Significant SPC Storm Reports

On April 9, a dry line formed in the Southern Plains which attributed to severe weather in the areas around Arkansas and northern Louisiana. A total of 43 preliminary tornadoes were reported on the ninth. One tornado, rated by the National Weather Service (NWS) as an EF-3, killed three people in Mena, Arkansas. A day later, the unstable air mass had moved eastward, spawning another 72 tornadoes in the Tennessee Valley, Gulf Coast, and the Appalachian Regions. In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a tornado destroyed 117 homes and damaged several hundred others. The eastern Tennessee town had sustained an estimated $41.8 million in damages. Two people died and seven people were criticallly injured, according to figures released on April 15 by the Rutherford County Emergency Management Agency. The NWS said the tornado tore a 23.5-mile path through Murfreesboro and packed winds as high as 165 mph. The width of the storm was a half-mile, and remained on the ground for 36 minutes.

The latter part of the month brought more severe weather that spawned tornadoes throughout the southern U.S. On the 19th, parts of central Alabama and Georgia were targeted as the leading edge of a cold front spawned tornadoes, causing moderate damage. Based on preliminary reports, eleven tornadoes touched down uprooting trees and damaging roofs. The NWS reported five injuries and one death.

For more information on severe weather during the month of April, please visit the Storm Prediction Center's Monthly Severe Weather Summary page.


Citing This Report

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Monthly Tornadoes Report for April 2009, published online May 2009, retrieved on March 28, 2024 from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/tornadoes/200904.