Today marks the 48th anniversary of one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks across the Ohio valley.

On April 3-4, 1974, the Super Outbreak devastated 13 states, from the Great Lakes region to the Deep South. Over this two-day severe weather event, there were 148 tornadoes reported, and 30 tornadoes were F4 or F5. Some of the strongest tornadoes struck the Ohio Valley.

Two violent F5 tornadoes occurred in Xenia and Sayler Park (near Cincinnati) in Ohio. This monstrous ½ mile-wide tornado had max winds of 318 miles per hour and a path length of 31 miles. Unfortunately, the Xenia tornado was the deadliest of the outbreak, causing 34 deaths and remains in the top 10 costliest tornadoes in U.S. history.

One hour after the Xenia tornado, another F5 tornado developed near the west side of Cincinnati, Sayler Park.

Across the Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky region, there were 159 fatalities and over 4000 injured. The dozens of tornadoes in these three states during the super outbreak caused hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage.

For more details and information about the Super Outbreak from the NWS Wilmington Ohio office, click here.