Tornado Weekly: April 14-20, 2013

LP supercell near Alvord, Texas on April 15. Photo by Brett Wright.

Much like the second week of April, the third week of the month featured a complex system seemingly full of higher-end potential beforehand, but it ended up mostly producing on the low end of what it “could have.”

For the main event, the first “moderate risk” (from SPC) for tornadoes of the spring on Wednesday, April 17, brought with it a number of powerful supercells, but the conditions were not quite ideal for the storms to become significant tornado producers. Nonetheless, a swath of them touched down from the southwest to northeastern part of Oklahoma.

After hitting the Plains, the cold front pushed east over the next two days, with Thursday’s action mostly less than expected — including a rare “bust” on a Potentially Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch centered over Indiana.

Things kept on rolling Friday, as tornadoes were reported and touched down from Georgia to New York, including near Washington, D.C.

With the prospects of major tornado activity before the month ends now dwindling, it’s likely this will go down as another quiet month compared to normal, something we’ve dealt with outside of winter for about a year now.

Select for larger. Tornado reports, warnings and convective watches for the week. Data via IEM and SPC. (Ian Livingston) Note: Additional reports may filter in after this map was created, and reports do not necessarily indicate one tornado each or that there was a tornado.

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