The "forgotten" tornado outbreak
2011 was a historic year for tornadoes, with many deadly outbreaks recorded across the United States. The most infamous of all, was on April 27, 2011. This was a once-in-a-generation type of tornado outbreak, with over 175 tornadoes, including four EF-5's. This event deserves the recognition it gets, but it overshadows a day that many people won't forget, that only happened a few weeks prior.
On the day of April 15, 2011, a moderate risk of severe weather was in place for much of Mississippi and Alabama. By that morning, it was evident environmental conditions were going to be perfect for tornadic supercell development. Storms fired just after 11 a.m. across central Mississippi. These storms crept across Mississippi, and eventually into Alabama, dropping multiple damaging tornadoes.
In total, at least 59 tornadoes were recorded across Mississippi and Alabama. Six were Ef-3's, with the max wind rating of 150 mph. Unfortunately at least eight people would lose their lives as a result of these tornadoes. This outbreak would go down as one of the worst in the state's history, until the April 27th outbreak rewrote the record books.
This was not the last day of the outbreak, as tornadoes continued into April 16th. This time, the Carolina's and Virginia took the brunt of the storms. Several intense, long-track tornadoes caused an immense path of devastation. One of these tornadoes went right through the very populated city of Raleigh, North Carolina. The loss of life was even greater with this event, with at least 24 casualties. This was the worst outbreak in the state since March 1984.
The Storm Station is here for you, on every platform. Your severe weather updates can be found on News 2, wbrz.com, and the WBRZ WX App on your Apple or Android device. Follow WBRZ Weather on Facebook and X for even more weather updates while you are on the go.