Weather By The Numbers: April 2020 Tornadoes Edition

Scott Martin | May 6, 2020 @ 3:30 pm

The month of April for 2020 ended up being one of the most active Aprils in recorded weather history for the United States when it comes to confirmed tornadoes. Let’s get started with the numbers…

78 … The number of watches issued by the Storm Prediction Center during the month of April. 40 of those watches were tornado watches. The other 38 watches were severe thunderstorm watches.

29 … The number of days during the month of April that contained a severe weather risk for some part of the United States. April 5th was the only day that did not contain a severe weather risk.

40 … The number of tornado-related fatalities that occurred during the month of April. That was the highest fatality number in a one-month period since May of 2013 (41 fatalities).

14 … The number of killer tornadoes that occurred during the month of April. That number ranks as the 5th most in NOAA Record for a one-month period. That is also the highest amount of deadly tornadoes since the 43 killer tornadoes that occurred in April of 2011.

351 … The number of confirmed tornadoes that occurred during the month of April (preliminary). If this number doesn’t change when all data is considered official, it will rank 2nd in the April tornado counts. 757 confirmed tornadoes occurred in April of 2011 which leads the rankings.

12-13 … The Easter Sunday Outbreak of 2020

114 … The number of confirmed tornadoes that occurred during the outbreak.

32 … The number of fatalities that occurred during the outbreak. That was the most fatalities that occurred in a single day since 41 were killed on March 2nd of 2012.

3 … The number of violent tornadoes that occurred during the outbreak. That was the highest total since 4 occurred on June 16th of 2014.

4 … Only the 4th “Convective Day” that over 100 tornadoes occurred in a single day. The 114 tornadoes places this event third on the list behind April 3rd, 1974 (143), and April 27th, 2011 (173).

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Severe Weather

About the Author (Author Profile)

Scott Martin is an operational meteorologist, professional graphic artist, musician, husband, and father. Not only is Scott a member of the National Weather Association, but he is also the Central Alabama Chapter of the NWA president. Scott is also the co-founder of Racecast Weather, which provides forecasts for many racing series across the USA. He also supplies forecasts for the BassMaster Elite Series events including the BassMaster Classic.