Southeast Severe Weather and Tornadoes
One of the severe storm disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $1.3 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($976 million at the time) and 1 deaths.
What the offices filed during it
The 88 most significant severe storm episodes filed in these dates, colored by kind.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Losses, 2024 dollars
- $1.3 billion
- Losses at the time
- $976 million
- Deaths
- 1
The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.
By state, as filed
| State | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 235 | 0 | 2 | $12 million |
| Kentucky | 135 | 0 | 0 | $2.2 million |
| Alabama | 139 | 0 | 1 | $1.6 million |
| Missouri | 50 | 0 | 0 | $1.3 million |
| Florida | 50 | 0 | 6 | $645,000 |
| South Carolina | 126 | 1 | 2 | $551,000 |
| Virginia | 70 | 0 | 0 | $402,000 |
| Ohio | 43 | 0 | 0 | $283,000 |
| Tennessee | 56 | 0 | 1 | $150,000 |
| North Carolina | 26 | 0 | 0 | $149,000 |
| Oklahoma | 56 | 0 | 0 | $120,000 |
| Arizona | 2 | 0 | 0 | $100,000 |
| Illinois | 11 | 0 | 0 | $95,000 |
| Idaho | 4 | 0 | 0 | $82,000 |
| Indiana | 21 | 0 | 0 | $73,000 |
| Maryland | 26 | 0 | 0 | $70,000 |
| Kansas | 11 | 0 | 0 | $35,000 |
| Mississippi | 5 | 0 | 0 | $28,000 |
| Texas | 23 | 0 | 0 | $27,000 |
| New York | 7 | 0 | 0 | $27,000 |
| Arkansas | 12 | 0 | 0 | $18,000 |
| Connecticut | 3 | 0 | 0 | $5,000 |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 0 | 0 | $4,000 |
| Delaware | 6 | 0 | 2 | |
| District of Columbia | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| Nevada | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Episode by episode
- Hail in Texas, April 2, 2017Scattered severe thunderstorms developed across the coastal counties between 730 and 8 pm, aided by the combination of weak surface convergence, light easterly flow, and the apporach of the tail of an upper level disturbance.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Alabama, April 3, 2017A slow moving QLCS moved eastward across central Alabama during the morning hours on April 3rd. This convective system produced damaging winds across the southern portions of central Alabama and heavy rainfall across the northern portions.
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Alabama, April 3, 2017Thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong cold front and moved across the area. These storms produced high winds, large hail and a weak tornado.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, April 3, 2017Thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong cold front and moved across the area. These storms produced high winds, which caused damage across southeast Mississippi.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, April 3 to 4, 2017A pre-frontal band of convection extended across north Florida during the early morning hours. Upper level short wave trough energy and high moisture content fueled strong to isolated severe storms along this trough axis with wet downbursts up to 60 mph.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, April 3, 2017A strong short wave and associated surface low swept through the southern and eastern U.S.
- Tornado and Hail in Alabama, April 3 to 5, 2017Severe weather during the first week of April resulted in a couple of tornadoes and several reports of hail and straight line wind damage across the tri-state area.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Florida, April 3 to 5, 2017Severe weather during the first week of April resulted in a couple of tornadoes and several reports of hail and straight line wind damage across the tri-state area.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, April 3 to 5, 2017Severe weather during the first week of April resulted in a couple of tornadoes and several reports of hail and straight line wind damage across the tri-state area.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, April 3, 2017A line of showers and thunderstorms developing ahead of a cold front pushes across Upstate South Carolina during the afternoon. In addition to locally damaging winds, several brief, weak tornadoes touched down, including a fatal tornado in Union County.
- Damaging Winds in North Carolina, April 3, 2017A line of showers and thunderstorms developing ahead of a cold front pushed across western North Carolina during the afternoon. A couple of pockets of brief damaging winds occurred.
- Damaging Wind in Arkansas, April 3, 2017An upper level disturbance moved across the region and a line of strong thunderstorms developed over East Arkansas during the late morning and early afternoon hours of April 3rd. Gusty winds caused some damage in West Memphis.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, April 3, 2017An upper level trough over northern Texas lifted into the Midwest. A series of upper level disturbances embedded in the trough moved over the Southeast during the afternoon and evening.
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, April 3, 2017A warm front was across SE GA with low pressure centered near the Ozarks. An increasingly unstable and moist airmass ahead of the surface low combined with sea breeze forcing sparked a few strong to severe storms across the area during the afternoon and evening.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, April 3, 2017A warm front lifted north over the area early, increasing instability over much of the Southeast well ahead of a cold front approaching from the west late. Aloft, a mid/upper trough of low pressure over the Central United States took on a negative tilt while tracking east.
- Tornadoes and Hail in South Carolina, April 3, 2017An upper level trough over northern Texas lifted into the Midwest. A series of upper level disturbances embedded in the trough moved over the Southeast during the afternoon and evening.
- Hail in Illinois, April 3, 2017Diurnal heating and cold 500 mb temperatures around minus 19 degrees Celsius promoted the development of isolated to scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon.
- Hail in Missouri, April 3, 2017Diurnal heating and cold 500 mb temperatures around minus 18 degrees Celsius promoted the development of isolated to scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon.
- Tornado and Hail in South Carolina, April 3, 2017A warm front lifted north over the area early, increasing instability over much of the Southeast well ahead of a cold front approaching from the west late. Aloft, a mid/upper trough of low pressure over the Central United States took on a negative tilt while tracking east.
- Hail in Tennessee, April 3, 2017An old outflow boundary interacted with a moist and unstable airmass to produce a few strong thunderstorms over West Tennessee during the afternoon hours of April 17th.
- Damaging Winds in North Carolina, April 3, 2017A cold pool dominated squall line moved through Central North Carolina during the early evening hours of April 3rd. A few isolated storms within the line became severe, producing damaging straight line winds.
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, April 3, 2017A squall line moved into the area during the evening hours which resulted in a few reports of wind damage.
- Damaging Wind in Nevada, April 3, 2017A cold front brought thunderstorms to the Mojave Desert. Some of the storms produced high winds, along with heavy rain and small hail.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, April 3, 2017A warm front was across SE GA with low pressure centered near the Ozarks. An increasingly unstable and moist airmass ahead of the surface low combined with sea breeze forcing sparked a few strong to severe storms across the area during the afternoon and evening.
- Damaging Winds in Arizona, April 3, 2017A cold front brought thunderstorms to the Mojave Desert. Some of the storms produced high winds, along with heavy rain and small hail.
- Hail in Kentucky, April 3, 2017Diurnal heating and cold 500 mb temperatures around minus 18 degrees Celsius promoted the development of isolated to scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon.
- Hail in Florida, April 4, 2017A long-lived severe thunderstorm traveled east-southeast across Seminole County and into far northeast Orange County while producing quarter-sized hail. Numerous hail reports were received from residents from Altamonte Spring to Caselberry to Bithlo.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, April 4, 2017As a surface low with associated warm/cold fronts moved in from southwest Oklahoma, storms fired in central Oklahoma on the evening of the 4th.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, April 4, 2017A strong upper level disturbance translated from New Mexico to western Oklahoma on the 4th. A warm front over northern Texas moved northward into central and eastern Oklahoma, as low pressure developed along it from northwestern Texas into southwestern Missouri by late evening.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, April 4, 2017A line of elevated showers and thunderstorms developed and moved across portions of Southern Kansas during the late afternoon and evening hours of April 4th, 2017.
- Hail in Texas, April 4, 2017As a surface low with associated warm/cold fronts moved in from southwest Oklahoma, a few storms fired in western north Texas on the evening of the 4th.
- Tornadoes and Flooding in Missouri, April 4 to 5, 2017A strong storm system and cold front produced supercells across the Missouri Ozark with damaging winds and large hail. The were a couple damaging tornadoes.
- Hail in Texas, April 4, 2017A cold front brought a round of showers and storms to the northeastern third of North Texas during the evening hours of April 4. Hail was by far the highest reported severe weather occurrence.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, April 4, 2017A strong upper level disturbance translated from New Mexico to western Oklahoma on the 4th. A warm front over northern Texas moved northward into central and eastern Oklahoma, as low pressure developed along it from northwestern Texas into southwestern Missouri by late evening.
- Hail in Oklahoma, April 4, 2017An upper low pressure system shifted east across the Southern Plains during the afternoon of April 4th, reaching Central Oklahoma during the evening.
- Hail in Texas, April 4, 2017An upper low pressure system shifted east across the Southern Plains during the afternoon of April 4th, reaching Central Oklahoma during the evening.
- Flash Flood and Hail in Missouri, April 4 to 5, 2017Strong shortwave moved through region, triggering showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms produced large hail and damaging winds.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, April 5, 2017April 5th was a very active severe weather day across central Alabama. During the pre-dawn hours, a warm lifted northward into south central Alabama.
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, April 5, 2017A large complex of showers and thunderstorms moved eastward across Missouri. An isolated short line of intense thunderstorms along the leading edge of this complex produced damaging winds in Perryville. The storms developed in advance of a 500 mb low over Kansas.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Georgia, April 5, 2017Another strong short wave, the second in three days, rotated through a large and deep upper-level trough over the eastern U.S.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Alabama, April 5, 2017Thunderstorms moved across southwest Alabama producing high winds and large hail.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Georgia, April 5, 2017With a mean upper trough axis to our west, a lead impulse moved through our region in a SW flow aloft Wednesday. At the surface, a stationary front was stretched across central SC/GA, with a cold front to our west, that came through late Wednesday night.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in South Carolina, April 5, 2017With a mean upper trough axis to our west, a lead impulse moved through our region in a SW flow aloft Wednesday. At the surface, a stationary front was stretched across central SC/GA, with a cold front to our west, that came through late Wednesday night.
- Lightning Strike in Florida, April 5, 2017Strong thunderstorms moved across the western Florida panhandle on April 5th and produced frequent lightning. Two strikes resulted in a few injuries.
- Hail in Illinois, April 5, 2017Low pressure tracking from the Ozarks into the Ohio River Valley brought widespread showers and thunderstorms to southeast Illinois on April 5th. A few of the storms produced gusty winds of 50 to 60 mph and hail as large as quarters in Richland and Lawrence counties.
- Tornado and Hail in Illinois, April 5, 2017Scattered storms increased during the afternoon as solar heating destabilized the atmosphere. A surface low pressure center between St. Louis, MO and Quincy, IL tracked east-northeastward during the afternoon.
- Hail and Strong Wind in Kentucky, April 5, 2017A surface low pressure center between St. Louis, MO and Quincy, IL tracked east-northeastward during the afternoon. A warm front extended east-southeast from the low into the lower Ohio Valley. Behind the warm front, strong southwest winds gusted between 40 and 50 mph at times.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 5, 2017A strong area of low pressure tracked across the Ohio Valley on April 5. With an unseasonably warm and humid air mass in place, several lines of strong to severe thunderstorms developed across the area. This resulted in large hail and damaging winds across central Kentucky.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, April 5, 2017Clusters of thunderstorms developed along a warm front during the afternoon and produced large hail and damaging winds.
- Hail in Indiana, April 5, 2017Scattered storms increased during the afternoon as solar heating destabilized the atmosphere. A surface low pressure center between St. Louis, MO and Quincy, IL tracked east-northeastward during the afternoon.
- Tornado and Flood in Indiana, April 5, 2017A complex low pressure system brought damaging winds and hail to central Indiana, as well as one tornado reported southeast of Cannelburg during the afternoon of April 5th.
- Hail in Indiana, April 5, 2017A strong area of low pressure tracked across the Ohio Valley on April 5. With an unseasonably warm and humid air mass in place, several lines of strong to severe thunderstorms developed across the area. This resulted in large hail and damaging winds across southern Indiana.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Tennessee, April 5, 2017A powerful spring storm system moved across the eastern US on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. This system brought numerous severe thunderstorms to many states from the Midwest into the Southeast, with hundreds of reports of large hail, wind damage, and numerous tornadoes.
- Hail in Tennessee, April 5, 2017Isolated supercells developed during the mid afternoon hours along a dry line that was near the I-65 corridor. The storms produced hail up to the size of ping pong balls, but most areas experienced hail less than an inch in diameter.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, April 5, 2017Moderately unstable conditions and a highly sheared environment developed ahead of a strong cold front sweeping through the Southeast United States.
- Damaging Wind in Indiana, April 5, 2017Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a strengthening surface low which moved from the Middle Mississippi Valley into Northwest Ohio.
- Hail in Alabama, April 5, 2017Isolated supercells developed during the mid afternoon hours along a dry line that was near the I-65 corridor. The storms produced hail up to the size of ping pong balls, but most areas experienced hail less than an inch in diameter.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Ohio, April 5, 2017Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a strengthening surface low which moved from the Middle Mississippi Valley into Northwest Ohio.
- Damaging Winds in Kentucky, April 5, 2017Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a strengthening surface low which moved from the Middle Mississippi Valley into Northwest Ohio.
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, April 5, 2017An area of low pressure was moving NE across the mid MS River Valley with a trailing cold front edging east across the FL panhandle. Aloft an intense short wave trough was beginning to lift NE across the lower MS River Valley. Dynamics supported severe thunderstorm development.
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, April 5, 2017A cold front produced thunderstorms that started a structural fire from a lightning strike.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, April 5, 2017Moderately unstable conditions and a highly sheared environment developed ahead of a strong cold front sweeping through the Southeast United States.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, April 5, 2017A surface trough moved into the Southern Appalachian region generating only a few severe thunderstorms; due to a weakly unstable environment with moderately weak wind shear. The storms were concentrated in Central East Tennessee.
- Hail in North Carolina, April 5, 2017Clusters of thunderstorms merged into a squall line that moved through the area during the evening.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, April 5, 2017A line of thunderstorms moved into the Bluegrass region of eastern Kentucky this evening, producing damaging wind gusts generally between Interstate 64 and Mountain Parkway. Several trees and power lines were reported down as wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph occurred.
- Damaging Winds in Kentucky, April 5, 2017A low pressure system moved up the Ohio River Valley on the 5th. Severe thunderstorms formed across Kentucky during the afternoon, moving through northeastern Kentucky that evening.
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, April 5, 2017Severe thunderstorms developed across Kentucky on the afternoon of the 5th. These storms weakened as the moved into the Middle Ohio River Valley after dark due to limited instability.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Georgia, April 5, 2017An isolated severe thunderstorm producing large hail moved into northeast Georgia during the late evening. It quickly evolved into a larger cluster that produced intense straight line winds over portions of Hart County before moving into South Carolina.
- Tornadoes and Hail in South Carolina, April 5, 2017An intensifying cluster of thunderstorms moved into the Upstate from northeast Georgia during the late evening and early part of the overnight, in advance of a strong storm system and attendant cold front.
- Hail and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, April 5 to 6, 2017A line of thunderstorms moved into western North Carolina during the early part of the overnight, in advance of a strong storm system and attendant cold front.
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, April 6, 2017A potent storm system combined with high speed shear and increasing instability favored discrete pre-frontal super cells across the area. The SPC had the forecast area highlighted under a High Risk for severe storms.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, April 6, 2017On the early morning of April 6th, showers and thunderstorms moved into Central NC from the southwest. A few of the storms became severe as a result of strong dynamic forcing and steep lapse rates combined with the high surface dew points.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Florida, April 6, 2017During the early morning hours, a strong thunderstorm along a decaying squall line produced localized wind damage in the town of Lady Lake. Tree damage occurred, along with very minor damage to one home.
- Hail in North Carolina, April 6, 2017A cold front moved across the area with associated showers and thunderstorms. One of these produced quarter size hail.
- Hail in Virginia, April 6, 2017A cold front moved across the area with associated showers and thunderstorms. A couple of these storms produced hail ranging from the size of pennies to quarters.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Florida, April 6, 2017A line of thunderstorms developed along a prefrontal trough and moved south through the Florida Peninsula on the morning of the 6th. Some of the stronger storms produced and EF-0 tornado and one inch hail.
- Hail in North Carolina, April 6, 2017Upstream thunderstorms just ahead of a cold front continued through the night and reached the area around and shortly after sunrise. One of these thunderstorms reportedly produced penny size hail.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Virginia, April 6, 2017Scattered severe thunderstorms in advance of strong low pressure and its associated cold front produced damaging winds and two tornadoes across portions of central and eastern Virginia.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Virginia, April 6, 2017Cutoff low pressure was over the Ohio Valley. Another area of low pressure strengthened overhead on the occluded boundary. Warm and moist air from the south lead to an unstable atmosphere. Strong shear profiles were in place due to the cutoff low to the west.
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, April 6, 2017An approaching cold front generated showers and thunderstorms across south-central Pennsylvania on April 6, 2017. One of these storms produced wind damage in Franklin County.
- Tornadoes in District of Columbia, April 6, 2017Cutoff low pressure was over the Ohio Valley. Another area of low pressure strengthened overhead on the occluded boundary. Warm and moist air from the south lead to an unstable atmosphere. Strong shear profiles were in place due to the cutoff low to the west.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Maryland, April 6, 2017Cutoff low pressure was over the Ohio Valley. Another area of low pressure strengthened overhead on the occluded boundary. Warm and moist air from the south lead to an unstable atmosphere. Strong shear profiles were in place due to the cutoff low to the west.
- Damaging Winds in Maryland, April 6, 2017Low pressure tracked from the Ohio Valley into the Western Great Lakes with a warm front surging northward ahead of the low which was followed by a cold front. Moisture and instability was drawn northwest ahead of the front which led to locally heavy showers and thunderstorms.
- Damaging Winds in Delaware, April 6, 2017Low pressure tracked from the Ohio Valley into the Western Great Lakes with a warm front surging northward ahead of the low which was followed by a cold front. Moisture and instability was drawn northwest ahead of the front which led to locally heavy showers and thunderstorms.
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in New York, April 6, 2017An approaching cold front triggered isolated severe thunderstorms impacting Nassau and Suffolk counties.
- Flash Flood in Connecticut, April 6, 2017Heavy rain developed out ahead of a warm front lifting north across the area. This event occurred immediately after a ten day period in which 3-5 inches of rain fell across the area, resulting in saturated soils and isolated flash flooding in Fairfield County.
- Lightning Strikes in Connecticut, April 6, 2017A pair of storms moving up the coastal plain brought between two and five inches of rain to Connecticut between April 4 and April 7. The rain, along with snowmelt from above freezing temperatures, caused poor drainage flooding.
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, April 7, 2017In the early morning hours of April 7th a cold front with showers and a few embedded thunderstorms moved through the Idaho Panhandle.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2017Tornadoes in 2017
Sources
NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.