An extended period of tornado activity occurred between April 20–27, 2007. The outbreak sequence is best known for producing a deadly tornado that struck the border cities of

Piedras Negras, Coahuila Piedras Negras ( ) is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Coahuila. It stands at the northeastern edge of Coahuila on the Mexico–United States border, across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass ...

(rated F4), and

Eagle Pass, Texas Eagle Pass is a city in and the county seat of Maverick County, Texas, United States. Its population was 28,130 as of the 2020 census. Eagle Pass borders the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, which is to the southwest and across the ...

(rated EF3), along the United States-Mexican border on April 24, 2007, killing ten people. Other strong tornadoes also caused damage and injuries in or near the towns of Moorefield, Nebraska, Gothenburg, Nebraska, Cactus, Texas, and

Tulia, Texas Tulia is a city in and the county seat of Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,967 at the 2010 census; by the 2020 census, it had fallen to 4,473. The city is at the junction of U.S. Route 87 and Texas State Highway 86, ...

. In all, 91 tornadoes were confirmed causing 10 fatalities and injuring at least 270 others.

Meteorological synopsis

Activity was not widespread on April 20, but two strong tornadoes were confirmed in southwestern

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 ...

from a single

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 ...

that suddenly developed. The first was an EF3 tornado near Moorefield, Nebraska, which destroyed six farmsteads and injured two people. A large wedge EF2 tornado touched down near

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and injured nine people as it crossed over

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

, before moving north through rural areas, damaging several farms. On April 20, the SPC issued a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms for the

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 ...

and Oklahoma Panhandles and the southwestern part of

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 ...

for April 21, which was extended into

later. Widespread severe weather developed that evening, although the primary result of the supercells was large hail. The meteorological synopsis was virtually identical to March 28 except for the fact that the air mass was not as unstable. In total, 24 tornadoes were confirmed Despite this, five EF2 tornadoes were confirmed in the Texas Panhandle that day. A large high-end EF2 tornado struck Cactus, Texas damaging or destroying numerous structures and injuring 14 people. Another high-end EF2 tornado struck community was

where more structures were heavily damaged or destroyed and three people were injured. Over 100 reports of hail were recorded on this day as well. Only isolated severe weather activity occurred on April 22 with only one tornado being confirmed. A severe weather outbreak was forecast for April 23 and 24 across the southern Plains. In the early morning hours of April 22, the SPC issued a moderate risk of severe weather for South Central

, Central

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 North Central

. This was an extremely rare issuance; at the time, this was only the third time that such a risk been issued so far in advance with the others being for June 10, 2005 and January 2, 2006, although neither time did it result in a major outbreak. Several tornadic storms were reported across northwest and south-central Texas, far western Oklahoma, and southwest Kansas on April 23. A total of 29 tornadoes were confirmed, although most stayed over sparsely populated area. The activity quickly redeveloped late on the morning of April 24. Later in the afternoon, the risk that day was upgraded to a high risk over parts of

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

. Tornadoes, along with large hail and damaging winds, occurred in the afternoon and evening hours across the Plains. Although there was virtually no activity in the high risk area, several tornadoes occurred elsewhere. One large tornadic supercell produced a deadly F4 tornado in

in Mexico killing three people, the same supercell moved across the United States-Mexican border and into the

metro, with reports of significant damage on the U.S. side of the border and at least seven deaths and 80 injuries from the EF3 tornado, plus at least three deaths and at least 153 injuries across the river in Piedras Negras. Isolated tornadic activity occurred on April 25, but a non-tornadic fatality occurred in

Lake Village, Arkansas Lake Village is a city in and the county seat of Chicot County, Arkansas, Chicot County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,575 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is located in the Arkansas Delta. Lake Village is name ...

when winds capsized a boat on Lake Chicot. Several tornadoes developed across the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

and into the

Tennessee Valley The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to north Alabama and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North C ...

on the afternoon and evening of April 26. The hardest hit communities were LaPorte, Indiana, which was struck by two EF1 tornadoes, and New Tazewell, Tennessee, which was also hit by an EF1 tornado, where structural damage was reported in both communities, and dozens of houses were damaged or destroyed. Several other scattered tornadoes were reported, along with widespread wind damage. In total, seven people were injured. Four other tornadoes were confirmed in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

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 ...

. In the final review of 2007, three EF0 tornadoes were confirmed on April 27. Two of which were in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and the other touched down in Virginia.

Confirmed tornadoes

*Note: Mexico used the

Fujita Scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

at the time the tornado that occurred was rated, hence the F4 rating.

April 20 event

April 21 event

April 22 event

April 23 event

April 24 event

April 25 event

April 26 event

April 27 event

Notes

References

External links

Storm Prediction Center

''USA Today'', April 25, 2007

*''Note'': The tornado listed under " EF4" was actually an " F4". {{DEFAULTSORT:2007-04-20 Tornado Outbreak Tornadoes in Texas Tornadoes in Nebraska 04-20 F4, EF4 and IF4 tornadoes F3, EF3 and IF3 tornadoes Maverick County, Texas Natural history of Coahuila 04-20 Tornado Outbreak 04-20 Tornado Outbreak 20, Tornado Outbreak Sequence