Prior to 1990, there is a likely undercount of tornadoes, particularly E/F0–1, with reports of weaker tornadoes becoming more common as population increased. A sharp increase in the annual average E/F0–1 count by approximately 200 tornadoes was noted upon the implementation of NEXRADDoppler weather radar in 1990–1991.[9][nb 5] 1974 marked the first year where significant tornado (E/F2+) counts became homogenous with contemporary values, attributed to the consistent implementation of Fujita scale assessments.[13][nb 3] Numerous discrepancies on the details of tornadoes in this outbreak exist between sources. The total count of tornadoes and ratings differs from various agencies accordingly. The list below documents information from the most contemporary official sources alongside assessments from tornado historian Thomas P. Grazulis.
Color/symbol key
Color / symbol
Description
†
Data from Grazulis 1990/1993/2001b
¶
Data from a local National Weather Service office
※
Data from the 1977 Storm Data publication
‡
Data from the NCEI database
♯
Maximum width of tornado
±
Tornado was rated below F2 intensity by Grazulis but a specific rating is unavailable.
List of confirmed tornadoes in the tornado outbreak of April 4–5, 1977
This tornado dissipated a short distance north of MS 21. A few businesses, a pair of homes, and two trailers were wrecked, while outbuildings, barns, and an additional home were damaged.[19][20][21][22]
This tornado struck the Elon settlement. A silo, a trailer, and a frame-built home were wrecked. Outbuildings on farms were damaged as well, and one person was injured slightly.[19][20][23]
A pair of homes were badly damaged and a few trailers were destroyed. Numerous trees were splintered and prostrated as well. A trio of injuries occurred.[19][26][27]
A dozen homes were destroyed or severely damaged. Half a dozen trailers and 17 outbuildings were wrecked or otherwise damaged as well. Four people were injured.[19][26][33]
1 death – Three trailers, seven barns, a house, and a small business were destroyed. A total of 16 other homes were damaged as well, a few of them severely. A woman was killed by a falling tree while refuging in an above-ground storm cellar.[19][26][34]
1 death – Major damage occurred in Lindale. A dozen trailers were destroyed and nine others were extensively damaged. 24 frame homes were badly damaged or wrecked. Three dairy farms sustained major damage, and four others sustained lesser damage. There were 15 injuries.[19][35][36]
This tornado produced scattered damage, occurring at four different spots. A few mobile homes, a pair of garages, nine homes, and 14 barns were destroyed or damaged.[30]
This tornado generated low-end F2 damage. 20 chicken coops were destroyed or damaged. Four homes received damage, and major tree damage occurred as well, with losses to the latter totaling $200,000. An injury was reported.[19][35][40]
Two chicken houses, a garage, and several small storage buildings were completely destroyed. A house lost its metal roof and a church lost its bell tower. Most other structural damage was limited to shingles or inflicted by fallen trees. About 15 trees were uprooted and more than 50 sustained minor damage.[44][45]
Developing 4 mi (6.4 km) northwest of Birmingham, near US 78, this extremely violent tornado proceeded northeastward through northern Jefferson County. Near the point of touchdown, Daniel Payne College suffered extensive damage, forcing it to permanently close due to the extent of the destruction. Rapidly intensifying, it generated F5 damage in the neighborhood of Hayes Highland, particularly along and near a lane and drive each named Smithfield, from which the tornado derived its moniker. In this area, abutting the intersection of I-65 and US 31, hundreds of homes were completely destroyed, many of which were completely swept away, despite being well-built. Some of the homes built into hillsides even had their cinder-block basement walls swept away, and at least one home was reportedly annihilated, with even its foundation said to be missing. Many trees in the area were snapped and debarked and vehicles were thrown and destroyed. A pair of dump-trucks were thrown through the air as well. Ted Fujita followed the tornado and supercell from an airplane and while surveying damage; he rated the Smithfield tornado F5, but initially considered assigning a rating of F6. (He once rated the 1970 Lubbock and 1974 Xenia tornadoes as such, but his preliminary estimates were subsequently revised to the official ratings of F5.) The NCEI incorrectly list the path as extending from west of Birmingham to east-northeast of Tarrant.[48]
Non-tornadic impacts
The storms that brought the tornadoes on April 4 also brought a large squall line across Alabama. This proved disastrous when Southern Airways Flight 242 attempted to fly around the storm and instead flew straight into it. Massive amounts of very large hail and very heavy rain battered the plane and destroyed its engines. With no way to keep flying, it attempted a landing on a stretch of highway in New Hope, Georgia. The road section used for the forced landing, formerly called Georgia State Route 92 Spur, is now called Dallas–Acworth Highway (formerly Georgia State Route 381). The DC-9 actually landed successfully, but then crashed into a gas station, grocery store, and other structures and vehicles during the rollout. The plane was destroyed, killing the flight crew, 60 passengers, and nine people on the ground.[49]
Aftermath, recovery, and records
The F5 tornado touched down near the end of the path of three other violent tornadoes that struck the Birmingham region in 1956, 1998, and 2011. The 1956 tornado was an F4 that struck McDonald Chapel and continued through Edgewater, northern Birmingham, Fultondale, and Tarrant before dissipating, killing 25. In 1998, an F5 tornado touched town in a rural area near Tuscaloosa before impacting Rock Creek, Sylvan Springs, Edgewater and McDonald Chapel, killing 32. The 2011 tornado was an EF4 that devastated Tuscaloosa and then struck Concord, Pleasant Grove, McDonald Chapel, northern Birmingham, and Fultondale before lifting, killing 64.[50]
^An outbreak is generally defined as a group of at least six tornadoes (the number sometimes varies slightly according to local climatology) with no more than a six-hour gap between individual tornadoes. An outbreak sequence, prior to (after) the start of modern records in 1950, is defined as a period of no more than two (one) consecutive days without at least one significant (F2 or stronger) tornado.[1]
^ abAll dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time and dates are split at midnight CST/CDT for consistency.
^ abThe Fujita scale was devised under the aegis of scientist T. Theodore Fujita in the early 1970s. Prior to the advent of the scale in 1971, tornadoes in the United States were officially unrated.[2][3] Tornado ratings were retroactively applied to events prior to the formal adoption of the F-scale by the National Weather Service.[4] While the Fujita scale has been superseded by the Enhanced Fujita scale in the U.S. since February 1, 2007,[5] Canada used the old scale until April 1, 2013;[6] nations elsewhere, like the United Kingdom, apply other classifications such as the TORRO scale.[7]
^The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Data publication does not list exact damage totals for every event, instead giving damage categories. As such, damage for individual tornadoes is not comprehensive.
^Historically, the number of tornadoes globally and in the United States was and is likely underrepresented: research by Grazulis on annual tornado activity suggests that, as of 2001, only 53% of yearly U.S. tornadoes were officially recorded. Documentation of tornadoes outside the United States was historically less exhaustive, owing to the lack of monitors in many nations and, in some cases, to internal political controls on public information.[10] Most countries only recorded tornadoes that produced severe damage or loss of life.[11] Significant low biases in U.S. tornado counts likely occurred through the early 1990s, when advanced NEXRAD was first installed and the National Weather Service began comprehensively verifying tornado occurrences.[12]
^All starting coordinates are based on the NCEI database and may not reflect contemporary analyses
^The listed width values are primarily the average/mean width of the tornadoes, with those having known maximum widths denoted by ♯. From 1952 to 1994, reports largely list mean width whereas contemporary years list maximum width.[14] Values provided by Grazulis are the average width, with estimates being rounded down (i.e. 0.5 mi (0.80 km) is rounded down from 880 yards to 800 yards.[15][16]
^Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage". The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC). Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
^"Severe Weather Database Files (1950-2021)". Storm Prediction Center Maps, Graphics, and Data Page. Norman, Oklahoma: Storm Prediction Center. July 11, 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
Grazulis, Thomas P.; Grazulis, Doris, eds. (1998). "Other Disastrous Birmingham Area Tornadoes". St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
^Grazulis, Thomas P.; Grazulis, Doris, eds. (1998). "Other Disastrous Birmingham Area Tornadoes". St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
— (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN1-879362-03-1.