72 Tornadoes In 24 Hours – The Outbreak Nobody Expected

Video Description

On November 17th, 2013, a quiet Sunday morning across the American Midwest turned into one of the most devastating tornado outbreaks ever recorded for the month of November. While families attended church services and watched football, a terrifying combination of atmospheric conditions was building across the heartland that forecasters had never seen this late in the year. A massive trough of low pressure racing eastward from the Rockies pulled an unprecedented surge of warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico deep into Illinois and Indiana, pushing temperatures into the low 70s and dew points into the mid-60s — values that had no business existing in mid-November. Combined with extreme jet stream winds overhead, the atmosphere became loaded with the same volatile energy that fuels the most violent spring tornado outbreaks. The Storm Prediction Center responded by issuing a high risk for severe weather, the latest such warning ever issued for the Midwest. By late morning, the cap broke. Supercell thunderstorms erupted across the length of Illinois and a relentless barrage of tornadoes began touching down across seven states. In Washington, Illinois, a city of 16,000 people, an EF4 tornado with 190 mph winds carved a path straight through the center of town, leveling entire subdivisions and sweeping homes clean off their foundations. It was the strongest November tornado in Illinois state history. Near the tiny village of New Minden, a second EF4 killed an elderly brother and sister on their family farm, leaving nothing behind but bare ground where their home once stood. In Brookport, along the Ohio River, a long-tracked EF3 tore through mobile home parks and claimed three more lives. By the time the last tornado dissipated over Tennessee that evening, 77 confirmed tornadoes had struck across the region, including two EF4s and three EF3s. Eight people lost their lives, over 200 were injured, and property damage exceeded one billion dollars. It was the deadliest and costliest November tornado outbreak in Illinois history, a day that reshaped how an entire region thinks about severe weather outside of traditional tornado season.