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The outbreak of tornadoes from the Mississippi River to just east of the Appalachian Mountains on 2–5 April 1974 is analyzed using conventional techniques and the Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research fifth-generation Mesoscale Model (MM5). The MM5 was run for 48 h using the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis dataset for initial conditions. It is suggested that the first damaging squall line within the storm of 2–5 April 1974 (herein referred to as the Super Outbreak storm) was initiated by updrafts associated with an undular bore. The bore resulted from the forward advance of a Pacific cold front into a stable air mass. The second major squall line within the Super Outbreak storm, which produced the strongest and most numerous tornadoes, was directly connected with the lifting associated with a cold front aloft. This second squall line was located along the farthest forward protrusion of a Pacific cold front as it occluded with a lee trough/dryline. An important factor in the formation of this occluded structure was the diabatic effects of evaporative cooling ahead of the Pacific cold front and daytime surface heating behind the Pacific cold front. These effects combined to lessen the horizontal temperature gradient across the cold front within the boundary layer. Although daytime surface heating and evaporative cooling are considered to be essential ingredients in the formation and maintenance of organized convection, the MM5 produced a strong squall line along the leading edge of the Pacific cold front even with the effects of surface heating and evaporational cooling removed from the model simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]