Tornado outbreak of April 12, 1945

April 1945 tornado outbreak

Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	April 12, 1945
Tornadoes confirmed	≥ 17
Max. rating1	F5 tornado
Fatalities	≥ 128 deaths, ≥ 999 injuries
Damage	Unknown
Areas affected	Midwestern United States
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The April 1945 tornado outbreak occurred on April 12, 1945 in the Midwestern United States, producing numerous strong tornadoes and killing at least 128 people.

Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating

FU	F0	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	Total
0	?	?	7	5	4	1	≥ 22

April 12 event

F#	States	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
F4	OK	SE side of Oklahoma City to near Choctaw	Oklahoma	1525	20 miles	8 fatalities, 200 injuries Started near Cleveland County line and moved through SE Oklahoma City and destroyed over 160 homes in communities of Valley Brook, Dell City, and Choctaw. Most fatalities were family members of military personal at Tinker Air Force Base
F3	OK	SE of Wilburton to NE of Red Oak	Latimer	1615	12 miles	3 fatalities, 15 injuries Boggy community hit, three children died when a home was destroyed
F3	OK, AR	Near Roland OK to N of Dora AR	Sequoyah OK, Crawford AR	1630	20 miles	7 fatalities, 40 injuries Five deaths in OK, two in AR
F4	OK	NE from eastern edge of Muskogee	Muskogee	1650	3 miles	13 fatalities, 200 injuries Violent tornado touched down in eastern part of Muskogee and damaged many buildings. A school for the blind was hit, killed 13 on campus.
F2	OK	Hulbert area	Cherokee	1700	4 miles	4 fatalities, 8 injuries Short duration but very damaging tornado destroyed 81 buildings in town of Hulbert
F5	OK	5m SW of Antlers to SW of Nashoba	Pushmataha	1740	28 miles	69 fatalities, 353 injuries Catastrophic tornado obliterated one third of town of Antlers and injured 10% of residents. 600 buildings were obliterated with another 700 damaged. Damages totaled US$1.5 million not adjusting for inflation. Some witness claim to have seen two tornadoes, could have been either twin tornadoes or multi vortex. Tornado continued into rural areas NE of town. Town suffered 40% population loss in 1950 census and remains far below its peak pre tornado population of 3,200.
F2	AR	S of Harrison to SE of Bellefonte	Boone	1850	5 miles	2 injuries, tourist cabins and gas station destroyed
F3	MO	W of Pineville to S of Stella	McDonald	1900	13 miles	1 fatalities, 15 injuries Several homes destroyed N of Pineville
F2	AR	Gage Mountain to E of Berryville	Carroll	2000	6 miles	Home destroyed in Cisco community
F3	AR	Crosses to E of Metalton	Madison, Carroll	2000	30 miles	9 fatalities, 30 injuries, damage to six rural communities
F2	MO, IL	Palmyra MO to Loraine IL	Marion MO, Adams IL	2015	30 miles	19 injuries, likely a combination of tornado family and downburst winds; destroyed much of downtown Quincy, including the courthouse
F4	MO	SW to NE of Morrisville	Polk	2045	8 miles	4 fatalities, 19 injuries, Northern part of Morrisville had major damage
F2	IL	Plymouth	Hancock, McDonough	unk	unk	Damage in Plymouth area
F3	MO	S of Bradleyville to NE of Mansfield	Taney, Douglas, Wright	2050	32 miles	20 injuries, intense tornado passed through several rural communities
F4	AR	8M SW of Booneville to Minnow Creek	Logan, Johnson	2100	50 miles	10 fatalities, 70 injuries, many homes swept away in rural communities
F2	IL	Industry area	McDonoug	2100	4 miles	20 buildings damaged on west side of town of Industry
F2	MO	Palmyra MO	Marion MO	2200	1 mile	11 injuries, second tornado to hit Palmyra that day. 100 buildings in NW part of town damaged

See also

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks

References

Bibliography

• Grazulis, Thomas (1993), Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events, St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Environmental Films, ISBN 1-879362-03-1