parts of Middle and East Tennessee. The line strengthened as it moved through Alabama, partially due to a high amount of low-level moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and increasing wind shear.[41]
A majority of the tornadoes embedded in this initial squall line were weak, though several were strong and as such caused significant damage. An EF3 tornado caused major damage to homes in Coaling, Alabama, an EF2 and an EF3 tornado produced severe damage and a fatality near Eupora, Mississippi. Another EF3 tornado resulted in heavy damage in downtown Cordova, Alabama, which was struck by a violent EF4 tornado later that afternoon. An EF2 also struck Cahaba Heights near Birmingham. One embedded cell began producing tornadoes just after 5:00 a.m. CDT (10:00 UTC), starting with an EF1 tornado striking Berry, Alabama. This was soon followed by the Cordova EF3 tornado.[42] As the line entered Cullman County, Alabama, the cell, a mesoscale convective vortex (MCV), began exhibiting a comma head appearance and produced another long-tracked EF2 tornado that struck the town of Hanceville, killing one person. The MCV would then produce 13 tornadoes (most rated EF1) to the northeast in Marshall County, many of which occurred simultaneously. Two more tornadoes were produced as the comma head-shaped embedded cell continued northeast along the Jackson/DeKalb county line, including a long-track EF1 that resulted in a fatality near Pisgah. The same area was impacted later that day by a high-end EF4 tornado.[41] Another EF1 tornado occurred in Dade County, Georgia, with the cell, and six more tornadoes struck Hamilton County, Tennessee, five of which were in the Chattanooga area. The 26th and final tornado produced by the MCV was an EF2 tornado in northern Bradley County, Tennessee, which hit at 9:45 a.m. EDT (13:45 UTC).[43] The initial storms caused widespread power and telephone line outages across Alabama and Tennessee. This line of storms also caused some NOAA weather radio transmitter sites to stop functioning for the remainder of the outbreak. Because of this, more than one million customers were without power and had no warning of any approaching tornadoes later that day.[41]
From the late morning to the early afternoon, another squall line moved through northern parts of Mississippi and Alabama as high wind shear and low-level moisture persisted. However, this time several discrete supercells developed along and in front of the line, spawning seven weak tornadoes across Morgan, Limestone, and Madison Counties in northern Alabama around noon that day.[41]
The most intense supercells of the outbreak developed around midday in central Mississippi and began tracking eastward. With the extreme instability and wind shear, they quickly intensified and eventually became tornadic, shortly thereafter resulting in strong to violent tornadoes. Responding to the high risk issued by the SPC and the already unstable atmosphere expected to become even more unstable throughout the afternoon hours, a PDS tornado watch was issued at 1:45 p.m. CDT (18:45 UTC) for much of Alabama and portions of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia. A widespread complex of supercell storms overspread the states of Mississippi and Alabama and violent tornadoes began rapidly touching down as the afternoon progressed.[41]
By mid-afternoon, as wind shear and low-level moisture continued to dramatically increase, a tornado emergency was declared for Neshoba County, Mississippi, as a large tornado was reported on the ground by both storm spotters and a camera atop a television tower from ABC affiliate WTOK-TV (channel 11) in Meridian, Mississippi. This powerful EF5 tornado caused incredible damage northeast of Philadelphia, Mississippi, where pavement was torn off from roads, vehicles were thrown, and the ground was scoured out to a depth of 2 feet (0.61 m) by the tornado. Three people died when a mobile home was thrown 300 yards (270 m) into a wooded area, obliterating it in the process.[44] Another very long-tracked EF4 tornado passed near the town of Enterprise, Mississippi, killing seven people before crossing into Alabama and eventually dissipating. Four tornadoes were officially rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale that day. One of those EF5 tornadoes struck the town of Smithville, Mississippi, where many well-built brick homes were reduced to bare slabs, numerous hardwood trees were completely debarked, and an SUV was hurled half a mile into the top of the town's water tower, subsequently leaving behind a visible dent. Another long-tracked EF5 wedge tornado passed through rural portions of Alabama and Tennessee, becoming the deadliest tornado of the outbreak as it completely devastated the towns of Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, Mount Hope, Tanner, and Harvest, killing 72 people. This marks only the second day in history (after April 3, 1974) that there were more than two F5/EF5 tornadoes reported.[45]
The tornadoes continued tracking through central Alabama that afternoon and into the early evening hours. A dangerous and destructive tornado struck the city of Cullman, Alabama, at around 3:00 p.m. CDT (20:00 UTC). This large, multiple-vortex tornado was captured on several tower cameras from television stations, such as Fox affiliate WBRC (channel 6) and ABC affiliate WBMA-LD/WCFT-TV/WJSU-TV (channels 58, 33, and 40) both out of Birmingham. The tornado caused extensive destruction in the city's downtown area; it was ultimately rated EF4. The final damage count was 867 residences and 94 businesses in Cullman; six people died as well.[46] The town of Cordova, Alabama, which had already been damaged by an EF3 tornado from the initial round of storms, was struck by an EF4 tornado that killed 13 people. Two violent EF4 tornadoes also ripped through Jackson County, Alabama, one of which caused a fatality near Bridgeport while the other passed near Pisgah and into Georgia where it caused major damage in Trenton and killed 14 people. At around 5:10 p.m. CDT (22:10 UTC), a very large and exceptionally destructive tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and about 40 minutes later, that same tornado struck the northern suburbs of nearby Birmingham.[47] A tornado emergency was issued for both cities, along with many other cities that day. Many local television stations, including WBRC and WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU, as well as CBS affiliate WIAT (channel 42), broadcast live footage of this long-tracked tornado in both Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. A debris ball was observed by the Birmingham NEXRAD, indicating that the tornado was causing extreme damage.[48] This tornado killed 64 people and caused extensive devastation in densely populated areas, and the tornado struck several of the same small communities as the April 1956 F4, the April 1977 F5 and the April 1998 F5 tornadoes that hit portions of the Birmingham area. The supercell that produced the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham EF4 tornado originated in Newton County, Mississippi. The same supercell produced another EF4 tornado later that evening that killed 22 people and struck the Ohatchee, Alabama, area and eventually crossed into Georgia, causing additional damage near Cave Spring before dissipating. Further to the south, a mile-wide EF3 tornado killed 7 people in mostly rural areas and caused major damage in the small town of Eoline. The final EF5 tornado of the day caused remarkable damage in and around the town of Rainsville, Alabama, killing 25 people before crossing into Georgia and dissipating. Tornadoes continued touching down further to the northeast as the sun set, particularly in Georgia. This included a long-tracked EF4 tornado that caused major damage in Ringgold, Georgia, Apison, Tennessee, and Cleveland, Tennessee, killing 20 people along the path. After dark, violent tornadoes continued to touch down, and a nighttime EF4 tornado destroyed many lakeside homes at Lake Martin in eastern Alabama, killing seven people. Additional strong nighttime tornadoes occurred in Georgia, including an EF3 that killed two people in Barnesville, and another EF3 that destroyed homes and killed one person at Lake Burton.[42][49]
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