ON THIS DAY: Historic tornado outbreak unfolds seven years ago

Severe weather season is upon us, and has proven active for us thus far. The season of 2011, however, goes down in history. Close to 1,700 tornadoes spun up across the United States that year, and nearly 25% of those tornadoes came over a four-day span. 

A strong cold front moved into the southeast and tapped into warm, unstable Gulf air. This unleashed what we now know as the April, 27 2011 tornado outbreak.

If you go anywhere from Alabama to New York, chances are people know about the tornado outbreak of April 27, 2011. Most of the 362 tornadoes that happened between April 25-28 came on April 27. More than 300 people died, and nearly $11 billion was spent in repairing damages. 

Our area witnessed three tornadoes. Areas southwest of here that aren't exactly prone to tornadoes took more of a blow, including Washington County, Virginia where an EF-3 ripped through the town of Glade Spring.

In our viewing area, we saw an EF-0 in Botetourt County, an EF-1 just north in Augusta County and an EF-2 in Halifax County.

More tornadoes were confirmed in last week's severe weather event.