51 Aprils Ago, History’s Worst Tornado Outbreak Began in Illinois

I was young, but I vividly remember that day. It was the first time I remember being afraid of tornadoes. It was 51 Aprils ago when the worst tornado outbreak in United States history began when storms began to impact Illinois.

I won't divulge my exact age, but let's just say that on April 3, 1974 I was in elementary school. I remember my parents talking about how stormy that day was shaping up to be and they were right when this rope tornado hit Morris, Illinois around 12:10pm. This one only damaged a billboard.

The next Illinois twister that day was a monster that hit Decatur, Illinois.

The National Weather Service says the Decatur, Illinois tornado was an EF-3 monster that touched down at 2:10pm and injured 26 people and killing an elderly man in his trailer. It also severely injured his wife. This was the path the twister took.

The explosive tornado development got worst as the storms moved eastward. According to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, a total of 30 EF-4 and EF-5 violent twisters were confirmed that day.

The EF-5 tornado that destroyed much of Xenia, Ohio would become one of the most infamous twisters in history.

Illinois didn't get the worst of the tornadoes on April 3, 1974, but the twister outbreak began here. Here are the final numbers from that day:

• 148 tornadoes
• 335 directly-related deaths
• 6,000 injured
• 2,589 miles of tornado paths that day

The 2011 twister outbreak in April and May of that year would eventually rival what happened in April of 1974, but that was the day when many of us learned to fear the sky.