On October 18, at least 48 tornadoes were confirmed across eight states including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, plus widespread straight line wind damage.

[8] The high humidity levels with dew points in the 70s°F (low 20s°C), temperatures that in many areas were near 80 °F (27 °C), strong wind shear, and the presence of the dry line helped develop the instability to produce severe thunderstorms across both the Midwest and the Southern Plains on October 17.

[11] The storm then moved across most of the Midwest on October 18, where a moderate risk was in effect, also for two days for most of Illinois, Indiana, and parts of Kentucky; however, the moderate risk was revised further to the south and the east to include western Ohio, western Tennessee, southeastern Missouri, northeastern Arkansas, and a larger portion of Kentucky.

[85] The storms persisted throughout the night and an additional tornado killed 2 people inside a mobile home in Greene County, Missouri, near Paris.

[88] Still in the region, one tree fell over a passing car but the motorist escaped injuries although he was trapped for several minutes inside.

[2] In Michigan, a tornado in Tuscola near Flint threw a one-year-old baby 40 feet (12 m) away from its location along with the crib and was later found amongst a pile of rubble under a mattress.

[98] The Owensboro tornado, which was rated an EF3 was also the strongest ever in that month over the same region since records were kept in 1950 although an unofficial F3 took place in Posey County, Indiana on October 16, 1928.

In addition to the tornadoes, widespread straight-line wind damage took place across much of the affected region, particularly on the night of October 17 as a result of a derecho that moved across the southern Great Plains into the Ozarks.

Many mobile homes were destroyed, and widespread power outages were reported in the region including in Rogers County near Oologah where five people were injured.

[95] In addition, the Gulf Coast region, particularly the Florida Panhandle, received torrential rain due to continuous thunderstorms ahead of the cold front.