At a Glance
- Some notable weather events have occurred on past Earth Days.
- One of the most forgotten tornadoes of the historic April 2011 occurred on April 22.
- A historic spring flood reached its peak 26 years ago on April 22.
- Even a weird early Atlantic tropical storm occurred recently on April 22.
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Earth Day 2024 won't feature severe weather conditions in the U.S., but it's had its share of notable weather events, including in recent years.
April 22 lies in the heart of spring, when weather can be active on many fronts, including tornado outbreaks, river flooding and early-season heat.
Let's look back at some memorable weather events of April 22.
2011: The St. Louis Tornado
Amid what would become a record month for tornadoes in the U.S., it was a single violent tornado that stole the headlines on Earth Day 12 years ago.
A pair of supercell thunderstorms spawned five tornadoes across the St. Louis metro area and adjacent areas of southern Illinois on the evening of April 22, 2011.
But the strongest tornado tore a 21-mile path across the northern suburbs, producing up to EF4 damage in Bridgeton. According to the National Weather Service, it was the strongest tornado to strike St. Louis County in 44 years.
Lambert International Airport took a direct hit. Windows were blown out in the main terminal and a main section of the roof was peeled away from Concourse C, which prompted the airport to close for about 24 hours. Damage to the airport alone was estimated at $25 million to $30 million.
Incredibly, nobody was killed by this violent tornado, due in part to tornado warnings issued 34 minutes in advance of this tornadic supercell.
Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are the trickiest of all weather events to both detect and understand any potential influence of climate change, due to their small-scale and short-lived nature.
There appears to be no long-term trend in tornado intensity. However, there may be a subtle eastward shift in the conditions favorable for tornadoes into the Mississippi Valley, according to a 2018 study.
2003: Bizarre April Tropical Storm
On Earth Day 2003, the Atlantic hurricane season had already begun.
Two days earlier, a non-tropical swirl of low pressure west of Bermuda was dubbed Subtropical Storm Ana. On the evening of April 21, the National Hurricane Center estimated Ana had enough thunderstorms clustered near its center to be classified as a tropical storm.
Ana would persist until it finally merged with a cold front on April 24.
While this storm remained over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, it was a historic oddity.
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Prior to Ana, only one other storm was known to have formed in the Atlantic Basin in April – a subtropical storm from April 21-24, 1992, found in post-analysis.
In 2017, another April tropical storm, Arlene, also formed in the central Atlantic Ocean.
Climate change appears to be having some influences on tropical cyclones around the world, including trends toward stronger storms, more rapidly intensifying storms, and wetter, slower-moving storms over land.
1997: Peak Of Historic Red River Flood
The flood of record in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and northwest Minnesota peaked 27 years ago on Earth Day.
On April 22, 1997, the Red River crested a record 26.35 feet above flood stage at Grand Forks, North Dakota, which crushed the previous record set 100 years prior by over 4 feet.
About 90% of Grand Forks was flooded and 60,000 residents were forced to evacuate Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, according to NOAA. A fire broke out in Grand Forks and spread several blocks because firefighters couldn’t fight it during the flood.
Four days earlier, the Red River also hit a record crest over 21 feet above flood stage at Fargo, North Dakota.
Total damage from the spring 1997 flood in the Northern Plains was estimated at $6.9 billion, the sixth-costliest U.S. flood event since 1980, according to NOAA.
Spring flooding is typical most years in the Red River Basin since it flows north into Manitoba, Canada, and covers a broad, shallow glacial plain. However, the snowiest winter season on record, compounded by an early April blizzard, led to the disastrous spring 1997 flood.
According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment in 2018, climate change is shortening the snow season in the Northern Plains, with less snow particularly in the fall. However, precipitation in the heaviest events has increased 29% in the Northern Plains since the late 1950s, according to a Climate Central study.
Other Earth Day Notables
-1999: A western snowstorm dumped a record 28.6 inches of snow in Lander, Wyoming, the city's all-time calendar-day record. It also produced wind gusts up to 113 mph in Brigham City, Utah, the Salt Lake Valley's strongest gust on record.
-1989: Cyclone Orson reached Category 5 intensity off the coast of Western Australia, one of the most intense cyclones on record near Australia. As that was happening, a heat wave established state April records in Colorado (100 degrees in Las Animas) and Kansas (107 in Hays).
-1980: Fort Dodge and Waterloo, Iowa, reached 100 degrees, the only April triple-digit readings on record in the Hawkeye State. Marquette, Michigan, registered their only April 90-degree-plus high on record.
Weather historian Christopher Burt contributed to this report.
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