The story
From super + outbreak (“tornado outbreak”). Coined by Dr. Tetsuya Theordore "Ted" Fujita in 1974, after a then-recent outbreak of tornadoes that was the largest known to have occurred.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
super outbreak
Today it means: A large tornado outbreak involving more than fifty tornadoes within a 24-hour period. Full definition →