Tornado counts are considered preliminary until final publication in the database of the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Several factors led to the record-breaking activity during the month, which was somewhat unusual given that past research has shown that tornado alley has been shifting eastward in recent years due to climate change increasing temperatures across the Great Plains, which led to stronger capping inversions.
However, at the beginning of April, an ongoing El Niño caused temperatures across the Plains and Midwestern United States to be cooler than normal.
Meanwhile, record-breaking heat waves in Texas and Mexico led to a large temperature contrast between the two areas.
This especially became apparent at the end of April when the environmental setup triggered a very large and devastating outbreak across the Central Plains and the Midwest.