The tornado outbreak of April 6–9, 1998 was a large tornado outbreak that started on April 6 across the Great Plains and ended on April 9 across the Carolinas and Georgia, in 1998. A total of 62 tornadoes touched down from the Middle Atlantic States to the Midwestern United States and Texas. The outbreak is infamous for producing a deadly F5 that tore through the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, killing 32 people. This tornado outbreak was responsible for 41 deaths: 7 in Georgia and 34 in Alabama.
Confirmed tornadoes
April 6 event F#LocationCounty Time (UTC)Path lengthDamageTexas F0N of ElliottWilbarger23130.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown in a field.Iowa F0NE of Adaza Greene23150.2 miles (0.32 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0S of DaytonWebster23550.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0NE of RalstonGreene00000.2 miles (0.32 km)Brief touchdown with no damage.Kansas F1E of SchoenchenEllis23253.3 miles (5.3 km)Damage to a metal building, a chicken house and a quonset hut. 2 people were injured.Oklahoma F0SE of VelmaStephens01450.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief tornado in an open field.Source:
April 7 event F#LocationCounty Time (UTC)Path lengthDamageIllinois F0SW of EdenPeoria21010.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0NW of Clear LakeCass21100.3 miles (0.5 km)Caused minor damage to 5 cabins. F2NE of Clear LakeMason21203 miles (4.8 km)A frame house was moved from its foundation with an exterior wall blown off. Three outbuildings, two grain bins, and a barn were destroyed as well. F1NW of BathMason21350.3 miles (0.5 km)Tornado damaged a frame house and destroyed its garage. Ten homes sustained moderate to major damage, with several others along with businesses suffering minor damage. Another garage was destroyed as well. F0NW of Ormonde Warren22310.1 miles (0.16 km) F0Vermont areaFulton22350.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown in a field. F0Monmouth area (1st tornado)Warren22420.1 miles (0.16 km) F1Monmouth area (2nd tornado)Warren22520.5 miles (0.8 km)Farm buildings were damaged or destroyed. F0SW of HavanaMason22550.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F1NE of MonmouthWarren23020.1 miles (0.16 km) F2NE of HavanaFulton, Mason230411 miles (17.6 km)A mobile home and a machine shed were destroyed. Irrigation equipment was overturned and a pumping station was damaged. F0NW of Mount PulaskiLogan23050.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0S of GerlawWarren23130.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with damage to a cemetery. F0NW of MoweaquaChristian23140.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0NE of Pleak Shelby23280.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown in a field. F0SE of Todds PointShelby23400.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown in a field. F2S of Cadwell to S of Arthur Moultrie, Douglas000811 miles (17.6 km)29 homes and several barns and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed. One mobile home was blown off of its foundation. 8 people were injured. F0SE of HartsburgLogan00230.1 miles (0.16 km)Damage was limited to trees. F0N of Hindsboro (1st tornado)Douglas00420.2 miles (0.32 km)A machine shed was destroyed. F0NW of Hindsboro (2nd tornado) Douglas 00580.3 miles (0.5 km)Caused damage to power poles and outbuildings. F0S of NewmanDouglas01040.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown in a field with no damage. F0N of Brocton Edgar 01110.2 miles (0.32 km)A shed was destroyed and utility poles were damaged. F0Chrisman areaEdgar01150.2 miles (0.32 km)A barn was damaged, and debris from the structure was thrown and smashed windows of homes and businesses. F0SE of SidellVermilion01200.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0NW of MetcalfEdgar01290.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0NE of ChrismanEdgar01490.2 miles (0.32 km)One home, 2 barns, and a machine shed suffered roof damage.Missouri F1SW of WaylandClark21202.5 miles (4 km)2 machine sheds and a barn were destroyed, and a mobile home was flipped over.Iowa F0W of Fort MadisonLee21450.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0Fort Madison areaLee22000.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0N of New BostonLee22020.1 miles (0.16 km)One home sustained minor roof damage.Indiana F0NW of DanaVermilion01330.1 miles (0.16 km)A pole barn was destroyed. F1W of North Union Montgomery 02451.2 miles (1.9 km)A garage and a pole barn were destroyed, while the roof of another barn was damaged. F0E of Willisville Pike02510.5 miles (0.8 km)Brief touchdown in a field.Source:
April 8 event F#LocationCounty Time (UTC)Path lengthDamageTexas F0S of DriftwoodHays09400.5 miles (0.8 km) F0NW of BudaHays09571 miles (1.6 km)Louisiana F1NE of HaynesvilleClaiborne12430.2 miles (0.32 km)Caused damage to carport roofs and patio covers.Alabama F1S of HeathCovington15200.1 miles (0.16 km)Tornado damaged a mobile home and the roof of a motel. F3S of Gordo to N of NorthportPickens, Tuscaloosa000119.5 miles (31.2 km)Tornado was a precursor to the Birmingham F5. Traveled through rural areas north of the city of Tuscaloosa, with five homes and 11 mobile homes destroyed. 24 homes and 13 mobile homes were also damaged, and two people were injured. F5N of Kellerman to Birmingham Tuscaloosa, Jefferson 004230.3 miles (48.5 km)32 deaths – See article on this tornado F1E of LakeviewDeKalb01231.8 miles (2.9 km)A few barns were destroyed. F2N of Pell CitySt. Clair015614.4 miles (23 km)2 deaths - This tornado was spawned by the same supercell that produced the Birmingham F5. It remained over rural areas for and partially destroyed Bethel Baptist Church in Moody. 26 homes and mobile homes, along with other buildings were destroyed in the Coal City area. About 90 other homes and mobile homes suffered minor to major damage. The two fatalities occurred in a mobile home. Twelve additional people were injured. This storm later produced the Dunwoody tornado.Arkansas F0SunsetCrittenden23200.5 miles (0.8 km)Damage was limited to trees.Tennessee F0S of Lawrenceburg Lawrence00000.5 miles (0.8 km)Damage was limited to trees. F1Manchester areaCoffee01001 miles (1.6 km)Caused roof damage to several buildings in downtown Manchester.Georgia F1N of TallapoosaHaralson03303.5 miles (5.6 km)One mobile home was destroyed while 36 homes, 7 businesses, and 2 churches were damaged F2Smyrna to NW of BuckheadCobb, Fulton04203.5 miles (5.6 km)The tornado began near the Georgia Memorial Park cemetery, and then blew the roof and upper floor off of a wood-frame strip mall, located on the west corner of Cobb Parkway (U.S. 41) and Windy Hill Road. As the tornado crossed this intersection, two Cobb police officers in their cars, who were traveling south on Cobb Parkway, were caught in the storm. The officer in front sped through the tornado to escape it, while the officer behind followed and turned his light bar on, activating the vehicle's dashcam. This video from inside the tornado was later shown on national television. A car dealership along the path sustained heavy damage, with over one half of a million dollars in damage to cars. The tornado continued across the intersection, seriously damaging a Haverty's furniture store, blowing over the canopy at a gas station, and blowing down a billboard. After crossing Interstate 75, it passed over the Interstate North complex, a major office park full of high-rise buildings on the north side of the Cumberland/Galleria edge city, which is home to The Weather Channel. Continuing into Fulton County at the Chattahoochee River, the tornado downed trees and power lines and caused minor structural damage. Four people were injured. The tornado lifted, while the rotating supercell traversed what is now the city of Sandy Springs and went on to produce the Dunwoody tornado. F2Dunwoody to N of LawrencevilleDeKalb, Gwinnett043519 miles (30.4 km)1 death – See section on this tornado – Ten people were injured.Source:
April 9 event F#LocationCounty Time (UTC)Path lengthDamageGeorgia F3NE of Pembroke to W of Coldbrook Bryan, Effingham09458 miles (12.8 km)2 deaths - In Bryan County, 74 homes and other buildings were damaged with 14 of them destroyed, including six mobile homes, two frame houses, two brick homes and four other buildings. In Effingham County, 40 homes were damaged, with six mobile homes destroyed. 17 other people were injured. F2E of Donald to Richmond HillLong, Liberty, Bryan103524.5 miles (39.2 km)4 deaths - Ten mobile homes were destroyed in Rye Patch with two others damaged. In Fort Stewart, 55 buildings were damaged including 7 destroyed. 7 other people were injured.South Carolina F1W of HardeevilleJasper10221 miles (1.6 km)Several buildings and homes were damaged.Ohio F0NE of CopleySummit17450.3 miles (0.5 km)Minor roof damage occurred. F0NW of North Eaton Lorain17450.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0SW of WindhamPortage18300.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage. F0Leavittsburg areaTrumbull19280.1 miles (0.16 km)Brief touchdown with no damage.Pennsylvania F1NE of New BrightonBeaver18300.2 miles (0.32 km)A cinder block warehouse was damaged.Virginia F0Chesapeake areaChesapeake20005 miles (8 km)Damage was limited to trees that fell on some homes.Source:
Oak Grove - Birmingham, Alabama
Shortly after 7:30 p.m. on April 8, the outbreak's deadliest tornado cut a , swath through multiple Birmingham suburbs, producing damage ranging from F3 to F5 and causing massive destruction before lifting in the western limits of the City of Birmingham, just northwest of the junctions of Interstates 20, 59 and 65. The worst of the destruction occurred across the cities of Oak Grove, Rock Creek, and McDonald Chapel. The second area affected by F5 damage was also devastated by a violent tornado in 1956 that tracked through the same areas hit by this storm. Debris from the tornado was scattered across central Alabama as far north as sections of Blount County, and extensive deforestation occurred along the majority of the path.
The tornado began in rural Tuscaloosa County, only causing F0 damage there. The tornado reached F1 intensity after it entered Jefferson County, and then rapidly intensified to an F3 as it crossed a stray outflow boundary, slamming into Oak Grove, an unincorporated town west of Rock Creek. Oak Grove was one of the hardest hit locations, with many structures destroyed in the area. Oak Grove High School sustained major structural damage, and the elementary school portion was destroyed. The school building was rebuilt two years later and reopened a mile away from the damaged area. No one inside the school was killed, but a group of cheerleaders practicing at the school's gymnasium escaped disaster with only minor injuries when a wall prevented a portion of the roof from falling on them. The tornado caused its first three fatalities in Oak Grove, which occurred when a mobile home completely disintegrated, throwing the occupants across the street; of the four occupants, only one survived. The Oak Grove fire station was severely damaged as well.
The tornado continued to intensify dramatically as it moved northeast across the outflow boundary, reaching F5 intensity as it struck Rock Creek. Many homes in the town were leveled or swept completely away, and the roof of Rock Creek Church of God's Family Life Center was blown off. Many church attendees were sheltering in the restroom when the building was destroyed; all were safe. Several cars in the church parking lot were thrown into a 50-foot deep ravine. The church was turned into a makeshift trauma center immediately after the tornado. A total of eleven people were killed in Rock Creek. The far western fringes of Concord were impacted in this area as well (particularly the Warrior River Road area). The tornado weakened slightly to F4 intensity as it struck the neighboring community of Sylvan Springs, where many additional homes were completely leveled, and four people were killed. Homes were damaged and destroyed just outside Pleasant Grove as well.