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In the United States, tornadoes have occurred every single day of the year and strong or violent tornadoes (rated F2/EF2 or greater) have been recorded on multiple occasions each month.

While this is not an exhaustive list of significant tornadoes, it includes tornadic events for each calendar day with an emphasis on storms that have occurred in North America. As tornadoes have occurred on every continent except Antarctica, significant tornadoes from other continents are also included on this list when they can be confirmed via reputable media or government agency.

Tornadoes on this list were included because of extraordinary or extreme characteristics (e.g. strength, damage, fatalities) or historical significance (including special scientific or human interest stories).

Color Guide

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  Oceania

January

Date Location Significance
January 1, 1970 New South Wales, Australia The Bulahdelah tornado was never officially rated but is considered to be the strongest tornado in Australia's history. Its path was nearly one mile (1.6 km) wide and as many as one million trees were reportedly destroyed.
January 1, 2011 Attala County, Mississippi An EF3 tornado touched down at 12:02 a.m. CST, the earliest of any tornado in any calendar year. Part of the 2010 New Year's Eve tornado outbreak.
January 2, 2006 Central and Southern United States The Tornado outbreak of January 2, 2006 is considered one of the largest January outbreaks in United States history with 20 confirmed tornadoes. It caused five injuries but no direct fatalities.
January 3, 1949 Warren, Arkansas An F4 tornado devastated this small town, killed 55, and injured hundreds of others. A 20-square-block area of commercial and residential areas was completely destroyed. [1]
January 4, 2021 Tehama County, California Extremely rare January (EF0) tornado touched down in a rural area west of Corning. One woman witnessed a shed being damaged and downed tree branches. [2]
January 5, 1917 Vireton, near McAlester, Oklahoma The schoolhouse in this town took a direct hit from a violent F3 tornado. Fifteen children were killed, making this one of the deadliest incidents of its kind in United States history. [3]
January 6, 1951 Alexandria, Louisiana Eleven people were injured and dozens of homes were either damaged or destroyed from this F2/F3 tornado that moved through the center of the city. [4]
January 7, 2008 Strafford to Lebanon, Missouri The deadliest tornado in the January 2008 tornado outbreak was an EF3 that killed three people and injured 18 others in southern Missouri. At least 50 houses were destroyed.
January 8, 2019 Cortland, Ohio, and Mercer County, Pennsylvania On this unseasonably warm January morning, two EF1 tornadoes touched down - one in northeastern Ohio, the other in northwestern Pennsylvania - with top winds of 95-100 mph each. [5] [6]
January 9, 1889 Brooklyn, New York Roofs were blown off houses and trees were uprooted in this mid-winter tornadic storm that hit South Brooklyn including the Williamsburg neighborhood and the Navy Yard. No fatalities were reported. [7]
January 10, 1973 San Justo, Santa Fe, Argentina The F5 San Justo tornado is the most violent tornado in South America's history. It killed 63 people, injured at least 350 others, and damaged or destroyed at least 500 homes in approximately seven minutes. It took less than two minutes to reach F5 intensity. Ted Fujita considered it the worst tornado ever recorded outside the United States.
January 11, 1898 Fort Smith, Arkansas The 1898 Fort Smith, Arkansas tornado is tied with the 1949 Warren tornado as the deadliest in Arkansas history - a total of 55 people were killed. This F4 tornado struck in the middle of the night, destroyed the newly built high school, and injured 113 others.
January 12, 1890 Hickman County, Kentucky Eleven people were killed, 53 were injured, and 55 houses near the town of Clinton were destroyed. [8]
January 13, 2020 Loris, South Carolina Nobody was killed or injured by this short-lived EF1 tornado that formed near the small city's high school. Most of the damage occurred between the school's football field and its parking lot where video caught a number of cars being flipped. [9]
January 14, 1991 Texas An outbreak of 11 tornadoes hit south/southeast Texas, the worst of which was an F2. One person died 13 days after sustaining serious injuries during an F1 tornado in Colorado County and 11 others were injured. A 150-year-old plantation was destroyed, and tractor-trailers were flipped on Interstate 10. [10] [11]
January 15, 1971 Florida, Georgia This tornado outbreak consisted of ten tornadoes, including an F2 that killed a truck driver near the town of Americus, Georgia, after the mobile home he was towing flipped over and landed on the cab of his truck. [12]
January 16, 2000 Dayton, Washington An extremely rare winter-morning tornado (rated F1) in Washington State touched down at 9 a.m. PST for only a few minutes. During that time, it damaged the roofs of a barn and the elementary school as well as some trees, one of which fell on a house and collapsed its brick chimney. [13]
January 17, 1999 Jackson, Tennessee This F4 tornado was the most violent storm of the Tornado outbreak of January 17-18, 1999. It caused significant damage throughout Jackson and surrounding areas, killed six people, and injured 106 others.
January 18, 1973 Caldwell Parish, Louisiana An F3 tornado (disputed, assessed by Grazulis as F2) tornado touched down for approximately ten miles near Corey. A farmhouse was destroyed and a 16-year-old girl was killed. Her mother was seriously injured, and her baby was blown several hundred yards away and also sustained serious injuries but survived. [14]
January 18, 1999 Mount Ayliff, South Africa An F4 tornado killed 21 people and injured 350 others. This rating was given because multiple cars were thrown significant distances, killing some of their occupants. [15]
January 19, 1928 Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, and adjacent suburbs Authors of the Monthly Weather Review surmised that a tornado had never been seen that far north in the winter (there have been many tornadoes north of that latitude in the years since). The Cincinnati tornado touched down just after 9 a.m. EST and caused an estimated $100,000 (1928 USD) in damages. [16]
January 20, 2010 Southern United States The strongest tornado in this January outbreak was an EF3 tornado that caused about $1.5 million in damage, primarily in the area around the town of Waskom, Texas. While buildings were destroyed and people were trapped and needed rescue, there were no fatalities or injuries reported.
January 21, 1999 Hickory Ridge, Arkansas An F0 tornado briefly touched down in this small city in the northeastern part of the state. While it didn't cause structural damage or injure/kill anyone, it did kill hundreds of geese. Part of the Tornado outbreak of January 21–23, 1999.
January 22, 2017 Albany, Georgia The most significant tornado of the Tornado outbreak of January 21–23, 2017 was an EF3 tornado with estimated winds of 150 mph. Five people were killed including a two-year-old boy and 40 others were injured. Caused significant damage all along its long 71-mile track. Part of the second largest January tornado outbreak in recorded history.
January 23, 1969 Hazlehurst, Mississippi The 1969 Hazlehurst, Mississippi tornado was an extremely long-track early-morning F4 tornado that stayed on the ground for 118 miles and caused catastrophic damage. Of the 32 people killed, eighteen of them were picked up by the tornado and thrown into a nearby lumber pond. Included among the 241 injured was a family who watched their three-bedroom home get lifted from its foundation.
January 24, 1967 Missouri An F4 tornado trekked 25 miles across the northern part of St. Louis County, killing three people and injuring 216 others. A total of 168 homes were destroyed, some of them completely leveled. Nearly 2,000 houses had some form of damage. Part of the 1967 St. Louis tornado outbreak.
January 24, 2023 Deer Park, Texas An EF3 tornado affected Pasadena, Deer Park, and Baytown, Texas. Hundreds of homes and businesses were severely damaged.
January 25, 2021 Fultondale, Alabama A strong, late-night, EF3 tornado caused considerable damage to this small town north of Birmingham. A 14-year-old was killed when his house collapsed on him as he hid in the basement. At least 30 others were injured. Primary article: Fultondale tornado
January 26, 1974 Randolph County, Alabama This F3 tornado killed a nine-month-old baby and injured her sister and father as well as five others. Several barns and homes sustained damage. [17]
January 26–27, 2013 Queensland, Australia After Cyclone Oswald made landfall, there were six - possibly seven - tornadoes (of F1 intensity) that touched down in different parts of central Queensland. At least 20 people were reportedly injured.
January 27, 1967 Felton, Delaware Seven people were injured when an F2 tornado touched down and damaged nine houses and at least two service stations. This was the first tornado to touch down in Delaware during the winter months. [18]
January 27, 2019 Havana, Cuba The 2019 Havana tornado was a late-night EF4 tornado that caused significant damage, killed seven people, and injured nearly 200 others. It was the first tornado to hit Havana since 1940.
January 28, 1973 Florida The Central Florida tornado outbreak primarily affected the area around Orlando and Kissimmee. The F1 and F2 tornadoes caused at least 23 injuries but no fatalities.
January 29, 1947 Thayer- Van Buren, Missouri A 50-year-old woman was killed and her husband, daughter, and son-in-law were among the 19 people injured by this long-track (45 miles) F4 tornado. At least 330 buildings were either damaged or destroyed and some were swept completely away. [19]
January 30, 2013 Adairsville, Georgia A violent high-end EF3 tornado killed one person, injured 17 others, and caused $75 million in damage. Hundreds of houses and buildings were either damaged or destroyed. Part of the Tornado outbreak of January 29–30, 2013.
January 31, 1908 Jefferson, Copiah, and Simpson counties, Mississippi. This violent long-track F4 tornado stayed on the ground for at least 40 miles. It killed eight people - six from the same family, whose house had been obliterated, plus another couple (all residents of Martinsville) - and injured 30 others. [20]

February

Date Location Significance
February 1, 1955 Southern United States The National Weather Service only confirmed two weak tornadoes in Tennessee but Grazulis alleges that the strong tornadoes that killed dozens of people in Commerce Landing and Olive Branch, Mississippi, were downplayed as a result of the race of the victims. [21]
February 2, 1918 Australia The Brighton tornado was actually three different tornadoes that touched down near Melbourne. Rated F3, these tornadoes that eventually merged caused significant damage to churches, hotels, and a railway station. Many homes were also destroyed. Two (or three) people were killed and at least six others were injured.
February 2, 2007 Paisley- DeLand, Florida A high-end EF3 tornado with estimated winds of 165 mph - one of the strongest tornadoes in Florida's history - killed 13 people and injured 51 others. Nearly 200 houses were destroyed and 600 others damaged. This was part of the 2007 Groundhog Day tornado outbreak
February 3, 2012 Texas Panhandle A very rare severe weather outbreak included the earliest tornado on record in the Texas Panhandle, an EF1 that tracked 13 miles through three different counties. [22]
February 4, 1842 Mayfield- Kirtland, Ohio At least 30 houses, barns, and other buildings were demolished. A man and child were killed. The Cleveland Herald's description: “It moved forward like a black pitchy cloud, hugging the Earth, and whirling high in the air every substance drawn within its vortex. The largest forest trees were upturned or twisted off like fragile shoots and, in some places, even stumps were torn from the earth”. [23]
February 5, 2008 Arkansas One of the worst tornadoes from the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak was a long-track EF4 tornado that trekked 122 miles through Conway and Van Buren counties among others. It killed 13 people, injured 140 others, and caused almost $120 million (2008 USD) in damages.
February 6, 2008 Alabama Day two of the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak brought another powerful EF4 tornado which moved through Lawrence and Morgan counties. Four people were killed and 23 injured. Significant damage included a large brick house that was almost completely leveled and a large pickup tossed over 100 yards into a nearby field. [24]
February 7, 1904 Kentucky A trio of F2 tornadoes, possibly from the same storm, passed south of Louisville, Kentucky, between 3 and 5 a.m. Many houses were damaged or destroyed and a number of people were injured but no fatalities were reported. The worst of the damage was felt in Cecilia where a large brick church was leveled; Cornishville where a bridge was destroyed; and the village of Narrows (now called Grand Rivers) was almost completely destroyed. [25]
February 8, 1935 Houston County, Texas On the ground for nearly 25 miles, this F2 tornado caused significant damage to the Storey and Darsey plantations then moved on to obliterate the Murray cotton plantation in Reynard (now unincorporated Houston County, north of Wheeler Springs). Eleven of the 12 fatalities and 50 of 70 injuries took place here. One man was reportedly “sawed in half” when he was violently thrown into a barbed wire fence. The town of Grapeland also sustained considerable damage to houses and trees. [26]
February 9, 1978 near Chiriaco Summit, California An F3 tornado touched down in this area of Riverside County, California, south of Joshua Tree, caused over half a million dollars in damages and injured at least six people over a two-mile track. It's the strongest tornado ever recorded in California (although details of the damage and injuries are limited). [27] [28]
February 10, 2013 Hattiesburg, Mississippi This tornado was a large multi-vortex EF4 wedge tornado that caused significant damage to the University of Southern Mississippi as well as Hattiesburg High School and Oak Grove High School. Roughly 240 houses were destroyed and greater than 500 houses sustained major damage. A total of 82 people were injured but no fatalities were reported.
February 11, 1887 Pennsylvania At least six tornadoes touched down during this rare winter outbreak. The deadliest was a narrow funnel (per Finley) that stayed on the ground for about six miles near Tyrone. Five Hungarian immigrants were killed when a large tree crushed their shanty. A large smokestack was also toppled at the Electric Light company and multiple roofs were blown off some tannery buildings. Fifty-five people were injured. Grazulis gave this an F2 rating. [29]
February 11, 1982 Honolulu County, Hawaii Two F2 tornadoes touched down on the island of Oahu, the strongest ones ever reported in the state of Hawaii. Tornadoes also touched down on this same day in both 1989 and 2009. See List of Hawaii tornadoes
February 12, 1950 Shreveport- Bossier City- Barksdale Air Force Base (Slack AFB), Louisiana This F4 was the most violent tornado of the February 1950 tornado outbreak and may have been part of a tornado family. Among the 18 people killed were five airmen in the AFB's Depot. The Depot, mess hall, and barracks were all severely damaged or destroyed. Many cities and towns along the 82-mile route also sustained significant damage and a total of 77 people were injured.
February 13, 2000 Camilla and Meigs, Georgia Two F3 tornadoes touched down in southwest Georgia and wreaked havoc upon the residents of these two towns. A total of 17 people were killed (all 11 deaths in Camilla were residents of manufactured homes) and 190 others were injured. At least 200 homes were destroyed and hundreds of others were damaged. A trailer manufacturing plant near Camilla was also destroyed and several chicken houses in Meigs were completely flattened, killing upwards of 500,000 chickens. These were the worst storms of the Tornado outbreak of February 13–14, 2000.
February 14, 1908 Tyler, Texas This early-morning F3 tornado killed four people - three from the same family - and injured 15 others. At least 14 houses were destroyed. The clothing of the family that was killed was found three miles away. [30]
February 15, 2021 near Sunset Beach, North Carolina This powerful EF3 tornado struck in the middle of the night killing three people at the Ocean Ridge Plantation subdivision. A community garden building and two houses were leveled and one was completely swept away. Other houses were damaged and ten people were injured. There was significant tree damage along the entire route.
February 16, 1995 Joppa- Arab, Alabama This early morning F3 tornado destroyed the elementary school in Joppa as well as 157 houses and 12 businesses along the 14-mile track. A total of 130 were injured, overwhelming nearby hospitals, and six were killed. They ranged in age from a newborn whose mother's serious injury resulted in early labor to an 88-year-old woman whose manufactured home was destroyed. [31]
February 17, 1938 Rodessa, Louisiana This violent F4 tornado destroyed large numbers of oil derricks outside the village then plowed through and completely swept numerous (poorly constructed) houses away. Twenty-one people were killed and at least 40 others were injured. The village took another direct hit just seven years later. [32] [33]
February 18, 2008 North Carolina Multiple early-morning tornadoes touched down in Eastern North Carolina. The worst was a low-end EF2 that landed near Hookerton, shifted a house off its foundation, and injured three people inside when the house collapsed. The others were high-end EF1 with comparable intensity [34]
February 19, 1884 Southeastern United States The Enigma Tornado Outbreak earned its nickname because the final death toll remains unknown. At the time, death toll estimates ranged from 200 to 2,000. Confirmed death tolls were closer to 200 but the actual numbers may have been much higher because black fatalities weren't properly counted in the Deep South. Nearly every single tornado that touched down on this date killed multiple people and many of them reached F3 or F4 intensity. Grazulis determined there were at least 37 significant tornadoes (F2+ strength). [35]
February 20, 1937 Ozark to Marshfield, Missouri With a path 32 miles long and 1,000 feet wide, this F3 tornado injured 11 people. Two brick schools and a dozen houses were destroyed; a barn and 20 other houses were damaged. [36]
February 21, 1971 Delhi, Louisiana, to Moorhead, Mississippi This F5 tornado (disputed by Grazulis) leveled houses east of Delhi and killed ten out of 12 people from the same family, throwing several of them into nearby swampland. Nearly 90% of the town of Inverness, Mississippi, was destroyed. Overall, at least 47 people were killed and 510 others were injured. Part of February 1971 Mississippi Delta tornado outbreak
February 22, 1998 Orlando, Florida A trio of violent late-night F3 tornadoes caused over $100 million in damage, killed 41 people, and injured 256 others. The strongest tornado was initially given an F4 rating but was later downgraded to F3. It killed 25 people alone and remains the deadliest F3/EF3 tornado in recorded United States history. Thousands of structures were either damaged or destroyed during the 1998 Kissimmee tornado outbreak.
February 23, 2016 Pensacola, Florida The 2016 Pensacola tornado was the strongest tornado to touch down during the Tornado outbreak of February 23–24, 2016. This late-evening EF3 was on the ground for only 11 minutes and caused $22 million in damages - the highest amount during this 61-tornado outbreak - over an eight-mile track.
February 24, 2016 Chap to Evergreen, Virginia This EF3 was the strongest tornado ever recorded in Virginia in the month of February. One man was killed when his manufactured home in Evergreen was destroyed and seven others were injured. It caused over $11 million in damages to multiple churches, many houses, and countless trees were felled. This was the worst storm on day two of the Tornado outbreak of February 23–24, 2016.
February 25, 2017 Goshen and Conway, Massachusetts The only February tornadoes recorded in New England's history were two high-end EF1 tornadoes that touched down in these two small western Massachusetts towns. Many houses sustained considerable damage and six were deemed uninhabitable. Large areas of forest either had uprooted trees or thick pine trees that were snapped in half. Only one injury was reported when a tree fell on a house. Estimated total of $650,000 in damage. [37] [38]
February 26, 1904 Portland, Oregon One of only five tornadoes to ever pass through Portland. [39] Referred to as a “severe wind-rush which partook of the nature of an incipient tornado”. A number of trees were either uprooted or “prostrated”. Damages to buildings, including two that were destroyed, amounted to about $5,000. Several people reported injuries but none were deemed serious. [40]
February 27, 1876 St. Charles, Missouri Described by one newspaper as “the most terrible tornado ever known”, this tornado touched hit the town around 2:30 p.m. and reportedly moved through in about 30 seconds. Many buildings were either damaged or destroyed: the courthouse, concert hall, jail, banks, farm buildings, and 15-20 other buildings were listed as being affected. A father and son were killed, reportedly “crushed so as to be unrecognizable”. Another child may have been blown off a bridge into the river below. The number of fatalities remains unknown. [41]
February 28, 2007 Anderson and Linn Counties, Kansas The first EF4 tornado to be rated under the new Enhanced Fujita scale caused considerable damage to several buildings and completely swept a farmhouse away. It stayed on the ground for 28 miles and resulted in no serious injuries or fatalities. Part of the Tornado outbreak of February 28 – March 2, 2007
February 29, 1952 Fayetteville, Tennessee This F4 tornado killed two people, injured 150 others, and caused around $3 million in damage. It is one of only two violent tornadoes in recorded history to have touched down on a Leap Day. Part of the Tornado outbreak of Leap Day 1952
February 29, 2012 Harrisburg- Ridgway, Illinois The strongest tornado of the 2012 Leap Day tornado outbreak was a large EF4 wedge that struck around 5 a.m. in total darkness. It killed eight people, injured 95 others, and caused catastrophic damage in the town of Harrisburg. Small apartment buildings, many houses, a strip mall, and a church were completely destroyed. In Ridgway, an additional 13 people were injured; a large brick church and a factory were destroyed; and at least 140 houses and businesses sustained considerable damage.

March

Date Location Significance
March 1, 1997 Arkansas Sixteen tornadoes, including three F4 storms and multiple long-track events, touched down throughout the state of Arkansas during the afternoon and evening. At least 1,200 structures were damaged or destroyed by this event and 25 people were killed. [42]
March 2, 2012 Henryville, Indiana The EF4 “Henryville Tornado” was on the ground for nearly 50 miles and killed 11 people. Catastrophic damage occurred at the school complex and throughout the town of Henryville where the tornado reached maximum strength. One schoolbus driver still had 11 children to drop off as the tornado bore down on the town at speeds greater than 50 mph. She sped back to the school and led the children inside to the storm shelter with only seconds to spare. The tornado threw the schoolbus across the street into a diner, destroying both of them, but the children and their driver were all unharmed. An EF1 tornado followed this one causing additional structural and tree damage. Part of the Tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2012
March 3, 1966 Mississippi, Alabama The Candlestick Park tornado killed 58 people, injured 500+ others, and is among the longest-tracking tornadoes in recorded history. It stayed on the ground for 202.5 miles over a three-hour-and-45-minute period between southwestern Mississippi and west-central Alabama. The name comes from the newly constructed shopping center in Jackson, Mississippi, that was completely leveled by this incredibly violent F5 tornado.
March 3, 2020 Nashville, Mount Juliet, Cookeville, and Putnam County, Tennessee Late-night EF3/EF4 tornadoes struck Middle Tennessee with one storm moving directly through the city of Nashville. Twenty-six people were killed, including whole families and small children, and hundreds of others were injured. The long-track Nashville tornado caused more than $1.5 billion in damage, one of the top-ten costliest tornadoes in recorded history. Strongest tornadoes during the Tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2020.
March 4, 1961 Chicago, Illinois An F2 tornado cut a six-and-a-half-mile damage path through the city of Chicago. One person died after being thrown into a wall and at least 114 others were injured. Property damage included roofs being torn off, garages demolished, broken windows, and uprooted trees. [43]
March 5, 1963 Bessemer, Alabama, to Homewood and Mountain Brook, Alabama This F4 (disputed, Grazulis gave it an F3 rating) tornado stayed on the ground for 15 miles and injured 35 people. It damaged at least 225 houses and destroyed 29 others in Bessemer alone and at least 40 other buildings outside of Bessemer. [44] [45]
March 6, 2017 Faribault County, Minnesota This was the earliest (in the calendar year) tornado on record for the state of Minnesota. Rated EF1, it snapped power poles; unroofed some houses and broke their windows; destroyed some garages and sheds; and uprooted a number of trees. This was the first tornado of the Tornado outbreak of March 6–7, 2017.
March 7, 2008 Lake City, Florida An EF2 tornado touched down for only one-and-a-half miles but reached a width of nearly one-half mile. Nineteen houses were destroyed, another 41 were damaged, and two businesses were destroyed. Five people were injured and one woman was killed when a tree went through her manufactured home. [46]
March 8, 1871 East St. Louis, Illinois The 1871 St. Louis tornado was the first of 14 tornadoes to affect the city of St. Louis - directly or indirectly - in 150 years. This F3 tornado killed nine people, injured 60 others, and caused $1.5 million (1871 USD) in damages.
March 8, 1909 Brinkley, Arkansas An F4 tornado devastated Brinkley, killing 49 people and injuring 600. More than 800 buildings were destroyed and 2,000 were damaged. Homes were swept away along the entire path. Eighteen other people were killed by tornadoes across Arkansas. [47]
March 9, 1774 Nantucket, Massachusetts At about 8 a.m., a waterspout came onshore from Nantucket Harbor and destroyed Brant Point Light then proceeded to destroy several barns and shops. There were no reported fatalities or injuries but the loss of the lighthouse was significant [48]
March 10, 1971 Kenner- Metairie, Louisiana This F2 tornado touched down at about 2 a.m. near the Louis Armstrong Airport and moved in a northeasterly direction between the Mississippi River and Interstate 10. At least 200 homes, an elementary school, and several businesses sustained considerable damage. One person was indirectly killed by the tornado and seven others were injured. [49]
March 11, 1923 Pinson, Tennessee Without warning, in the middle of the night, half the town - including a school and two churches - was obliterated. This F5 (per Grazulis) tornado killed 18 people (plus two others in Deanburg) and injured at least 70 others. Human remains were reportedly found up to one mile away. [50]
March 12, 2006 Webster County, Missouri An F2 tornado destroyed a couple of single-wide manufactured homes near the town of Fordland, Missouri. A 19-year-old man was in one of those homes and was knocked unconscious by a heavy lamp when the tornado hit. When he regained consciousness, he was laying in an open field in his underwear with badly lacerated feet and a bleeding head wound (caused by the lamp). He had been sucked out of his grandmother's manufactured home by the tornado and carried a total of 1,307 feet (measured exactly by the National Weather Service) before the tornado dropped him adjacent to a barbed wire fence (the cause of the badly lacerated feet). His survival earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for “Farthest Distance Survived in a Tornado” [51] [52] [53] [54]
March 13, 1990 Hesston, Kansas, and Goessel, Kansas Two violent F5 tornadoes in the same day from the same supercell storm destroyed hundreds of houses, dozens of farms and businesses, and caused deep cycloidal ground scouring. The NWS surveyors called this “extreme F5 damage” and stated that this was among the strongest tornadoes ever recorded. Counted among the 64 confirmed tornadoes of the March 1990 Central United States tornado outbreak.
March 14, 1933 Northeastern Arkansas and Middle/Eastern Tennessee The March 1933 Nashville tornado outbreak consisted of five strong-to-violent tornadoes that killed at least 44 people and injured nearly 500 others. The F3 tornado that plowed through the middle of Nashville damaged or destroyed at least 1,700 buildings (houses and businesses) including the Texas State Capitol building. The same areas would be hit again with deadly violent tornadoes in both 1998 and 2020
March 15, 1938 Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri The earliest known images of tornadoes in the Midwest were taken during the violent F4 Belleville tornado. Ten people were killed, including a 14-month-old baby, and 52 others were injured. Greater than 200 houses were damaged or destroyed and factories, businesses, and the Union School all sustained significant damage. On the same day, another strong tornado moved in a northwest direction - an extremely rare occurrence - and caused damage in the now-unincorporated community of McPaul, Iowa. These storms were part of what some called “The Ides of March Outbreak” [55] [56] [57] [58]
March 16, 1942 Lacon, Illinois The only F5 storm during the Tornado outbreak of March 16–17, 1942. Seven people were killed including three whose farmhouse was completely swept away with them inside it. At least 70 others were injured and one-fourth of the town was completely destroyed.
March 17, 1957 Greater Houston and Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas Eight tornadoes, including five F2 storms, touched down in Southeastern Texas. They killed two people, injured 30 others. One of the tornadoes moved in a rare north-northwest direction. [59] One of the Tornadoes of March 1957
March 18, 1925 Missouri, Illinois, Indiana As of December 2022, the Tri-State Tornado remains the deadliest, longest-tracking tornado/tornado family in United States history. In three-and-one-half hours over a 219-mile track, the tornado killed at least 695 people and injured 2000+ others.
March 19, 1948 Bunker Hill, Illinois An F4 tornado destroyed an estimated 80% of this town, killed 19 people, and injured 126 others. All five churches were destroyed so two ministers organized an Easter Sunday service the following weekend in the town center. They used a bulldozer as a pulpit and 500 people attended. [60]
March 19, 1961 Faridpur and Dhaka Districts, Bangladesh Two rare early-spring tornadoes touched down in thickly settled areas and killed at least 210 people. [61]
March 20, 1948 Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma At about 10 p.m., a nighttime tornado caused $10 million in damages as it ravaged several buildings. The windows of the Base Operations building exploded, injuring many personnel with flying glass and debris. The next day, five generals met and “directed the base weather station to ‘investigate the feasibility of forecasting tornado-producing thunderstorms’”. Five days later, after comparing and studying patterns and weather charts, two weather officers issued what would be the first official tornado warning. The odds of a tornado striking the Base a second time within 20 years was one in 20 million; within five days was next to impossible but the weather officers predicted that it would happen anyway. And it did. [62] [63] [64]
March 21, 1932 Alabama (and the Southern/Midwestern United States) Eight of ten violent F4 tornadoes from the 1932 Deep South tornado outbreak occurred in Alabama. They killed a total of 268 people (and also injured 1,750 others) making it the deadliest outbreak ever in the state's history. The 330 total fatalities from the outbreak make it the third deadliest outbreak in United States history (more than the Super Outbreaks of 1974 and 2011).
March 21, 1952 near Moscow, Tennessee A violent formerly-F5 tornado flattened dozens of houses and destroyed a concrete block structure. As the NWS later stated that they couldn't confirm if it was steel-reinforced, the storm was downgraded to F4. Sixteen people were killed and 74 others were injured by arguably the strongest tornado of 31 confirmed during the Tornado outbreak of March 21–22, 1952. Deadly tornadoes also affected Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri.
March 21, 2013 Victoria, Australia At least two tornadoes (and as many as seven) moved through the northeastern part of the Australian state of Victoria during the evening hours. Authorities reported damage as "quite severe" in towns like Cobram, Rutherglen, Koonoomoo, and Bundalong. [65] The primary tornado (near Murray River Township) received an F3 rating with top winds estimated at 250–300 km/h (or 150-180 mph). A total of 24 people were reportedly injured, some severely. [66]
March 22, 1955 West Chester, Pennsylvania At about 3:30 in the afternoon, a rare F3 (possibly F2) tornado touched down in the eastern part of the state and stayed on the ground for about three-and-one-half miles. Several buildings/barns were destroyed, 50 other buildings were reportedly unroofed, and hundreds of trees and utility poles were knocked down. One person died when a large tree fell on the truck he was driving. [67] [68]
March 23, 1913 Omaha, Nebraska This Easter Sunday F4 (possibly F5) was one of the deadliest tornadoes in United States history. It killed 103 people, injured 400 others, and reportedly destroyed at least 2,000 homes. Part of the Tornado outbreak sequence of March 1913
March 24, 1998 West Bengal and Odisha, India At least 160 people were killed and 2,000 others were injured when a strong tornado tracked through 20 different coastal towns in two extremely vulnerable regions of India. As many as 15,000 buildings were reportedly "flattened." [69]
March 24, 1975 Fulton County, Georgia This F3 tornado was referred to as “The Governor’s Tornado” as it heavily damaged the governor's mansion along its 15-mile trek. Hundreds of houses, two apartment buildings, and other businesses or factories were damaged or destroyed. Three people were killed by trees or collapsed buildings and greater than 150 others were injured. Damage was estimated at $56.5 million (1975 USD) or ~$293 million (2022 USD). [70] [71]
March 25, 1948 Oklahoma County, Oklahoma A significant tornado striking Tinker Air Force Base was the first official tornado forecast and was successfully forecast by Robert C. Miller and Edward Fawbush following a damaging tornado that struck the base on March 20.
March 25–26, 2021 Newnan, Georgia One of only three EF4 tornadoes to strike the United States in 2021 and the first one to hit Georgia since the Ringgold Tornado on April 27, 2011. The tornado touched down at 11:37 p.m. EST and stayed on the ground for about 53 minutes (39 miles), hitting Newnan at peak EF4 intensity (and with a width of one mile) around midnight. Part of the Tornado outbreak sequence of March 24–28, 2021
March 26, 1976 Spiro, Oklahoma “Tremendous” damage occurred in and around Spiro. Well-built homes were destroyed and swept away. A 134,000-pound (60,780-kilogram) coal car was thrown. Two people were killed and 64 were injured by this F5 (disputed) tornado. [72]
March 27, 1890 Louisville, Kentucky The deadliest tornado of Tornado outbreak of March 27, 1890 plowed through downtown Louisville, killing at least 76 people and injuring 200 others. The highest death toll was at the Falls City Hall where social events were taking place that evening. When the tornado struck, the building collapsed and at least 44 people were reportedly killed but that number may have been much higher.
March 27, 1994 Piedmont, Alabama On the morning of Palm Sunday, as many churches were having services, an F4 tornado struck this small town in the northeastern part of Alabama. Hardest hit was the Goshen United Methodist Church; when its roof collapsed, at least 20 people were killed including the minister's four-year-old daughter. One of the most violent storms of the 1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak.
March 28, 1920 West Liberty, Indiana A violent F4 tornado that Grazulis states was probably F5. At least 17 people were killed and 70 others injured along a 40-mile track and the town of West Liberty sustained a horrific level of damage. Houses were swept from their foundations, farms were leveled, and chickens were partially moulted. This was considered the worst of the 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak.
March 29, 1998 Minnesota An F4 tornado stayed on the ground for 67 miles - an hour and 25 minutes - through six different counties. It was the longest-tracking tornado in Minnesota history and the strongest tornado ever to occur in the month of March. The small town of Comfrey was hardest hit, losing its town hall, firehouse, grocery store, school, three of its four churches, and 50 of its approximately 200 houses plus another 135 houses sustained considerable damage. An estimated 75% of the town was destroyed. This was the strongest of 16 tornadoes (14 of which were in Minnesota) during the 1998 Comfrey–St. Peter tornado outbreak
March 30, 1897 Chandler, Oklahoma This tornado reportedly “swooped down” without warning and destroyed most of the young town, most of which had been built in 1891 or 1892 when the town was established. At least 14 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured. A number of the buildings were built stronger the following year and are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [73]
March 31, 1892 Towanda, Kansas This small town was almost destroyed by a violent nighttime tornado. At least nine people were killed and “the majority of the remaining residents” (which, at that time, numbered about 200) were injured. Many buildings - including the church (but not its organ), the two-story brick schoolhouse, and a number of homes - were destroyed. Six of the homes that were rebuilt were destroyed again the following year when another tornado touched down [74]

April

Date Location Significance
April 1, 1884 Henry County and Delaware County, Indiana. The first recorded F5 tornado (out of four) in Indiana's history. Destroyed 90% of the town of Oakville. Eight people were killed but meteorologists believe this would have been much worse if this large tornado hadn't been as visible. [75]
April 1, 1972 Mymensingh, Bangladesh At least 200 people were killed and 700 others were injured. One newspaper said it looked as if the area had been “leveled by a thousand bulldozers”. [76] [77]
April 1, 1977 Shibchar, Madaripur, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh At least 328 people were killed (some reports say 500+) and 700–1,000 others were injured. Approximately 200 of the reported dead drowned in the Meghna River when their motor launch capsized in the storm. [78] [77]
April 2, 1957 Dallas, Texas Because of its position as it moved along the western side of Dallas, this highly visible multi-vortex F3 tornado was the most observed and best documented tornado at that time. The clear films of this storm helped improve understanding of the tornado life cycle and wind speeds. Part of the Tornado outbreak sequence of April 2–5, 1957
April 2, 1982 Broken Bow, Oklahoma This F5 tornado (disputed) was barely considered an F4 by Grazulis because of questionable building construction. While no fatalities were reported with this F4/5 storm, an F4 that hit Paris, Texas, on the same day killed ten people and injured at least 170 others. These storms were part of the Tornado outbreak of April 2–3, 1982. This outbreak was the first time that the Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) wording was included with a Tornado Watch.
April 3, 1956 Michigan A long-track F5 tornado traveled 59 miles from Saugatuck to Standale destroying a lighthouse, many businesses, and sweeping numerous homes completely off their foundations. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 2–3, 1956
April 3, 1964 Wichita Falls, Texas Seven people were killed, 100+ injured, and nearly 500 houses were either damaged or destroyed by an F5 tornado. Not the only deadly/violent tornado to touch down here.
April 3, 1974 Xenia, Ohio The deadliest tornado of the 1974 Super Outbreak killed 34 people and injured 1,150 others. [79] Roughly half of the city's buildings were destroyed and 10,000 people - approximately 40% of the city's population - were left homeless. Ted Fujita originally assigned an F6 rating to this tornado - the only time this ever occurred - but later determined that such a rating was "inconceivable." [80]
April 3–4, 1974 Midwestern/Southern United States and Ontario, Canada The 1974 Super Outbreak was the most violent tornado outbreak in recorded history. A total of 148 confirmed tornadoes touched down in 18 hours included seven F5 (in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama) and 23 F4 tornadoes. A total of 319 people were killed and 5,500 injured and damages totaled $843 million USD (or $5.1 billion in 2023 USD). More detailed information can be found here: List of tornadoes in the 1974 Super Outbreak
April 4, 1977 Birmingham, Alabama This catastrophic F5 tornado killed 22 people, debarked trees, and threw large dump trucks through the air. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 1977
April 5, 1936 Tupelo, Mississippi An F5 tornado devastated the city of Tupelo and killed at least 216 people (later unofficially increased to 233). As of January 2022, it is the fourth deadliest tornado in United States history. Among the survivors of this violent tornado: a one-year-old boy named Elvis Aaron Presley and his parents. Part of the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak
April 5, 1972 Oregon, Washington 1972 Portland–Vancouver tornadoes This large F3 tornado was the deadliest to ever hit the Pacific Northwest. Six people were killed, 300 were injured, and over $25 million in damage occurred in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. This was also tied for the deadliest tornado of 1972
April 6, 1936 Gainesville, Georgia An early-morning F4 tornado - the result of two smaller tornadoes merging - devastated the city of Gainesville, killing at least 203 people. The final death toll is unknown because many buildings in the heavily damaged downtown area collapsed and caught fire which prevented an official count. Included in the total number of deaths are the 70 people who died when the Cooper Pants Factory collapsed. This is the highest number of tornado-related fatalities from a single building in United States history. As of January 2022, this is the fifth deadliest tornado in United States history. Part of the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak
April 7, 2006 Gallatin, Tennessee This deadly F3 tornado destroyed 700+ houses in Gallatin as well as a multiple car dealerships, and a number of businesses. A church was destroyed in Goodlettsville and 80 additional houses were destroyed in Hendersonville. A number of vehicles were thrown and wrecked by the storm. Seven people were killed (all in Gallatin) and 128 others were injured. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 6–8, 2006.
April 8, 1998 near Birmingham, Alabama A total of 32 people were killed by an F5 tornado that tracked 31 miles and obliterated towns like Oak Grove and Rock Creek. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 6–9, 1998
April 9, 1947 Oklahoma, Kansas The Woodward tornado remains the sixth deadliest United States history and the deadliest ever to touch down in Oklahoma (as of January 2022). At least 181 were killed and nearly 1,000 injured. Part of the 1947 Glazier Higgins–Woodward tornado outbreak, all of which may have developed from the same long-track supercell storm.
April 9, 1953 touched down near Champaign, Illinois This long-track F3 tornado was the first to be associated with a hook echo on radar. This would have been missed if the Willard Airport radar technician hadn't been doing repairs that night. [81] [82]
April 10, 1978 Kendujhar, Odisha, East India At least 150 people were killed and 700 others injured by this confirmed (unrated) tornado. First of three major tornadoes to hit this area between 1978 and 2008 [83]
April 10, 1979 Wichita Falls, Texas This 1.5-mile-wide F4 multi-vortex wedge tornado was the reason that meteorologists called this outbreak Terrible Tuesday. It was the second time that Wichita Falls took a direct hit from a violent tornado and it caused catastrophic damage through a significant part of the city. Half of the 46 people killed were in their cars when the tornado struck toward the end of the evening rush hour. A total of 1,740 people were reported injured which remains the highest for any F4 tornado in recorded history. Finally, damages amounted to $400 million (1979 USD) which is equal to greater than $1.5 billion when adjusted for inflation (2022 USD). This was part of the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak
April 11, 1964 Magura and Narail Districts, Bangladesh Several villages were destroyed and cooking utensils were found embedded in tree trunks. At least 500 people were killed and some of those bodies were thrown into trees. An additional 1,900 others were injured. [77]
April 11–12, 1965 Southern and Midwestern United States The 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak is listed among the most intense outbreaks in recorded history with 55 confirmed tornadoes including 18 that reached F4 strength. Three of those have been disputed as possible F5 tornadoes. A total of 266 people were killed and 3,662 others were injured. The deadliest of these was the Elkhart-Dunlap tornado - among those considered to be F5 - which killed 36 people and almost completely swept away two entire subdivisions. Damages totaled $1.22 billion (1965 USD); when adjusted for inflation, this equals $10 billion (2022 USD). This outbreak led to the formation of the Skywarn storm spotting program.
April 12, 1945 Pushmataha County, Oklahoma A truly catastrophic F5 tornado remained on the ground for 28 miles in this southeastern Oklahoma county killing 69 people and injuring 353 others. At least 600 houses were destroyed and 700 others were damaged. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 1945
April 12, 1973 Baliakandi, Rajbari District, Bangladesh At least 200 people were killed. [77]
April 12, 2020 near Bassfield, Mississippi A long-track high-end EF4 tornado stayed on the ground for 68 miles and eventually reached a width of 2.25 miles. This is the third widest tornado in recorded history after the 2.6-mile-wide 2013 El Reno tornado and the 2.5-mile-wide 2004 Hallam tornado. Part of the 2020 Easter tornado outbreak
April 13, 1993 Argentina At least 300 tornadoes touched down in the southern part of the Buenos Aires Province during what has been called the Super Outbreak of 1993. The strongest tornadoes were rated F3 in the town of Henderson. Seven people were reportedly killed and 80 were injured with "severe damage" throughout the region.
April 13, 2019 Vicksburg, Mississippi Three EF2 tornadoes in a row hit different parts of Vicksburg, one right after the other. Damage was reported to houses and businesses but no injuries or fatalities resulted. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 13–15, 2019
April 14, 1886 St. Cloud- Sauk Rapids- Rice, Minnesota A violent F4 tornado obliterated parts of these towns and, at one point, sucked the Mississippi River dry (according to eyewitness accounts). Eleven people from a wedding party, including the groom, were killed in Rice after the tornado destroyed the house where they were hiding. Part of the 1886 St. Cloud–Sauk Rapids tornado outbreak
April 14, 1969 Multiple locations near Dhaka and Homna, Bangladesh Multiple tornadoes killed 900+ people and injured at least 4,000 others. Damage was catastrophic. [77]
April 15, 1958 Bareah and Polk Counties, Florida One of only two F4 tornadoes in Florida's history. Seven people were injured, no fatalities reported. At least nine houses were destroyed and a 2,500-gallon water tank was picked up and dropped a mile away. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 15, 1958
April 16, 1998 including Lawrence County, Tennessee Part of the 1998 Nashville tornado outbreak. An F5 tornado leveled some houses and swept others completely off their foundations. It also caused significant ground-scouring and injured 21 people.
April 17, 1963 Kankakee, Illinois, to Newton and Pulaski, Indiana Grazulis believes this F4 wedge tornado should have been classified as an F5 because of significant damage in northeastern Illinois. Long-track tornado traveled 60–70 miles (length of track disputed). One fatality was a young mother trying to shelter her baby. She was hit by debris and killed but her baby survived. [84]
April 17, 1973 Manikganj District, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh A total of 681 deaths were reported but unofficial death tolls topped 1,000. Two smaller funnels reportedly merged into one larger funnel and moved in a zigzag pattern. The eight villages it passed through were almost completely leveled and “bodies were strewn all around”. An additional 1,000 people sustained injuries. [85] [77]
April 18, 1880 Marshfield, Missouri This long-track (estimated 64 miles) one-half-mile wide F4 tornado is, as of January 2022, one of the deadliest in United States history. Ninety-nine people were killed and 200+ were injured. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 1880
April 19, 1976 Brownwood, Texas F5 tornado (disputed) swept through this central Texas city. Several teenagers were caught in an open field and picked up/thrown nearly 1,000 yards (914 meters). All of them survived. [86]
April 20, 1920 Starkville, Mississippi, to Waco, Alabama As of January 2022, one of the deadliest tornadoes in United States history. A total of 88 people were killed and 700 were injured during this 130-mile long-track F4 tornado. Almost exactly 91 years later, another deadly violent tornado also passed through and devastated the towns of Hackleburg and Phil Campbell in Alabama. Part of the April 1920 tornado outbreak
April 21, 1967 Belvidere, Illinois This F4 tornado killed 24 people, injured more than 400 others, and struck as children were leaving school for the day. More than half the fatalities were children including 13 at Belvidere High School. Seven others were killed at a nearby shopping center. A total of 400 cars at a nearby Chrysler plant were destroyed (including 300 brand new cars and 100 employee-owned cars. Part of the 1967 Oak Lawn tornado outbreak
April 22, 2011 St. Louis, Missouri and vicinity The 2011 St. Louis tornado, rated EF4, heavily damaged Lambert Field and thousands of nearby homes. Many houses in the town of Bridgeton, where the tornado was reportedly at its strongest, were completely destroyed. Nobody was killed and only five were reported injured.
April 23, 1800 Hainichen, Germany Assessed by the ESSL as an F5. Homes were completely destroyed and trees debarked. No reported fatalities but five people were injured. [87]
April 23, 1908 Cuming and Thurston counties, Nebraska F5 tornado tracked 15 miles through mostly rural farmland, obliterated one well-built, multi-story farmhouse. Considered part of the 1908 Dixie tornado outbreak
April 23, 1968 Ohio F5 tornado (disputed) followed the Ohio River from Wheelersburg to Gallipolis. Seven people were killed and an electrical transmission tower was ripped off at the base and thrown. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 21–24, 1968
April 24, 1908 Amite, Louisiana, to Purvis, Mississippi, and Natchez, Mississippi As of January 2022, this very-long-track F4 tornado is the eighth deadliest in recorded (United States) history. The damage path was two miles wide in Amite and 143 out of only approximately 150 buildings in Purvis were destroyed. Also part of the 1908 Dixie tornado outbreak, the violent F4 Natchez tornado killed an additional 91+ people which also ranks it among the deadliest tornadoes in United States history.
April 24, 1908 Naria, Zajira, Bhedarganj, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh Total of 141 fatalities reported. [77]
April 24, 2007 Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico Three people were killed and numerous houses and businesses were destroyed with others completely swept away. Rated F4, not EF4, as Mexico was using the Fujita scale at that time. This was the most violent tornado during the Tornado outbreak sequence of April 20–27, 2007
April 25, 1880 Macon, Mississippi A violent tornado killed 22 people and injured 72 others. At least 20 houses were completely swept away with pieces found as far as 15 miles away. Loaded freight cars were thrown up to 100 yards away. [88]
April 26, 1938 Oshkosh, Nebraska This sometimes mile-wide tornado stayed on the ground for 25 miles. It destroyed two farms and obliterated a schoolhouse. Three children, all under the age of ten, were killed and their bodies were found a quarter of a mile away. [89]
April 26, 1989 Bangladesh Daulatpur–Saturia tornado. The deadliest recorded tornado in world history killed 1,300 people, injured at least 12,000 others, and left 80,000 people homeless. Winds were estimated between 180 and 350 km/h (or 110-200+ mph) and it was given an F3 rating. [76]
April 26, 1991 Central United States (Great Plains) A deadly F5 tornado killed 17 people and devastated the town of Andover, Kansas. Cars were thrown up to 3/4 mile and found mangled beyond recognition. Part of the very intense April 26, 1991 tornado outbreak. As video camcorders had recently become popular, this became one of the most widely filmed F5 tornadoes. During the El Dorado Lake-Kansas Turnpike tornado (on the same day), a news crew sought shelter under a highway overpass which resulted in the fatal misconception that overpasses are safe for such a purpose. Several people were killed during the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado as a result.
April 27, 2011 Midwestern, Southern United States The deadliest day of the four-day 2011 Super Outbreak which was the largest and costliest outbreak in recorded (U.S.) history. A total of 216 tornadoes (including four long-track EF5 tornadoes between Mississippi and Alabama) touched down in 24 hours and killed 348 people (including 24 indirectly), the second-most tornado-related fatalities in a single day since the Tri-State tornado outbreak in 1925. Overall, the outbreak caused $10.1 billion in damages or $13.38 billion (2023 USD) when adjusted for inflation.
April 28, 2002 La Plata, Maryland An F4 tornado struck the town of La Plata, killing three people and injuring over 100 others. The town hall was rebuilt afterward and became the first LEED-certified building in southern Maryland. Part of the Tornado outbreak of April 27-28, 2002
April 29, 1972 Bhakua and Haripur, Bangladesh At least 300 people were reported dead. [77]
April 29, 2017 Canton and Eustace, Texas A violent, rain-wrapped, EF4 wedge tornado killed two people and injured 25 others. A large two-story brick house was leveled and the slab almost completely swept clean. This was the strongest tornado of the Tornado outbreak of April 28 - May 1, 2017
April 30, 1924 Horrell Hill, South Carolina An extremely long-track F4 tornado remains the worst in South Carolina history. On the ground for 135 miles, it killed 67 people including four children who died when their elementary school was destroyed. This was the strongest tornado of the April 1924 tornado outbreak.

May

Date Location Significance
May 1, 1895 Halstead, Kansas At least 25 farms and numerous large/well-built homes were destroyed or completely swept away in Harvey County, Kansas. At least eight people from just two families (possibly as many as 19 people) were killed and many others injured. This tornado was nearly one mile wide at its largest point and it is speculated that, because of its size, many didn't recognize it was a tornado until it was already upon them. [90]
May 1, 2022 Arecibo, Puerto Rico An extremely rare EF-1 tornado became the first tornado ever to touch down in Arecibo and the first tornado to hit Puerto Rico in nearly three years. There have only been 21 tornadoes recorded in Puerto Rico since 1950 (when formal records were first kept) and never one stronger than EF-1 intensity. With estimated top winds of 100 mph (162 km/h), this is the strongest tornado to hit the island in 47 years. Officials state that there were no fatalities or injuries and damage reports included "moderate building and roof damage, mangled fences and downed utility poles". [91] [92]
May 2, 1929 Rye Cove, Virginia The deadliest tornado in Virginia's history killed 13 people, including 12 schoolchildren and one of their teachers. The wooden school itself reportedly "collapsed" and "exploded" with the bodies of the dead moved as far as 200 feet from the foundation. A cabin next door to the school was completely carried away by the estimated F2 storm and its furniture was discovered as far as four miles away. This was part of the 1929 Rye Cove, Virginia tornado outbreak
May 2, 2007 near N'Djamena, Chad Nine people were reported dead, at least 100 were injured, and 50 houses were completely destroyed. [93]
May 3, 1895 Sioux County, Iowa Only two days after the Harvey County tornado, another F5 tornado devastated the area around Sioux Center and the village of Carmel. Four schoolhouses were seriously damaged or completely destroyed and several teachers and students were killed with some of their bodies found nearly half a mile away. As many as 15 people were reportedly killed by this storm and dozens of other buildings also destroyed. [94]
May 3, 1999 Oklahoma The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado remains one of the most violent F5 tornadoes in United States history, tracking 38 miles through central Oklahoma and causing incredible damage to the town of Bridge Creek and the cities of Moore, Oklahoma City, Del City, and Midwest City. Forty-one people (36 direct, five indirect) were killed, 583 were injured, and a total of $1.6 billion in damages (when adjusted for inflation) were reported. The highest wind speeds ever measured on Earth were recorded by a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radar during this tornado: 301 ± 20 miles per hour (or 484 ± 32 kilometers per hour).
May 4, 1961 Oklahoma National Severe Storms Project (NSSP) researcher Neil B. Ward holds the distinction of being the first scientific storm chaser. On this date, northwest of the town of Geary, Oklahoma, Ward was able to coordinate with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the radar operator in Oklahoma City "to correlate the hook-echo circulation, as seen on radar, with the visual sighting of a major [large, multiple vortex] tornado." [95] The National Weather Service reported that this was an F3 tornado. [96]
May 4, 2007 Greensburg, Kansas This incredibly violent EF5 wedge tornado - with estimated winds of 210+ miles per hour - killed 11 people and destroyed greater than 95 percent of the city. It was the first violent tornado assessed with the updated Enhanced Fujita scale and was part of the May 2007 tornado outbreak. The Greensburg city council later passed a resolution stating that all city buildings would be rebuilt to LEED platinum standards, making it the first city in the nation to do so.
May 5, 1960 Prague, Oklahoma This F5 tornado tracked almost 72 miles, killing five people, destroying 14 farms and 100 houses, and damaging an oil refinery. Part of the May 1960 tornado outbreak sequence
May 5, 1964 Adams County to Butler County, including Bradshaw, Nebraska This F5 tornado killed at least two people, injured numerous others, and damaged or destroyed/swept away at least 42 farms over a 70-mile path. This is the last F5/EF5 tornado to have occurred in the state of Nebraska. [97]
May 6, 1973 Valley Mills, Texas No fatalities or injuries. This tracked about ten miles but only 100 yards wide. Two barns were demolished and swept away. A pickup truck was carried about one-half mile and another one was carried about 600 feet. Based on the pickup trucks being thrown, wind engineers gave this an F5 rating. [98]
May 6, 1975 Omaha, Nebraska A violent F4 tornado crossed Interstate 80 in Douglas County, Nebraska then left a path of destruction in some of Omaha's busiest neighborhoods during the evening rush hour. Three people were killed, at least 133 were injured (including a number of unsuspecting motorists on Interstate 80), and nearly 4,500 buildings were either damaged or completely destroyed along its ten-mile path. Damages totaled nearly $400 million or $2.216 billion (2023 USD). [99] This was the strongest tornado during the 1975 Omaha tornado outbreak which consisted of 36 tornadoes in six different states.
May 7, 1840 Louisiana, Mississippi As of January 2022, the Great Natchez Tornado is the second deadliest tornado/tornado family in United States history. The death toll was recorded as 316 people but this number may be much higher as black people in the antebellum south wouldn't have been included in the death count.
May 7, 1927 Aetna to McPherson, Kansas The only F5 tornado - possibly part of a tornado family - to occur during the Tornado outbreak of May 1927. At points, damage path was nearly two miles wide. Nearly 100 farms were either damaged or obliterated along the 95-mile track. Ten people were killed and about 300 were injured.
May 7, 2007 Bébédjia, Chad At least 14 people were killed and 145 people “seriously injured” by this violent tornado. As 95% of this small town in the southeastern part of the country was completely destroyed and a second violent storm passed through several hours later and worsened the damage, this town was never rebuilt and is now considered a “ghost town”. [93]
May 8, 1965 near Gregory, South Dakota This was the only F5 tornado in South Dakota's history. It was on the ground for 30 miles and reached a maximum width of one mile. Ten farms were destroyed, three of them completely swept away, and an additional 25 were badly damaged. Amazingly, there were no reported fatalities. Part of the Early May 1965 tornado outbreak
May 9, 1927 Poplar Bluff, Missouri Ninety-eight people were killed and nearly 300 square blocks of the city were destroyed by one of the deadliest tornadoes in United States history. [100] Part of the Tornado outbreak of May 1927
May 10, 1899 Coahuila, Mexico A strong tornado - very uncommon for this region - reportedly struck the Mina Hondo (Hondo Mine) near the town of Sabinas, killing upwards of ten people and "blowing away" a hotel, train depot, pump house, and the second story of the mine's general offices. The tornado also carried a "string of freight trains" several hundred yards out onto the adjacent prairie. [101]
May 10, 1905 Snyder, Oklahoma The 1905 Snyder, Oklahoma tornado was a violent late-evening F5 tornado that killed 97 people making it one of the deadliest in United States history. At least 100 houses were destroyed and, in some cases, completely swept away. Another 150 houses sustained considerable damage.
May 11, 1953 Waco, Texas One of the deadliest tornadoes in Texas (and United States) history, this F5 tornado killed 114 people, injured nearly 600 others, and caused $500 million (2022 USD) in damages. Part of the 1953 Waco tornado outbreak
May 11, 1970 Lubbock, Texas 1970 Lubbock tornado. This late-evening F5 tornado killed 26 people and caused significant damage. It also struck the downtown business district and structurally deformed a high-rise building. This led to major civil/structural engineering advances at Texas Tech University and also led Ted Fujita to formulate the Fujita scale.
May 12, 1886 Madrid, Spain A violent tornado struck the Carabanchel district (a separate town at the time of the tornado) of Spain's capital city. It was coined the "killer tornado" after killing 47 people, including many of the women who worked at the laundrettes along the Manzanares River. The laundrettes, many houses, and land along its track were destroyed. Before dissipating, it also flattened 400 trees in the botanical garden at Retiro Park. [102]
May 12, 1956 Flint, Michigan Only three years after the violent 1953 Flint–Beecher tornado tornado devastated a significant portion of the city, an F4 tornado (the strongest of a small outbreak of ten tornadoes that affected southern Michigan that day) killed three people and injured 116 others. This tornado stayed on the ground for 6.5 miles through the southeastern part of the city and caused $5 million ($54.78 million USD 2023) in damages. [103]
May 13, 1908 Gilliam, Louisiana An evening tornado struck this small Caddo Parish town leaving only two houses standing and the rest of the town destroyed. Thirty-four people were killed and the same tornado killed an additional 15 people in other nearby communities. Papers from the town were discovered in Waldo, Arkansas that night, nearly 100 miles away. [104]
May 13, 1996 Jamalpur and Tangail Districts, Bangladesh At least 700 were killed by a devastating family of tornadoes and at least 32,000 were injured. [77]
May 14, 1972 Indianapolis, Indiana Nobody was killed but 20 were injured and nearly 100 buildings were either damaged or destroyed along the 29-mile path of this tornado. It may be the strongest tornado ever to track through Indiana's capital city although Grazulis suggests that the deadly tornado of May 18, 1927 may also have been of F4 intensity. Grazulis ultimately gave the 1927 tornado an F3 rating. [105] [106]
May 15, 1896 Denton and Sherman, Texas This estimated F5 tornado killed 73 people and injured at least 200 others. Numerous houses and farms were destroyed and swept away. Bodies were thrown at least 1,000 feet from their houses and many were found in a muddy creek nearby. This was one of three F5 tornadoes during the May 1896 tornado outbreak sequence
May 15, 1968 Charles City, Iowa, then Oelwein and Maynard, Iowa Two different F5 tornadoes touched down about 45 minutes apart. The Charles City tornado moved through five different counties and over 62 miles. The second one went through 13 miles of Fayette County. A total of 18 people were killed between the two tornadoes and over 600 were injured. Both tornadoes caused incredible devastation. Both part of the Tornado outbreak of May 1968
May 16, 2017 Polk, Barron, Rusk, and Price Counties, Wisconsin Dubbed the "Northwest Wisconsin Tornado" by the National Weather Service, this tornado is the longest-tracking (83 miles) in Wisconsin's history. Twenty-five people were injured over the course of this event. One man was killed near the town of Chetek where some of the worst damage was found. The EF3 rating, however, came from a completely flattened house near the village of Conrath. [107]
May 17, 1896 Kansas, Nebraska This estimated F5 tornado tracked 100 miles from Palmer, Kansas, to Falls City, Nebraska, and reached a width of two miles. At least 25 people were killed and 200 others injured with devastating damage in several Kansas communities. This was the second of three F5 tornadoes during the May 1896 tornado outbreak sequence
May 18, 1898 Rietbrock, Wisconsin This (estimated) F5 tornado killed as many as 12 people and injured dozens of others while also completely destroying as much as 100 million board feet of timber on its nearly 30-mile track. Also of note, this tornado passed near the exact geographic center (45 degrees north, 90 degrees west) of the northern part of the Western Hemisphere. [108]
May 18, 1902 Goliad, Texas The 1902 Goliad, Texas tornado was one of the deadliest tornadoes in United States history and tied for the highest death toll in the state of Texas. A total of 114 people were reported dead with about 50 of those coming from the Fannin Street Methodist Church that had been filled with people seeking shelter from the storm.
May 19, 2013 Lake Thunderbird- Bethel Acres- Shawnee, Oklahoma A violent EF4 tornado touched down in Cleveland County, east of Norman and caused significant damage along its 20-mile track. Houses were flattened and a large tractor trailer truck was blown off an overpass (the driver survived with minor injuries). Two people were killed by this storm and ten others were injured. This was part of the Tornado outbreak of May 18–21, 2013
May 20, 1877 Landess, Indiana A tornado had struck a church around 4:00 pm in Landess, Indiana. Two people were killed by debris and numerous others were injured. [109]
May 20, 1957 Ruskin Heights, Missouri This deadly F5 tornado killed 44 people, injured 207 others, and caused significant damage. Part of the May 1957 Central Plains tornado outbreak sequence
May 20, 2013 Oklahoma 2013 Moore tornado. Deadly EF5.
May 21, 1950 Buckinghamshire – Cambridgeshire, England, UK Tornadoes
May 22, 1893 Willow Springs, Wisconsin Three people were killed during this (estimated) F5 tornado with multiple farmhouses completely destroyed/swept away.
May 22, 1987 West Texas 1987 Saragosa, Texas tornado
May 22, 2004 Central Great Plains, United States 2004 Hallam, Nebraska tornado during (*) May 2004 tornado outbreak sequence
May 22–31, 2008 Parkersburg – New Hartford, Iowa on 25th during Late-May 2008 tornado outbreak sequence. EF5.
May 22, 2011 Joplin, Missouri 2011 Joplin tornado. This multi-vortex EF5 tornado is the deadliest since 1947 and seventh deadliest in United States history after killing 166 people (including eight indirect deaths). It is also the costliest single tornado in United States history with roughly $2.8 billion in damages.
May 23–25, 2015 Texas, Oklahoma 2015 Texas–Oklahoma flood and tornado outbreak
May 24, 1973 Oklahoma First successful tornado chase by a scientific team, the Tornado Intercept Project, of Union City tornado led to tornado morphology and dynamics advancements and defining of the tornado life cycle.
May 24, 2005 Indaiatuba, São Paulo, Brazil Large multiple-vortex tornado [110]
May 25, 1896 Eastern Michigan The third F5 tornado of the May 1896 tornado outbreak sequence. Forty-seven people were killed, at least 100 others were injured, and multiple towns and villages were heavily damaged, some nearly "swept from the Earth". This is the second-deadliest tornado in Michigan history after the 1953 Flint–Beecher tornado.
May 25, 1917 Kansas Long-track F5 tornado stayed on the ground for 65 miles through Sedgwick, Harvey, and Marion counties. Swept more than 100 buildings completely away and killed 23 people. Part of the Tornado outbreak sequence of May 25–June 1, 1917
May 25, 1955 Great Plains, United States F5 tornadoes occurred on this date in both Blackwell, Oklahoma, and Udall, Kansas. Part of the 1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak that included 46 confirmed tornadoes. The Udall tornado remains one of the deadliest in United States history.
May 26, 1917 Mattoon and Charleston, Illinois The long-track Mattoon-Charleston F4 tornado killed 101 people and, as of January 2022, is among the deadliest single tornadoes in United States history. It is also the third deadliest tornado in Illinois history and, at approximately 155 miles, is among the longest-tracking tornadoes in the United States. Part of the Tornado outbreak sequence of May 25–June 1, 1917.
May 26, 1963 Oklahoma Tornadic thunderstorms observed visually and on radar by Ralph Donaldson lead to advancements in understanding of tornadoes and tornadic thunderstorms, such as knowledge of right-moving storm.
May 27, 1896 St. Louis, Missouri, East St. Louis, Illinois The 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado killed 255 people and left thousands of people homeless. As of January 2022, it is the third deadliest tornado in United States history.
May 27, 1997 Jarrell, Texas One of the most violent and gruesome tornadoes ever recorded, this F5 tornado killed 27 people (14 were children) in the Double Creek Estates subdivision. This tornado moved in south-southwest direction at speeds as slow as five miles-per-hour which likely contributed to the incredible destruction. Part of the 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak
May 29, 1953 Fort Rice, North Dakota This F5 tornado killed two people and destroyed 16 houses as well as a church. Pews from that church were driven four feet (1.2 meters) into the ground. Grazulis has disputed this rating (said it was F4). Part of the Tornado outbreak of May 29, 1953
May 29, 1981 Eastern Lithuania
May 29, 1995 Western Massachusetts The 1995 Great Barrington tornado was the most recent of only three F4/EF4 tornadoes to hit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The F4 rating was given solely because a car was picked up by the tornado and thrown nearly one thousand feet into a wooded hillside, instantly killing its three occupants.
May 30, 1879 Irving, Kansas (a ghost town that can be found within Blue Rapids) Two strong tornadoes, one after the other, hit this small town and obliterated most of it. Scores of people were injured and at least 19 people were killed, six of them from the Gale family. Years later, when an unknown named Lyman Baum was working on his first book, he came across a story about the tornadoes in Irving. It mentioned that one of the Gales, a young woman named Dorothy, had been thrown by the tornado and plunged headfirst into the mud with her legs sticking straight up in the air. This gruesome incident allegedly inspired Baum to write the famous tornado scene in the book that would make him famous - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. (Other reports have suggested that Baum's niece, Dorothy, who died in infancy, inspired the name of his character.) [111] [112] [113] [114]
May 30, 1998 North-central United States Spencer, South Dakota during Late-May 1998 tornado outbreak and derecho
May 31, 1985 Eastern United States, Canada 1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak
May 31, 2013 Oklahoma 2013 El Reno tornado. This EF3 tornado (among the most disputed ratings on record) was the widest ever recorded at 2.6 miles wide. It was also the first tornado known to have killed storm chasers. Among its victims were renowned scientist Tim Samaras; his son and videographer, Paul Samaras; and his friend, meteorologist Carl Young.

June

Date Location Significance
June 1, 1903 Gainesville and New Holland, Georgia One of the deadliest tornadoes in United States history, an F4 that killed 98 people, leveled at least 100 cottages, and knocked the top two floors off the Gainesville cotton mill. An estimated two-thirds of the dead came from the mill and six “negroes” were also listed among the victims. [115]
June 1, 2011 Maine, Massachusetts 2011 New England tornado outbreak included a violent, long-track, high-end EF3 tornado that killed three people and devastated the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, and neighboring communities.
June 2, 1902 Javaugues, France
June 2–3, 1980 Central and eastern United States Grand Island, Nebraska on 3rd during (*) 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreaks
June 2–3, 1990 Ohio Valley, United States June 1990 Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak.
June 3, 1860 Camanche, Iowa, to Albany, Illinois One of the deadliest tornadoes in United States history. Known as the “Great Camanche Tornado”, at least 92 people were killed between the two cities, and 200 buildings were flattened in Camanche alone. [116]
June 3–11, 2008 Central and eastern North America June 2008 tornado outbreak sequence
June 3, 2009 Russia 2009 Krasnozavodsk tornado
June 4, 1958 Wisconsin An F5 tornado (disputed) devastated several towns in Wisconsin including Cedar Falls and Colfax. Twenty-one people were killed and 110 were injured. Part of the Tornado outbreak of June 3–4, 1958.
June 5, 2009 Goshen County, Wyoming Significant tornado is most observed in history as was surrounded for entire life cycle by the VORTEX2 armada.
June 7–8, 1984 North-central United States 1984 Barneveld, Wisconsin tornado outbreak
June 8, 1953 Flint and Beecher, Michigan 1953 Flint–Beecher tornado This violent late-evening F5 tornado killed 116 people and injured at least 800 others making it the tenth deadliest in United States history. A Pennsylvanian congressman believed that this tornado and the 1953 Worcester tornado that occurred the following day both formed as a result of bomb testing on June 4, a debate that meteorologists quickly ended with concrete facts about tornadogenesis.
June 8, 1966 Topeka, Kansas This deadly F5 tornado was briefly thought to have occurred because a water tower had been built on a sacred Indian burial mound. A total of 16 people were killed and 450+ were injured as this tornado moved through the downtown area. Part of the Tornado outbreak sequence of June 1966
June 8, 1974 Southern Great Plains United States June 1974 Great Plains tornado outbreak 36 tornadoes, 22 fatalities
June 9, 1953 Worcester County, Massachusetts, Exeter, New Hampshire The 1953 Worcester Tornado was a long-track, high-end F4 (disputed) tornado that killed 94 people, injured nearly 1300, and caused $52 million (1953 USD) in damage. It ranks among the deadliest tornadoes in United States history. On the same day, the strongest tornado ever to touch down in New Hampshire - an F3 - caused a considerable amount of damage to the Exeter Country Club.
June 9, 1984 U.S.S.R. (Russia) The 1984 Soviet Union tornado outbreak was the deadliest outbreak in Russian history. An estimated 400+ people were killed and hundreds of others were injured. The worst hit areas included the towns of Tver and Kostroma which took the brunt of two different F4 tornadoes. At least eight tornadoes touched down and caused considerable damage in at least 36 different towns north of Moscow. [117]
June 12, 1899 Wisconsin The 1899 New Richmond tornado killed 117 people, injured hundreds more, and was given an F5 rating. It was the ninth deadliest tornado in United States history and the deadliest ever in the State of Wisconsin (as of January 2022). It was suggested that the death toll would have been lower if the circus hadn't visited town that day.
June 13, 1968 Minnesota The 1968 Tracy tornado was an F5 storm that killed nine people and 125 others. It destroyed 111 houses and damaged 190 others. A heavy boxcar was thrown almost an entire block, two other boxcars were carried 300 yards, and a steel beam was carried nearly two miles on a piece of roof.
June 14–18, 1992 Great Plains, United States Mid-June 1992 tornado outbreak.
June 16, 1942 Brazil
June 16–18, 2010 Northern Great Plains, United States Minnesota on 17th during (*) June 2010 Northern Plains tornado outbreaks
June 16–18, 2014 Great Plains and Midwest, United States
Ontario, Canada
June 16–18, 2014 tornado outbreak
June 17, 1944 Wilmot, South Dakota Deadliest tornado in South Dakota history. Killed 8 and injured 43. [118]
June 17, 1946 Ontario, Canada 1946 Windsor–Tecumseh tornado
June 18–19, 1972 Southeast United States Hurricane Agnes tornado outbreak. The hurricane spawned 30 confirmed tornadoes across Florida and Georgia, including 6 F0 tornadoes, 12 F1 events, 10 F2 events, and two F3 tornadoes on the Fujita scale.
June 19, 1835 New Jersey 1835 New Brunswick, New Jersey tornado
June 20, 1957 Fargo, North Dakota, Moorhead, Minnesota The 1957 Fargo tornado was a long-track F5 tornado that killed 10 people and injured 100+ others in North Dakota and Minnesota. This was one of the first widely photographed tornadoes. It was intensively studied by Ted Fujita which led to substantial advancement in understanding of tornadic thunderstorm morphology.
June 22, 2007 Manitoba, Canada 2007 Elie, Manitoba tornado. Only recorded F5/EF5 tornado in Canadian history.
June 23, 1944 West Virginia One of the deadliest tornadoes in United States history was a long-track (60 miles) F4 tornado that caused a significant amount of damage in several different communities. The worst of it was felt in the town of Shinnston, West Virginia, where at least 30 people died in one neighborhood and many houses were demolished with the wreckage swept into the West Fork River. At least 100 people (possibly as many as 103) were killed during this event, part of the 1944 Appalachians tornado outbreak.
June 23–26, 2012 2012 Tropical Storm Debby tornado outbreak
June 24, 1967 Palluel, Pas-de-Calais Department, Hauts-de-France This was one of only two F5 tornadoes ever recorded in France. Six people were killed and 30 others were injured. A total of 17 houses were completely destroyed and many vehicles were picked up and thrown.
June 24, 2003 Manchester, South Dakota This tornado started just south of the small unincorporated community of Manchester before growing into a large F4 wedge tornado and completely annihilating the town. Manchester was never rebuilt and is now a "ghost town".
June 27, 1955 Scottsbluff, Nebraska The tornado that occurred near Scottsbluff, Nebraska is among the first tornadic events to be readily photographed; it was also intensively studied by Walter Hoecker.
June 27, 1957 Louisiana Hurricane Audrey tornado outbreak
June 28, 1924 Northern Ohio The 1924 Lorain–Sandusky tornado was one of the costliest and deadliest tornadoes in United States history. At least 85 people were killed and 1500 buildings were either damaged or destroyed by this (estimated) F4 tornado.
June 29, 1764 Woldegk, Germany The ESSL rated this tornado T11 on the TORRO scale which is equivalent to an F5 on the Fujita scale. Arguably among the strongest tornadoes ever recorded. [87]
June 29, 1904 Russia The 1904 Moscow tornado was one of the most destructive tornadoes in Russian history, along with the Ivanovo tornado.
June 30, 1912 Regina, Saskatchewan Regina Cyclone. Deadliest tornado in Canadian history.

July

Date Location Significance
July 4, 1898 Hampton Beach, New Hampshire A rare tornado along New Hampshire's seacoast killed at least three people and injured more than 100 others. [119]
July 4, 1965 Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
July 5, 1643 modern-day Essex County, Massachusetts, and southeastern New Hampshire Allegedly the first tornado in the Thirteen Colonies, documented by Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in his “weather journal”. He describes a meeting house in Newbury being lifted off the ground with everyone in it and acknowledges the death of a Native American man after a tree fell on him. Damage occurred between ”Lynne” and Hampton. This is disputed as Winthrop does not mention a whirling/rotating cloud or a funnel shape. [120]
July 6, 1893 Pomeroy, Iowa [121]
July 6, 1992 Panama City, Panama
July 6, 2001 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 2001 Myrtle Beach tornadoes
July 8, 1680 Cambridge, Massachusetts First (less disputed) confirmed tornado in the Thirteen Colonies documented by Increase Mather. A man named Matthew Bridge described a “thick black cloud in continuous circular motion” [122] that was filled with debris. It ripped up and tossed around trees, bushes, and large rocks and also took the roof off a barn. A servant named John Robbins was the sole fatality: he died from injuries sustained during the storm (reportedly broken bones and significant bruising). [123] [124]
July 10, 1968 Pforzheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
July 10, 1989 Northeastern United States 1989 Northeastern United States tornado outbreak included two rare F4 tornadoes that caused significant damage in Hamden, Connecticut, and Schoharie, New York
July 13, 2004 Illinois 2004 Roanoke tornado. Violent summer tornado transitioned into derecho.
July 14, 2000 Alberta, Canada Pine Lake tornado
July 16, 1979 Cheyenne, Wyoming The strongest tornado ever recorded in Wyoming killed one person (a 14-month-old baby), injured 40 others, and caused an estimated $25 million in damages. At least 200 homes were destroyed in the Buffalo Ridge neighborhood and someone's Winnebago was picked up and dropped in someone else's living room. Four C-130 aircraft were also heavily damaged at the airport. The official rating has wavered between F3 and low-end F4 (per Grazulis) and remains disputed. [125] [126]
July 18, 1996 Wisconsin 1996 Oakfield tornado outbreak. An F5 tornado struck the village of Oakfield, injuring 12.
July 23, 1975 Illinois 1975 Canton, Illinois tornado
July 24, 1930 Treviso, Udine, Italy Determined to be T10/F5, nearly leveled large stone monastery and killed 23 people.
July 26, 1890 Lawrence, Massachusetts Eight people were killed and 65 others were injured by an F3 tornado (per Grazulis) [127] [128] that touched down at 9:10 a.m. and lasted less than five minutes.
July 28, 2005 Birmingham, England, UK 2005 Birmingham tornado this F2 tornado caused £40 million damage and injured 19 people in just eight minutes.
July 28, 2014 Revere, Massachusetts. Without any watches or warnings, this EF2 tornado touched down shortly after 9 a.m. EDT and traveled two miles through the city's center causing $4 million in damage in only four minutes. This is the only recorded tornado in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, since 1950. [129]
July 30, 1119 Vyšehrad, Czech Republic
July 31, 1987 Canada Edmonton tornado

August

Date Location Significance
August 1, 1674 Utrecht, Netherlands
August 3–4, 2008 August 2008 European tornado outbreak
August 6, 1879 Bouctouche, New Brunswick tornado. Easternmost significant tornado recorded in North America.
August 9, 1878 Connecticut 1878 Wallingford tornado
August 9, 1980 Hurricane Allen tornado outbreak
August 10, 1924 Thurman, Colorado
August 11, 1999 Salt Lake City, Utah 1999 Salt Lake City tornado
August 12, 2002 Southeastern Romania
August 14, 1971 Queensland, Australia Kin Kin tornado
August 15, 1787 New England, United States Four-State Tornado Swarm. Earliest known tornado outbreak.
August 15, 1985 Hurricane Danny tornado outbreak
August 15–16, 2008 2008 Poland tornado outbreak
August 16, 1888 Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada
August 18, 2005 Wisconsin August 2005 Wisconsin tornado outbreak. Largest recorded tornado outbreak in Wisconsin.
August 18–27, 2008 2008 Tropical Storm Fay tornado outbreak
August 19, 1845 Montville, Seine-Maritime, France Per the ESSL and Grazulis, this was a T10/F5 tornado that killed upwards of 75 people, leveled multiple stone-built mills, and carried debris up to 40 kilometers (approx. 24–25 miles). [130]
August 19, 2005 Canada Southern Ontario tornado outbreak of 2005
August 20, 1970 Canada Sudbury, Ontario tornado
August 20, 2009 Canada Southern Ontario Tornado Outbreak of 2009
August 21, 1521 Tlatelolco (Mexico City), Mexico Apparent tornado two days before the Aztec capital's fall to Hernán Cortés would be the first known tornado in the Americas.
August 21, 2011 Canada 2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado
August 22, 1851 Massachusetts
August 24, 2006 August 24, 2006 tornado outbreak
August 25, 1814 Washington, D.C. Killed British troops occupying capital the day after it was burned during War of 1812
August 25, 1948 Frankton – Hamilton, New Zealand
August 27 – September 4, 2012 2012 Hurricane Isaac tornado outbreak
August 27, 1964 Pima County, Arizona This strong F2 tornado was the deadliest tornado for the state of Arizona, killing 2 and injuring nine others. Four houses were destroyed in San Xavier Mission Village.
August 28, 1973 West Stockbridge, Massachusetts / Canaan, New York One of only three F4/EF4 tornadoes to strike the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this short-lived violent tornado killed four people and destroyed a large truck stop.
August 28, 1990 Illinois 1990 Plainfield tornado
August 29–31, 2005 Hurricane Katrina tornado outbreak
August 31, 2008 Hurricane Gustav tornado outbreak

September

Date Location Significance
September 1, 2021 Hurricane Ida tornado outbreak
September 3, 1979 Hurricane David tornado outbreak
September 3–7, 2011 Tropical Storm Lee tornado outbreak
September 4, 1935 1935 Labor Day hurricane tornado outbreak
September 4–5, 2004 2004 Hurricane Frances tornado outbreak
September 7, 2009 San Pedro, Argentina
September 9, 1821 Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont September 1821 New England tornado outbreak
September 10, 1961 Hurricane Carla tornado outbreak
September 11, 1970 Venice, Italy Tornadoes
September 13, 1928 Upper Plains-Midwest tornado outbreak
September 15, 1912 Syracuse, New York
September 15–18, 2004 Hurricane Ivan tornado outbreak
September 15, 2006 Barranquilla, Colombia
September 16, 1988 Hurricane Gilbert tornado outbreak
September 18, 2006 Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture (Kyūshū), Japan
September 20, 1967 Hurricane Beulah tornado outbreak
September 22, 1810 Fernhill Heath, Farnborough, Hampshire, England, UK
September 23, 1551 (or 1555) Malta Valletta, Malta tornado
September 23, 1903 Yodobashi Town, Japan
September 24–30, 1998 Hurricane Georges tornado outbreak
September 24–26, 2005 Hurricane Rita tornado outbreak
September 26, 1881 Miyazaki, Japan
September 29, 1927 1927 St. Louis tornado outbreak

October

Date Location Significance
October 3, 1964 Hurricane Hilda tornado outbreak
October 3, 1979 Connecticut With an F4 rating, the Windsor Locks, Connecticut tornado was the strongest in the state's history, killing three people and injuring at least 500 others. It passed through Hartford's Bradley International Airport, destroying at least 20 vintage airplanes in a museum hangar (which was also damaged beyond repair) and damaging many others. This was another major tornado in New England that (a) had no watches or warnings preceding it and (b) moved in a rare northerly direction. It was considered one of the costliest tornadoes in United States history.
October 4, 1998 Oklahoma
October 5, 1970 Shawnee, Oklahoma An F4 tornado struck the city of Shawnee, killing four people and injuring 85.
October 6, 1981 Netherlands NLM CityHopper Flight 431.
October 6, 2010 Coconino County, Arizona Three significant tornadoes traveled within 2 miles of the National Weather Service Office in Bellemont, Arizona. See October 2010 Arizona tornado outbreak and hailstorm.
October 14, 1966 Belmond, Iowa An F5 tornado (disputed) struck the town of Belmond, killing six people and injuring 172.
October 17, 1091 London, England, UK The London tornado of 1091, with an estimated F4/T8 rating, destroyed the original wooden London Bridge along with several churches and at least 600 (also wooden) houses. Two people were killed.
October 21, 1999 Heidelberg, South Africa
October 24, 2001 Midwestern United States North Central Indiana-Michigan Tornado Outbreak
October 24, 2005 Hurricane Wilma tornado outbreak
October 25, 1965 Encarnación, Paraguay
October 25, 1968 Vichadero, Uruguay
October 26, 2007 Dunoon, New South Wales, Australia
October 27, 1913 South Wales; Cheshire and Shropshire, England, UK The 1913 United Kingdom tornado outbreak included five tornadoes of either F2 or F3 (T5 or T6 on the TORRO scale) strength injured hundreds of people. The tornado that touched down in Edwardsville killed at least six people which makes it the deadliest tornado in the history of the United Kingdom (as of January 2022).

November

Date Location Significance
November 4, 1922 Great Plains United States Great Plains tornado outbreak
November 4, 1973 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
November 6, 1989 Elsmore, New South Wales, Australia Tornadoes
November 6, 2005 Mid-Mississippi Valley, United States Evansville Tornado of November 2005
November 7, 2006 Japan 2006 Saroma tornado
November 9, 1926 La Plata, Maryland Death toll was 17. Fourteen of those deaths occurred when the town's elementary school was demolished.
November 10, 1957 Tomiye City, Japan
November 10, 2002 2002 Veterans Day Weekend tornado outbreak
November 15–16, 1989 November 1989 tornado outbreaks
November 15, 2005 Central United States Mid-November 2005 tornado outbreak
November 17, 2013 Ohio River Valley and Midwestern United States Tornado outbreak of November 17, 2013 including a long-track (46 miles) high-end EF4 tornado that caused $800 million in damage to the small city of Washington, Illinois. A total of 73 tornadoes were confirmed over an 11-hour period.
November 18, 1957 Chattooga County, GA This F2 (estimated) tornado trekked 14.5 miles through northwest Georgia, one of 23 tornadoes that touched down that day. [131]
November 19, 1930 Bethany, Oklahoma Twenty-five people were killed (including five schoolchildren and their teacher) by a rare morning tornado (9:30 a.m. local time). This was one of only two occasions in Oklahoma - the other being Moore in 2013 - when children were killed by a tornado at school. [132]
November 20, 1900 Maury County, Tennessee Several tornadoes struck middle Tennessee on this date including a violent (estimated by Grazulis to be) F4 that killed 27 people in/near Columbia and Macedonia. [133]
November 21–23, 1992 Ohio River Valley, Southern/Eastern United States November 1992 tornado outbreak. One of the largest tornado outbreaks in recorded history (with regard to area) A total of 95 tornadoes confirmed from Texas to Maryland but possibly more. Multiple F4 tornadoes including one in Brandon, Mississippi, that destroyed a well-built brick mansion and threw its inhabitants as far as one-quarter mile from the wreckage.
November 23, 1981 England, Wales, UK 1981 United Kingdom tornado outbreak. Largest recorded tornado outbreak in European history with a total of 104 confirmed tornadoes over a period of just five hours and 26 minutes.
November 23–24, 2001 Southern United States Tornado outbreak of November 23–24, 2001 included multiple F4 tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama. Total of 69 tornadoes confirmed.
November 25, 1926 Southeastern United States A major tornado outbreak struck on Thanksgiving Day. The most powerful and deadly of these was an (estimated) F4 tornado that touched down in Greenbrier and traveled northeast to Heber Springs killing at least 21 people and injuring at least 100 others. The final death toll for this outbreak was 76. [134] [135] [136]
November 26, 2001 Henry County, Tennessee Twelve tornadoes were confirmed on this date and the worst was an F3 that killed a mother and her three-year-old son. Dozens of homes were either damaged or destroyed. [137]
November 27–28, 2005 Midwestern and Southern United States Tornado outbreak of November 27–28, 2005 Total of 73 tornadoes, most of which touched down on the 27th. Three different EF3 tornadoes caused damage throughout the state of Arkansas.
November 28, 1941 Toyohashi City, Japan The second most violent tornado in Japan's recorded history killed 12 people and injured 177 others. [138]
November 29, 1992 Queensland, Australia 1992 Queensland storms at Oakhurst and Bucca. The Bucca tornado was rated F4 and is - as of 2021 - the strongest ever recorded in Australian history. The Oakhurst storm was rated F3. Both touched down in somewhat rural areas. No injuries or fatalities reported and damage was minimal.
November 29, 2010 Atlanta, Louisiana An EF4 tornado destroyed a 4,000 square foot brick house and demolished then threw the pieces of a manufactured home nearly 1,000 feet into nearby woods. [139]
November 30, 1952 Albertsville or Albertynesville, South Africa This strong (F3) tornado is the second deadliest tornado in South African history. At least 20 people were killed and 400 others were injured. Per Grazulis, there were reports that cars were lifted 100 feet into the air. [140]
November 30, 2018 Arkansas, Oklahoma Tornado outbreak of November 30 – December 2, 2018 Several strong tornadoes touched down in both Arkansas and Oklahoma. No fatalities or injuries were reported.

December

Date Location Significance
December 1, 2018 Midwestern and Southern United States Tornado outbreak of November 30 – December 2, 2018 The second day of this event confirmed the largest winter outbreak in Illinois history with 29 tornadoes. Hardest hit was the town of Taylorville, Illinois, where an EF3 tornado damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings.
December 2, 1952 Payneville (or Paynesville), South Africa Per Grazulis, this F2 tornado killed 11 people and "threw cattle high into the air". [140]
December 2, 2018 Alabama, Georgia Tornado outbreak of November 30 – December 2, 2018 The third day of this significant winter outbreak brought several tornadoes to Alabama and Georgia including a strong EF3 tornado that caused significant damage to Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.
December 3, 1978 Bossier City, Louisiana 1978 Bossier City tornado outbreak F4 tornado struck at 2 a.m. local time, among the first to cause over $100 million (not adjusted for inflation) in damages. Two children were killed when a car was thrown through their bedroom wall.
December 4, 1955 Brownsville, South Carolina A very short-lived F2 tornado (disputed by Grazulis as he believes there was F3 damage) touched down in this small town near Florence. Damage was minimal except to one man's farm as he lost ten different buildings. [141]
December 5, 1953 Mississippi 1953 Vicksburg, Mississippi tornado One of four F5 tornadoes to hit this state since the NWS started keeping records in 1950. Thirty-eight people were killed and 270 were injured making it the fifth deadliest in the state's history. This tornado caused roughly $25 million (1953 USD) in damage, mostly around Vicksburg and Waltersville. Part of the Tornado outbreak sequence of Early-December 1953
December 6, 1951 Arlington Heights- Buffalo Grove & Spring Grove- Mendota (two separate tornadoes) At first, the Arlington Heights tornado was thought to be just a severe thunderstorm but a series of events led to further review by the National Weather Service. They determined that an F1 tornado had touched down that evening. Earlier that evening, an F2 tornado tracked almost 25 miles, killing one person and injuring another. These were the first two (meteorological) winter tornadoes recorded in the Chicago metropolitan area. [142]
December 6, 2012 near Auckland, New Zealand Three people were killed, seven were injured, and at least 150 houses were damaged in one of the most violent tornadoes to have ever touched down on New Zealand. Damage and casualties seen primarily in Hobsonville. [143]
December 7, 1996 Riverview, Florida A short-lived F2 tornado was only on the ground for four minutes but caused considerable damage at Crowley Cove, a community of manufactured homes. It killed a man and his three dogs when the storm lifted his manufactured home into the air and dropped it 100 feet away. The NWS said that it “disintegrated” on impact. [144]
December 7, 2006 England, UK 2006 London Tornado Rated T4 on the TORRO scale which is equivalent to an F2 tornado. Touched down at just 11 a.m.(GMT), a total of 29 houses were declared “unfit for habitation” and several hundred people were temporarily displaced.
December 8, 1851 (estimated) Marsala, Sicily 1851 Sicily tornadoes Estimated number of deaths was 500. Allegedly the second deadliest tornadoes in Europe after the Valletta Tornado of 1551 which occurred almost exactly 300 years earlier.
December 8, 2008 Broken Arrow, Oklahoma An EF1 tornado unexpectedly blazed a mile-long trail of damage and destruction just before midnight. According to reports, nobody saw this coming, including the National Weather Service as there were no warnings. [145]
December 9, 1879 Renick, Missouri Grazulis estimates that this short-lived tornado was an F4 as it leveled several barns, injured seven people, and killed a young mother in a village north of Columbia, Missouri [146]
December 10–11, 2021 Southern and Midwestern United States Tornado outbreak of December 10-11, 2021 The deadliest December tornado outbreak ever recorded in the United States. Included multiple violent long-track tornadoes, the worst being a high-end EF4 that traveled 166 miles through western Kentucky causing catastrophic damage to the towns of Mayfield, Dawson Springs, and Bremen
December 12, 1969 Kent, Washington This F3 tornado was one of the strongest in Washington state's history and the strongest to ever strike the Seattle area. Only one person was injured. [147]
December 13, 1977 Houston, Texas The strongest of six tornadoes to hit the southern United States on this date was an F3 that caused a considerable amount of damage in NE Houston. Forty people were injured and one man was killed when he tried to outrun the tornado but his truck was picked up and thrown into a large oak tree. [148]
December 14, 1810 Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK Rare but strong winter tornado caused significant damage in the city of Portsmouth [149]
December 14, 2010 Aumsville, Oregon One of only four tornadoes to hit the state of Oregon in a decade, this “massive” EF2 tornado caused an extensive amount of damage to this small town of 3,500 people. [150]
December 15, 1998 Umtata, South Africa An F2 tornado that severely damaged many buildings and killed 11 people when the wall of a bus station collapsed on them. [151]
December 15, 2021 Midwestern United States December 2021 Midwest derecho and tornado outbreak The largest December tornado outbreak ever recorded in the United States. 120 confirmed tornadoes occurred over an eight-hour period. (Straight-line winds in excess of 100 mph were also recorded in Colorado and Kansas.)
December 16, 2000 Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and throughout the Southern United States Tornado outbreak of December 2000 The centerpiece of a 13-hour-long outbreak of 24 tornadoes was a violent F4 tornado that killed 11 people and injured 125 others in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
December 17, 1915 Mississippi A number of towns on either side of Meridian, Mississippi, were hit by an (estimated) F2 tornado that killed as many as six people and injured up to 75 or 100 others (significant discrepancy among primary sources). [152]
December 18–20, 1957 Midwestern and Southern United States December 1957 tornado outbreak sequence A series of strong to violent tornadoes occurred in five different states over a three-day period including a short-lived F5 tornado that destroyed the entire community of Sunfield, Illinois. There were a total of 37 tornadoes of which 29 of them were F2+. The towns of Murphysboro and De Soto, Illinois, previously devastated by the Tri-State Tornado 32 years earlier, took another direct hit from a strong F4 tornado that killed 11 people (ten in Murphysboro), injured 200, and caused millions of dollars in damage.
December 21, 1967 Viburnum- Potosi, Missouri The worst damage from this 28 mile-long F4 tornado occurred in and near the town of Potosi. A manufactured home community was devastated and a nine-year-old girl was killed. [153]
December 22, 2011 Plainville- Calhoun, Georgia A one-half mile wide EF3 tornado, part of an outbreak of 13 tornadoes, took an 11+ mile path through these two towns in northern Georgia. Four people were injured near Calhoun when their house was completely destroyed. [154]
December 23, 2015 Holly Springs and Canaan, Mississippi December 23–25, 2015 tornado outbreak A violent long-track EF4 tornado left a significant amount of damage along a 75-mile track through Mississippi and Tennessee including ground scouring, debarked trees, and large houses reduced to rubble.
December 24, 1988 Franklin and Brentwood, Tennessee An F4 tornado surged through suburban Nashville in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve. Strong tornadoes have touched down on Christmas Eve on several different occasions since the National Weather Service started keeping tornado records in 1950 [155]
December 25, 1969 Kaplan and White Castle, Louisiana Two F3 tornadoes destroyed a number of houses in the towns of Kaplan and White Castle. Tornadoes also touched down in Georgia and Florida with a total of 12 among the three states. One person was killed and 17 others were injured that day. There have been outbreaks or strong tornadoes on several other Christmas Days since the National Weather Service started keeping tornado records in 1950. [155]
December 26–28, 2015 Dallas County, Texas, and throughout the Southern United States Late December 2015 North American storm complex On December 26, 2015, an EF4 tornado caused ten deaths, 463 injuries, and tens of millions of dollars in damage. Nine of the deaths were caused when vehicles were lofted and thrown long distances from an elevated highway bridge. Over the three-day outbreak, a total of 32 tornadoes struck several other southern states from Oklahoma and Texas out to North Carolina and Florida.
December 29, 1865 Bowling Green, Kentucky The NWS reported that “a tornado unroofed and blew out the walls of a bank”. [156]
December 29–30, 1973 Fort Rucker This U.S. Army post in southern Alabama was hit by tornadoes two days in a row. One of those tornadoes was rated F3 and injured 14 people. [157]
December 30, 2020 Corsicana, Texas This small town about 50 miles south of Dallas was hit by an EF0 tornado just before 11 a.m. Buildings adjacent to a softball field sustained considerable damage as did several houses and a number of trees. [158]
December 31, 1947 Cotton Valley, Louisiana, and throughout the Southern United States An F4 tornado killed 14 people in this small town north of Shreveport, Louisiana. [159] More than 75% of the town was reportedly “flattened”. This was part of a larger outbreak in the southern United States that killed 20 people and injured at least 250. [160]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Warren, AR Tornado Destroys Towns, Jan 1949". GenDisasters. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
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