Updated: April 4, 2012 6:00 am ET


It all began one year ago on April 4.

A line of thunderstorms produced more than 1300 damaging wind reports on April 4, a record for one day. Embedded in this squall line were a confirmed 46 tornadoes. Much of the damage occurred in Ky., Ark., La., Miss., Ala., Ga., S.C., N.C., Va., W.V., northern Fla. and Md (see photos). The total damage price tag was $2.8 billion and 9 people lost their lives.

It turns out that this outbreak was just foreshadowing what was to come in the deadly, devastating month of April 2011.

According to our Tornado Expert Dr. Greg Forbes (find him on Facebook), "April 2011 was the most prolific tornado month on record in the United States, with 758 tornadoes. It nearly tripled the old April record (267 in 1974) and had over 200 more tornadoes than the previous record month (542 in May 2003)."

April 2011 by the numbers.

A total of 360 people lost their lives due to last April's tornadoes, making up a large percentage (65%) of the total fatalities from tornadoes in 2011 (550), which was the deadliest year since 1936.

According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the month of April alone produced four billion-dollar tornado outbreaks. These four outbreaks had a combined damage cost of more than $17 billion.

After the widespread April 4, 2011 outbreak, the atmosphere only stay calmed for a few days before the next round got underway. This was a common theme in April 2011, only a few days of inactivity before the next outbreak hit the country.

Next> A new outbreak hits every few days in April 2011