The
April 2, 2006 tornado outbreak was a series of
tornadoes that occurred during the late afternoon and evening of April 2, 2006, in the
central United States. It was the second major outbreak of 2006, in the same area that suffered considerable destruction in a
previous outbreak on March 11 and March 12, as well as
an outbreak on November 15, 2005. The most notable tornadoes of the
outbreak struck northeastern
Arkansas, the
Missouri Bootheel, and
West Tennessee, where several communitiesincluding
Marmaduke, Arkansas,
Caruthersville, Missouri, and
Newbern, Tennessee suffered devastating damage. In total, 66 tornadoes touched down across seven states, which is the most in a single day in 2006. In addition, there were over 850 total severe weather reports, including many reports of straight-line winds exceeding
hurricane force and hail as large as
softballs, which caused significant additional damage in a nine-state region.