“Have a Great Day”: J.B. Elliott and April 3, 1974

Today is the 38th anniversary of one of the greatest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.  The disaster prompted many improvements in the warning process, including the advancement of NOAA Weatheradio and accelerated the implementation of Doppler Radar.  But despite these and many other improvements, a similar outbreak resulted in similar death tolls last year.  Physical and social scientists continue to look for ways to improve the resiliency and response of populations in vulnerable areas. 

I posted a long story about that morning from the standpoint of our hero J.B. Elliott on the MyWARN website. It’s fun to look back at how a pioneers like J.B. handled their job long ago. You can see how far we’ve come. But deadly tornado seasons like last year show how far we still have to go.

Link to the article.

Category: Alabama's Weather, Met 101/Weather History