Southern and Eastern Tornadoes and Severe Weather
One of the severe storm disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $1.7 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($1.3 billion at the time) and 3 deaths.
What the offices filed during it
The 80 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
- $1.7 billion
- Losses at the time
- $1.3 billion
- Deaths
- 3
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.
From Wikipedia
The April 2018 North American storm complex brought a wide swath of severe and winter weather that affected much of Midwest across to the East Coast of the United States. This particular outbreak led to at least 73 confirmed tornadoes over a three-day period, most of which occurred across Arkansas and Louisiana during the evening hours of April 13. The most significant tornadoes were an EF1 tornado that caused a fatality in Red Chute, Louisiana, early on April 14, a high-end EF2 tornado that impacted eastern sections of Greensboro, North Carolina on April 15, causing 17 injuries, and a significant EF3 tornado that impacted areas from Lynchburg to Elon, Virginia, causing severe damage and at least 10 injuries.
The system also resulted in a record-breaking and severe blizzard across the Midwest into the Northeastern United States; killing three additional people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. Snowfall amounts of up to 18–24 inches (46–61 cm), which are rarely seen in the month of April in the region were observed, shattering numerous records.
Text from Wikipedia, “April 2018 North American storm complex”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.
By state, as filed
| State | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 65 | 1 | 9 | $68 million |
| Virginia | 69 | 0 | 12 | $24 million |
| Louisiana | 62 | 1 | 0 | $11 million |
| Arkansas | 68 | 0 | 4 | $2.4 million |
| Mississippi | 105 | 0 | 2 | $2.1 million |
| Alabama | 10 | 0 | 1 | $1.3 million |
| Iowa | 55 | 0 | 0 | $1.3 million |
| Minnesota | 7 | 0 | 0 | $738,000 |
| Texas | 143 | 0 | 0 | $523,000 |
| Missouri | 38 | 0 | 0 | $500,000 |
| Tennessee | 8 | 0 | 0 | $283,000 |
| Ohio | 2 | 0 | 1 | $125,000 |
| South Carolina | 78 | 0 | 1 | $119,000 |
| West Virginia | 8 | 0 | 0 | $55,000 |
| Florida | 62 | 0 | 1 | $53,000 |
| Wisconsin | 22 | 0 | 0 | $15,000 |
| Oklahoma | 15 | 0 | 0 | $9,000 |
| Georgia | 28 | 0 | 0 | $8,000 |
| Kentucky | 1 | 0 | 0 | $8,000 |
| Kansas | 38 | 0 | 0 | |
| New Jersey | 25 | 0 | 0 | |
| California | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
| New York | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
| Maryland | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
| South Dakota | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pennsylvania | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| Connecticut | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| District of Columbia | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nebraska | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delaware | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Oregon | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Episode by episode
- Damaging Wind in Oregon, April 11, 2018A thunderstorm caused a strong wind gust along the west slope of the Blue mountains, east of Milton-Freewater.
- Hail in California, April 12, 2018A cold front moved through the region bringing narrow bands of heavy rain (cold frontal rain bands) and gusty winds. No flooding was reported as a result of the heavy rain and no wind damage was reported.
- Hail in South Dakota, April 13, 2018An intense low-level jet developed ahead of a intensifying winter storm early on the morning of April 13. The flow spawned scattered elevated thunderstorms with isolated reports of large hail.
- Hail in Iowa, April 13, 2018Some of the first thunderstorms of the year dropped hail on portions of northeast Iowa. Two rounds of thunderstorms moved across the region during the morning and evening of April 13th.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, April 13, 2018An intense low-level jet ahead of a developing winter storm spawned a cluster of elevated thunderstorms early on the morning of April 13.
- Hail in Wisconsin, April 13, 2018Some of the first thunderstorms of the year dropped hail on portions of southwest Wisconsin during the morning of April 13th. Most of the hail was sub-severe, but some golf ball sized hail was reported in Richland Center (Richland County).
- Hail in Wisconsin, April 13, 2018A surge of warm, moist, and unstable air aloft triggered a severe thunderstorm that produced large hail from Sauk County east to Sheboygan County.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, April 13, 2018A mini squall line move across portions of the Flint Hills on the 13th producing a couple of severe weather events.
- Hail in Oklahoma, April 13, 2018Severe storms fired up along a moving sharp dryline stretched across portions of East central Oklahoma. Some of these supercells produced severe hail.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, April 13, 2018Severe thunderstorms developed over eastern Oklahoma during the early afternoon hours of the 13th as a cold front moved into the area.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, April 13, 2018While the vast majority of April was quiet in the severe weather department, April 13th wasn't short on severe weather reports. Scattered thunderstorms produced numerous reports of large hail across northeast Kansas.
- Hail in Iowa, April 13, 2018A low pressure system moved eastward across southeast Nebraska with a warm front extending east into southern Iowa. Isolated thunderstorms develop along and north of the warm front producing isolated damaging winds and large hail across southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, April 13, 2018Thunderstorms developed along a dryline the afternoon of April 13 as an upper level disturbance moved overhead, many of which produced hail and some of which produced damaging wind gusts for areas mainly along and east of the Interstate 35/35W corridor.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 13, 2018A tight low pressure system tracked its way out of north central Kansas on the 12th and slowly meandered northeast near the Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa borders by the early afternoon on the 13th.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, April 13, 2018A strong cold front and associated spring storm system produce severe thunderstorms with very large hail and several tornadoes across the Missouri Ozarks.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, April 13, 2018Severe thunderstorms developed over eastern Oklahoma during the early afternoon hours of the 13th as a cold front moved into the area.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, April 13, 2018A low pressure system moved eastward across southeast Nebraska with a warm front extending east into southern Iowa. Isolated thunderstorms develop along and north of the warm front producing isolated damaging winds and large hail across southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Missouri, April 13, 2018On the evening of April 13 a large upper level system ejected into the plains and brought scattered thunderstorms to eastern Kansas and western Missouri. A few of these storms became supercells and produced quarter to golf ball sized hail.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, April 13, 2018On the evening of April 13 a large upper level system ejected into the plains and brought scattered thunderstorms to eastern Kansas and western Missouri. A few of these storms became supercells and produced quarter to golf ball sized hail.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Arkansas, April 13 to 14, 2018Numerous supercell thunderstorms moved across Arkansas from the evening of the 13th into the early morning hours of the 14th. These storms produced multiple weak tornadoes and damaging wind gusts across the state.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, April 13, 2018A strong upper level trough of low pressure progressed east across the Southern Plains during the afternoon of April 13th, with a large warm sector of warm/humid air having expanded north across much of the Ark-La-Tex.
- Hail in Minnesota, April 13, 2018As intense low pressure developing across the central High Plains, additional thunderstorms developed on the warm side of the system across southwest Minnesota. Isolated strong to severe storms occurred featuring large hail.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, April 13 to 14, 2018A strong upper level trough of low pressure progressed east across the Southern Plains during the afternoon of April 13th, with a large warm sector of warm/humid air having expanded north across much of the Ark-La-Tex.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, April 13 to 14, 2018A strong upper level trough of low pressure progressed east across the Southern Plains during the afternoon of April 13th, with a large warm sector of warm/humid air having expanded north across much of the Ark-La-Tex.
- Lightning Strike in Missouri, April 13, 2018Thunderstorms developed ahead of a cold front. The front trailed south from a deepening surface low over the northwest corner of Missouri. One of the storms produced a damaging lightning strike.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, April 13 to 14, 2018During the evening hours of Friday, April 13th, scattered supercells developed across northeast Louisiana within the broad warm sector of a strong surface cyclone centered near the Kansas/Nebraska border.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, April 13, 2018Thunderstorms developed along the dryline and moved through South Central Texas where a warm, moist airmass was in place. Some of these storms produced large hail and damaging wind gusts.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Louisiana, April 13 to 14, 2018During the evening hours of Friday, April 13th, scattered supercells developed across northeast Louisiana within the broad warm sector of a strong surface cyclone centered near the Kansas/Nebraska border.
- Damaging Winds in Missouri, April 13, 2018Storms developed ahead of a cold front and tracked east through the region. Some of the storms were severe producing damaging winds.
- Damaging Wind in Arkansas, April 13, 2018A line of thunderstorms produced an isolated severe wind event during the late evening hours of April 13th.
- Damaging Wind in Texas, April 13, 2018A line of thunderstorms associated with a cold front moved through the area and produced some localized damage.
- Damaging Winds in Texas, April 14, 2018A line of severe thunderstorms formed along a frontal boundary and moved across the coastal plains during the early morning hours of April 14th. Wind gusts from 60 to 70 mph occurred from the Coastal Bend to near Port Lavaca.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, April 14, 2018A slow moving cold front generated scattered severe thunderstorms that produced damaging winds and a couple of weak tornadoes across north Mississippi on the early morning hours on April 14th.
- Damaging Winds in Texas, April 14, 2018A severe thunderstorm moved through Jefferson and Orange Counties producing tree and power line damage, however most occurred at Lamar University in Beaumont were multiple building were damaged.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, April 14, 2018During the evening hours of Friday, April 13th, scattered supercells developed across northeast Louisiana within the broad warm sector of a strong surface cyclone centered near the Kansas/Nebraska border.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, April 14, 2018A cold front pushed through Louisiana with severe weather occurring along the boundary. A few tornadoes were also spawned by the line of thunderstorms.
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, April 14, 2018A slow moving cold front generated a few severe thunderstorms that produced damaging winds across portions of west Tennessee during they morning hours of April 14th.
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, April 14, 2018A Quasi-Linear Convective System (QLCS) moved across Middle Tennessee during the early morning hours on April 14. Several reports of wind damage were received along and west of I-65, with several homes damaged in Wayne County and Humphreys County.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, April 14, 2018A deep upper level low pressure and an associated cold front produced a line of thunderstorms that moved across southeast Louisiana, southern Mississippi and the adjacent coastal waters during the morning and afternoon hours of the 14th.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Mississippi, April 14, 2018A deep upper level low pressure and an associated cold front produced a line of thunderstorms that moved across southeast Louisiana, southern Mississippi and the adjacent coastal waters during the morning and afternoon hours of the 14th.
- Lightning Strike in Kentucky, April 14, 2018During the morning hours on April 14, lightning from thunderstorms in the area struck a tree and killed 31 sheep on a farm in Logan County.
- Damaging Winds in Alabama, April 14, 2018A line of thunderstorms pushed east into northwest and north central Alabama during the early and mid morning hours of the 14th and tracked into northeast Alabama during the early afternoon hours. Isolated reports of wind damage were received.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Alabama, April 14, 2018An upper level trough moving across the Middle Mississippi River Valley Region took on a negative tilt and produced a QLCS that impacted the Central Gulf Coast States. The QLCS produced sporadic wind damage as it moved across Central Alabama.
- Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in Mississippi, April 14, 2018A deep upper level low moved into the lower Mississippi Valley and pushed a cold front into the southeast states. The front temporarily stalled over portions of southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama during the afternoon and evening of April 14th.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Alabama, April 14, 2018A deep upper level low moved into the lower Mississippi Valley and pushed a cold front into the southeast states. The front temporarily stalled over portions of southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama during the afternoon and evening of April 14th.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Florida, April 15, 2018A line of strong to severe thunderstorms associated with a cold front moved across the area during the morning hours of April 15th.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Georgia, April 15, 2018A line of strong to severe thunderstorms associated with a cold front moved across the area during the morning hours of April 15th.
- Damaging Winds and Heavy Rain in Florida, April 15, 2018A strong pre-frontal squall line moved across the area under a moist and unstable environment. Severe storms produced wind damage and locally heavy rainfall.
- Tornado and Hail in South Carolina, April 15, 2018Scattered to numerous afternoon thunderstorms developed ahead of a cold front from late morning through the afternoon across Upstate South Carolina. Several of the storms produced severe weather in the form of large hail and locally damaging winds.
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, April 15, 2018A strong cold front associated with a deep upper-level low moved across the region. Marginal instability but strong mid-level winds managed to produce an isolated severe thunderstorm in central Georgia.
- Flash Flood and Hail in North Carolina, April 15, 2018Scattered to numerous afternoon thunderstorms developing ahead of a cold front moved into the North Carolina Piedmont from South Carolina during the early afternoon. Several of the storms produced severe weather in the form of large to very large hail and locally damaging winds.
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, April 15, 2018A strong upper level disturbance combined with strong atmospheric shear, and instability enhanced by diurnal heating, produced a line of thunderstorms, some of which were severe and included embedded tornadoes.
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, April 15, 2018A strong pre-frontal squall line moved across the area under a moist and unstable environment. Severe storms produced wind damage and locally heavy rainfall.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, April 15, 2018A strong upper level disturbance combined with strong atmospheric shear, and instability enhanced by diurnal heating, produced a line of thunderstorms, some of which were severe and included embedded tornadoes.
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, April 15, 2018A strong cold front pushed into an area of high instability, helping produce a squall line of strong to severe thunderstorms over Southeast Georgia.
- Damaging Winds and Strong Wind in South Carolina, April 15, 2018A strong cold front pushed into an area of high instability, helping produce gusty wind conditions early followed by a squall line of strong to severe thunderstorms over Southeast South Carolina.
- Tornadoes and Hail in North Carolina, April 15, 2018A strong cold front with a negatively-tilted upper level trough approached the North Carolina Piedmont. Plenty of wind shear with modest instability made conditions ripe for large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Virginia, April 15, 2018A strong cold front with a negatively-tilted upper level trough approached southwest Virginia. Plenty of wind shear with modest instability made conditions ripe for large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, April 15, 2018The Storm Prediction Center had designated a slight change of severe weather for all of east central Florida. A high amplitude shortwave over the Mississippi River Valley quickly moved south across the Florida peninsula during the afternoon and evening hours.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Florida, April 15, 2018A strong squall line moved into the west coast of Florida ahead of a fast moving cold front. Some of the stronger storms produced severe wind gusts, and one waterspout came onshore as a brief lived tornado.
- Damaging Wind in West Virginia, April 15, 2018A strong cold front with a negatively-tilted upper level trough approached southeast West Virginia. Plenty of wind shear with modest instability made conditions ripe for damaging winds. One thunderstorm would produce winds that caused damage in Summers County.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in North Carolina, April 15, 2018A strong upper low moved from Iowa across the Lower Great Lakes region, with a deep trough taking on a negative tilt while swinging into North Carolina.
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, April 15, 2018An anomalously deep upper trough became negatively tilted as it moved through the eastern Carolinas. A squall line raced northeast ahead of a cold front and was enhanced by ample instability and strong shear.
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Ohio, April 15, 2018An area of low pressure moved across the Tennessee Valley on April 15th. A front or trough stretching north from this low crossed northern Ohio causing a large area of showers to develop. Some embedded thunderstorms were also reported.
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, April 15 to 16, 2018Low pressure and its associated cold front passed through on the evening and overnight hours of the 15th. A few thunderstorms were able to mix down strong winds from aloft, producing damaging wind gusts.
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, April 15 to 16, 2018Scattered severe thunderstorms in advance of low pressure and its associated cold front produced damaging winds across portions of central and eastern Virginia.
- Tornadoes in Florida, April 15, 2018A fast-moving pre-frontal squall line passing through the upper Florida Keys developed an embedded supercell thunderstorm with attendant mesocyclone along the Florida Bay side of Upper Matecumbe Key.
- Damaging Winds in North Carolina, April 15, 2018An anomalously deep upper trough became negatively tilted as it moved through the eastern Carolinas. A squall line raced northeast ahead of a cold front and was enhanced by ample instability and strong shear.
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, April 15, 2018Ahead of a cold front a line of strong to severe thunderstorms extended from Virginia down through Central North Carolina, Georgia and Florida early on the evening of April 15th.
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Pennsylvania, April 16, 2018A strong backdoor cold front moved from northeast to southwest across the area late Saturday afternoon April 15th into Sunday morning April 16th.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in West Virginia, April 16 to 18, 2018Low pressure and its associated cold front passed through during the early morning hours of April 16th. Heavy rain of 2 to 4 inches fell in portions of the state, causing flooding mainly in Grant, Pendleton, and Hardy Counties.
- Damaging Wind in Maryland, April 16, 2018A strong cold front was able to mix down strong winds from aloft. There was enough instability for an isolated thunderstorm to produce damaging wind gusts in extreme southern Maryland.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Virginia, April 16, 2018Low pressure and its associated cold front passed through during the early morning hours of April 16th. Heavy rain of 2 to 4 inches fell in portions of the state, producing flooding throughout northern Virginia.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Maryland, April 16 to 18, 2018Low pressure and its associated cold front passed through during the early morning hours of April 16th. Heavy rain of 1 to 3 inches fell in portions of the state, causing flooding mainly in Montgomery and Harford Counties.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in District of Columbia, April 16, 2018Low pressure and its associated cold front passed through during the early morning hours of April 16th. Heavy rain of 1.5 to 2 inches fell in the District, causing flash flooding followed by flooding of Rock Creek which continued into early afternoon.
- Flash Flood and Coastal Flood in Delaware, April 16, 2018A strong backdoor cold front moved from northeast to southwest across the area Saturday night April 15th into Sunday morning April 16th.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in New York, April 16 to 17, 2018Heavy rainfall developed across the area on the morning of April 16th ahead of a slow moving warm front. This rain developed in an environment with precipitable water values greater than 1.25 inches, well above normal for mid April.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in New Jersey, April 16 to 17, 2018Heavy rainfall developed across the area on the morning of April 16th ahead of a slow moving warm front. This rain developed in an environment with precipitable water values greater than 1.25 inches, well above normal for mid April.
- Hail and Lightning Strike in California, April 16, 2018A late season deep upper level trough moved southward along the California coast bringing rain and gusty winds to the region. Scattered convection was produced in the wake of an associated cold front bringing widespread small hail, thunder, and lightning to the region.
- Flash Flooding in Connecticut, April 16, 2018Heavy rainfall developed across the area on the morning of April 16th ahead of a slow moving warm front. This rain developed in an environment with precipitable water values greater than 1.25 inches, well above normal for mid April.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2018Tornadoes in 2018
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.