• Welcome to TalkWeather!
    We see you lurking around TalkWeather! Take the extra step and join us today to view attachments, see less ads and maybe even join the discussion.
    CLICK TO JOIN TALKWEATHER

Severe WX April 1-2 (overnight) Severe Weather Event

Last edited:
From everything I’ve seen, Bay-Lake City has a good shot at getting a mid-range EF4 rating, and Selmer likely deserves a low-end EF4 rating (wouldn’t be surprised to see a 165 EF3 out of it though). Nothing looks more impressive than Diaz to me from yesterday, aside from maybe a bit of the tree damage. I’m interested in the other really big tornadoes though. Cape Girardeau and La Grange come to mind specifically.
 
Really seems like the Selmer tornado strengthened as it moved through town. The back half of damage looks much more severe than the front half.

View attachment 38909
That looks like some seriously intense damage. Curious to see the damage past the town if any happened at all.

Truly an awful night. Cannot believe that we all witnessed this happen live. It’ll for sure be an outbreak to remember.
 
Easter 2020 ranks #4 & never ranked High Risk. Technically 03-4 Apr 74 didn't either but I think that was the 1st ever MDT Risk.

The categories (even the first three) as we know them, didn't exist then. IIRC the SELS AC (Anticipated Convection) product used the terminology "isolated," "scattered" or "numerous" severe thunderstorms. April 3, 1974 had a forecast for "scattered" severe (the equivalent of moderate risk). One wonders then what kind of setup it would have taken to make them issue a "numerous" forecast.
 
The categories (even the first three) as we know them, didn't exist then. IIRC the SELS AC (Anticipated Convection) product used the terminology "isolated," "scattered" or "numerous" severe thunderstorms. April 3, 1974 had a forecast for "scattered" severe (the equivalent of moderate risk). One wonders then what kind of setup it would have taken to make them issue a "numerous" forecast.
I’ve often wondered what 4/3/74 outlooks would have looked like using today’s available modeling tools. Was it a slam dunk? Would the initial day 1 have been cautious before all hell broke loose with upgrades through the day? Would be very interesting to see the parameters ingested and output created for that day and see if/where the initial high risk was drawn.
 
Didn't realize until this morning, my Aunt and Uncle moved to Selmer 2 years ago, after I realized I beat the crap out of myself I didn't stay up to warn them. Luckily it missed them by 500 yards, she said half the town is gone, obviously seen in pictures/video though. But I didn't need a 6 hour long heart attack until I could get a hold of them... Now they need to get through 3-4 more days of this.
 
W
Didn't realize until this morning, my Aunt and Uncle moved to Selmer 2 years ago, after I realized I beat the crap out of myself I didn't stay up to warn them. Luckily it missed them by 500 yards, she said half the town is gone, obviously seen in pictures/video though. But I didn't need a 6 hour long heart attack until I could get a hold of them... Now they need to get through 3-4 more days of this.
Selmer and mcnairy count is a tornado magnet seems like
 
The categories (even the first three) as we know them, didn't exist then. IIRC the SELS AC (Anticipated Convection) product used the terminology "isolated," "scattered" or "numerous" severe thunderstorms. April 3, 1974 had a forecast for "scattered" severe (the equivalent of moderate risk). One wonders then what kind of setup it would have taken to make them issue a "numerous" forecast.
I'll put the rating in quotation marks. Did they go numerous on 04 April? I assume not.
 
Better image of this home in lake city showing clear anchor bolts.
The problem is they'll probably say the debris is right next to the home, not blown yards away. You conclusively need that these years.
Another thing I've heard they look at is the bolts themselves. Sheared or bent anchor bolts indicate a lot more stress than a straight anchor bolt left over after the structure anchored to it just fell apart. It seems weird since I'd almost always expect the wood to shatter before the anchor bolt breaks to that extent, but I've it as a response to why sometimes even clear slabs with anchor bolts aren't any higher than EF4 at most.
 
Back
Top