The hardest-hit region was Middle Tennessee, where several strong tornadoes devastated entire neighborhoods and left ten people dead.
The reason for the relatively modest level of activity was due to a more stable than expected air mass that day over the region, with lower dew points and less wind shear, despite the absence of a cap (which would have otherwise allowed a much larger outbreak).
[3] Conditions changed the next day in the South as the system moved eastward, with the cold front entering a more conducive environment.
The increased wind shear, combined with the high temperatures and humidity levels, produced tornadoes beginning late that morning and continuing throughout the day into the overnight hours.
[5] In addition to the tornadoes, there were reports of hail as large as softballs, powerful microbursts and straight-line winds, and local flooding.
Extensive damage was also reported in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, when storms developed there overnight into the early morning of April 8.
Despite a lower risk of activity on April 8, severe weather continued in Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia — mostly in the early morning hours, with another 13 tornadoes reported before the outbreak finally ended as the system moved offshore into the Atlantic Ocean.