Thunderstorms and Heavy Rains Across Portions of the Central and Eastern US; Heat Expands to Portions of the East and West

Widespread showers and thunderstorms, some severe, may produce heavy downpours and flash flooding across much of the eastern and central U.S. Dangerous heat will continue in the Pacific Northwest and expand across portions of the East. Deep tropical moisture and associated thunderstorms will bring heavy rainfall and localized flash flooding across portions of Florida into the central Gulf Coast. Read More >

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CVG WSR-57 radar shows several hook echoes (courtesy of NCDC)	CVG WSR-57 radar shows several hook echoes (courtesy of NCDC)	CVG WSR-57 radar shows Xenia storm (upper right) (courtesy of NCDC)	CVG WSR-57 radar shows Xenia tornado developing (courtesy of NCDC)
Wright-Patterson AFB radar collection of images from April 3-4	Wright-Patterson AFB radar depicting the Xenia storm (445 PM)	April 3, 1974 visible satellite loop, courtesy of Corfidi/SPC (click for animation)	Cincinnati barogram shows a significant drop in air pressure on April 3, 1974
April 3, 1974 weather obs from the Greater Cincinnati International Airport	April 3, 1974 weather obs from the James M. Cox Dayton Municipal Airport	Dayton 12Z April 3 skew-T (with most unstable CAPE)	Dayton 00Z April 4 skew-T (with most unstable CAPE)
April 1, 1974 weather maps	April 2, 1974 weather maps	April 3, 1974 weather maps	April 4, 1974 weather maps

Below are CVG WSR-57 radar observation overlays from the Super Outbreak. The radar operator would place these thin paper maps over the radar scope and trace an outline around the echoes. It is unclear exactly what methodology was used to create these particular overlays, as one would imagine things were extremely hectic in the Cincinnati NWS office that afternoon, and these overlays were probably drawn as quickly as possible. Thus, some of the information is incomplete and at first glance some of the UTC times may appear to be inconsistent with the location and movement of the echoes. It is uncertain if the varying color outlines may perhaps indicate different intensity levels within the echoes.

The following images reveal that after the outbreak of tornadic supercell thunderstorms the afternoon of April 3rd, another line of storms moved through the region late that evening into the early morning hours of April 4th. These images are more typical radar observation overlays, with different colors used to denote the varying intensity levels within the storm echoes.