The tornado outbreak of March 28–31, 2007, also known as the Late-March 2007 tornado outbreak, was a

tornado outbreak A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same Synoptic scale meteorology, synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least ...

that took place across the

central United States The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States, Eastern and Western United States, Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau's d ...

. It developed in the High Plains from

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

to central

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

on March 28, 2007, which produced most of the tornadoes. Several more tornadoes were reported the next three days before the system weakened on March 31. It affected western

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, western

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, extreme eastern

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, and much of

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and

. It was the second major outbreak of 2007, four weeks after an outbreak farther east. The outbreak produced 80 confirmed

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

es, with five deaths and extensive damage being reported. In addition to the tornadoes, widespread

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

as large as

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

s and destructive straight-line winds as strong as were reported. The activity level was very uncertain for March 29, as it was conditional on the

dry line A dry line (also called a dew point line, or Marfa front, after Marfa, Texas) is a line across a continent that separates moist air and dry air. One of the most prominent examples of such a separation occurs in central North America, especially ...

refiring. Despite the

squall line A squall line, or quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), is a line of thunderstorms, often forming along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front (which often are accompanied by abrupt a ...

remaining intact, several more tornadoes developed. Several more tornadoes developed on March 30 and 31 before the system weakened.

Meteorological synopsis

A powerful mid and upper level system brought terrifically strong wind fields aloft over the southern and central portions of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

region on March 28. This system was located over the

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

and tracked eastward into the central

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

during this time frame. Ahead of the system, a

developed from a

low-pressure area In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with incle ...

over extreme northeastern

and the Nebraska Panhandle southwards into western

. Increasing south to southeasterly winds close and above the surface caused a progressively humid

air mass In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and humidity. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adapt to the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to ...

to spread across the western portion of the Great Plains during the afternoon. Unseasonably warm surface temperatures and increased lift ahead of the approaching system supported rapid

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

formations. This altogether allowed for the potential for large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes. That afternoon — when the first signs of severe weather developed,

tornado watch A tornado watch ( SAME code: TOA) is a statement issued by weather forecasting agencies to advise the public that atmospheric conditions in a given region may lead to the development of tornadoes within (or near) the region over a period of seve ...

es were issued from

south to

. The advancing

and the

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...

moving eastward combined to produce explosive

supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone, a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms (su ...

development late in the afternoon. Early that evening, supercells containing severe

s and tornadoes was developed along a nearly continuous line from near

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

. Before the supercells reformed into a

late that evening, at least 63 tornadoes were reported, many of which were very large and potentially destructive. Fortunately, the area is sparsely populated, preventing widespread death and destruction. Still, five people were killed. On March 29, the squall line that moved eastward prevented a major outbreak during the daytime hours. Only a slight risk of severe storms was issued that day. Nonetheless, several tornadoes were reported, with two striking the

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

metropolitan area with almost no advance warnings issued before they struck. Significant damage was reported there with at least two people hospitalized when their RV was hit and four others injured during a tornado ten minutes later. Another moderate risk was issued for March 30, this time in south-central

into the Mexican state of

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

. This was later extended into northern Texas and south-central

. At around 2254 UTC, one of the two tornado watches in effect in Texas during the day was lifted, although a watch remained in the state's central and northeastern portions. Later the day, the Oklahoma tornado watch was then extended into eastern

. A moderate risk was issued for central Texas on March 31 with the storm line continuing through the state, along with Oklahoma and Kansas in a north-eastern direction. This outlook was later changed to a slight risk as the system continued on with a tornado watch in effect in south-eastern Texas. In addition to that, a thunderstorm watch was even in effect for

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. The tornado watch was discontinued around 1504 UTC, although tornado warnings were issued in southeastern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. Later that day, the system reached the north-central United States. As a result, warnings were issued in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. As the system continued moving in its north-eastern direction early thatevening, a watch was extended into the north-western portion of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The system weakened that evening and no tornadoes occurred afterwards; however, NWS officials later confirmed a microburst in the Illinois cities of Carol Stream and Glendale Heights in DuPage County just west of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

just before 10:00 PM CDT. Extensive roof and window damage was reported to buildings, including an apartment complex and a church. The damage path was about long and wide.Carol Stream-Glendale Heights Microburst Storm Survey
/ref>

Confirmed tornadoes

March 28 event

March 29 event

March 30 event

March 31 event

Notes

References

External links

Storm Prediction Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:2007-03-31 Tornado Outbreak F3, EF3 and IF3 tornadoes 03-31 Tornadoes in Colorado Tornadoes in Kansas Tornadoes in Nebraska Tornadoes in Texas 03-31 Tornado Outbreak 31 Tornado Outbreak