50 Years Ago -- Super Tornado Outbreak, April 3-4, 1974

https://www.weather.gov/iln/19740403

When I was a young boy, I remember reading about the Xenia, Ohio tornado in our local paper. We lived in the opposite corner of the state (northeast) and had experienced bad thunderstorms and hail, but never a tornado; those only happened in faraway places like Oklahoma and Texas. And thanks to movies, Kansas. It was an unprecedented event with massive devastation. Xenia stayed in the news for some time, and I never forgot that one. Nowadays, they seem routine.

Fastforward to today, April 2, 2024 and the entire region is under threat of tornadoes, hail and flooding. The media has been hyping this storm system, like usual; but I take the possibility of it being destructive quite seriously; now living some 30-minutes from the Ohio River. We are in their red zone of severe weather likelihood, the nasty part of course hitting after dark.

My point today to highlight the 50-year anniversary of the super outbreak and Xenia. No location on earth is immune to bad weather, especially when nefarious entities seem to be controlling it. I posted it today, a day early, as power and internet have gone off several times already.

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Please take good care, @sharick!

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In that outbreak I watched North Alabama tornadoes #101&#102 on the ground at the same time. A sight burned into my memory. A few days after the touchdowns, my Grandfather, my Dad and I went to see the destruction just a few miles away. This really blew my 10 yr old mind. The devastation was unbelievable. But, that destruction wasn’t as impactful as going back to school about a week later, and seeing two empty desks in my class.

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