This article lists various tornado records. The most "extreme"
tornado in recorded history was the
Tri-State tornado, which spread through parts of
Missouri,
Illinois, and
Indiana on March 18, 1925. It is considered an F5 on the
Fujita Scale, even though tornadoes were not ranked on any scale at the time. It holds records for longest path length at 219 miles (352 km), longest duration at about 3+1⁄2 hours, and it held the fastest forward speed for a significant tornado at 73 mph (117 km/h) anywhere on Earth until 2021 (the unofficial world record is held by the 2014 Pilger, Nebraska EF4, with forward speed reaching exactly 94.6 mph (152.2 km/h)). In addition, it is the deadliest single tornado in United States history with 695 fatalities.[1] It was also the third most costly tornado in history at the time, but has been surpassed by several others when non-normalized. When costs are normalized for wealth and inflation, it still ranks third today.[2]
The deadliest tornado in world history was the
Daulatpur–Saturia tornado in Bangladesh on April 26, 1989, which killed approximately 1,300 people.[3] In the history of Bangladesh, at least 19 tornadoes killed more than 100 people each, almost half of the
total for the world.
For 37 years, the most extensive
tornado outbreak on record in almost every category was the
1974 Super Outbreak, which affected a large area of the central United States and extreme southern
Ontario in Canada on April 3 and April 4, 1974. Not only did this outbreak feature 148 tornadoes in only 18 hours, but an unprecedented number of them were violent; 7 were of F5 intensity and 23 were F4. During the peak of this outbreak, there were 16 tornadoes on the ground at the same time. More than 300 people, possibly as many as 330, were killed by tornadoes during this outbreak. However, this record was later broken during the
2011 Super Outbreak, which resulted in 360 tornadoes and 324 tornadic fatalities.[4] However, the most tornadoes spawned in the shortest amount of time is 104 over 5 hours and 26 minutes, during the
1981 United Kingdom tornado outbreak on 23 November 1981.
Tornado outbreaks
Most tornadoes in a single 24-hour period
Outbreaks with 100+ tornadoes in a single 24-hour period
The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest tornado outbreak spawned by a single weather system in recorded history; it produced 360 tornadoes from April 25–28, with 216 of those in a single 24-hour period on April 27 from midnight to midnight
CDT,[5][12] fifteen of which were violent EF4–EF5 tornadoes. 348 deaths occurred in that outbreak, of which 324 were tornado related. The outbreak largely contributed to the record for most tornadoes in the month of April with
773 tornadoes, almost triple the prior record (267 in April 1974). The overall record for a single month was 542 in May 2003, which was also broken.[13]
The infamous 1974 Super Outbreak of April 3–4, 1974, which spawned 148 confirmed tornadoes across eastern North America, held the record for the most prolific tornado outbreak in terms of overall tornadoes for many years, and still holds the record for most violent, long-track tornadoes (7 F5 and 23 F4 tornadoes). More significant tornadoes occurred within 24 hours than any other day on tornado record.[6][14] Due to a secular trend in tornado reporting, the 2011 and 1974 tornado counts are not directly comparable.
Most violent tornadoes (F4/EF4 and F5/EF5) in an outbreak
Outbreaks with fifteen or more F4/EF4 and F5/EF5 tornadoes
Longest continuous outbreak and largest autumnal outbreak
Most tornado outbreaks in North America occur in the spring, but there is a secondary peak of tornado activity in the fall. It is historically less consistent from year to year but can include exceptionally large and/or intense outbreaks. In 1992, an estimated
95 tornadoes broke out in a record 41 hours of continuous
tornado activity from November 21 to 23. This is also among the largest-known outbreaks in areal expanse. Many other very large outbreaks have occurred in autumn, especially in October and November, such as the
2002 Veterans Day weekend outbreak, in which 83 tornadoes occurred from November 9 to 11, and
November 17, 2013, when 73 tornadoes were produced in 11 hours.[1]
Greatest number of tornadoes spawned from a hurricane
The greatest number of tornadoes spawned from a hurricane is 120 from
Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, followed by
Hurricane Beulah with 115 in September 1967, and 103 from
Hurricane Frances in September 2004 (a couple weeks before Ivan).[17] Hurricanes prior to the 1990s, when tornado records were more sparse, perhaps produced more tornadoes than were officially documented.
Tornadoes annually and monthly
Most tornadoes for each calendar month
Highest confirmed number of tornadoes by month in United States
On average, 1,200 tornadoes happen in a year in the United States. The most confirmed tornadoes in a single year was in
2004,[23] which had 1817 confirmed tornadoes. This was mostly boosted by a large tornado outbreak sequence in May 2004, where 509 tornadoes occurred. It also had help from a very active fall and winter tornado season.
Officially, on April 26, 1989 in Bangladesh, a
large tornado took at least 1,300 lives.[24] In 2022, this tornado's death toll was challenged in a paper authored by Dr. Fahim Sufi with the
Australian Government, Dr. Edris Alam with the
University of Chittagong, and Dr. Musleh Alsulam, with the
Umm al-Qura University, where it was stated the deadliest tornado in Bangladesh and subsequently world history was the April 14, 1969,
Dhaka, Bangladesh tornado, which killed 922 people.[25]
Deadliest single tornado in US history
The
Tri-State tornado of March 18, 1925, killed 695 people in Missouri (11), Illinois (613), and Indiana (71). The outbreak it occurred with was also the deadliest known tornado outbreak, with a combined death toll of 747 across the
Mississippi River Valley.[26][27]
Most damaging tornado
Similar to fatalities, damage (and observations) of a tornado are a coincidence of what character of tornado interacts with certain characteristics of built up areas. That is, destructive tornadoes are in a sense "accidents" of a large tornado striking a large population. In addition to population and changes thereof, comparing damage historically is subject to changes in wealth and inflation. The
1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado on May 27, incurred the most damages adjusted for inflation, with an estimated $5.36 billion (2022 USD). In raw numbers, the
Joplin tornado of May 22, 2011, is considered the costliest tornado in recent history, with damage totals at $3.71 billion (2022 USD). Until April 2011, the
Bridge Creek-Moore tornado of May 3, 1999, was the most costly, which was later surpassed by the
2011 Tuscaloosa–Birmingham tornado, with a damage total of $3.18 billion (2022 USD). This record would only last about a month as it would be surpassed by the aforementioned Joplin tornado.[28]
† Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Rhode Island and Vermont are excluded from this list because they have no recorded tornadic deaths. ‡Only includes deaths in the specified state; some tornadoes caused additional deaths across state lines.
Largest and most powerful tornadoes
Highest winds observed in a tornado
Wind speed of 261 mph (420 km/h) or 116 m/s in tornadoes
During the F5
1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado on May 3, 1999, in the southern
Oklahoma City metro area, a
Doppler on Wheels situated near the tornado measured winds of 302 ± 22 mph (486 ± 35 km/h) momentarily in a small area inside the funnel approximately 100 m (330 ft) above ground level.[37] These are also the highest wind speeds observed on Earth.[citation needed]
On May 31, 2013, a tornado hit rural areas near
El Reno, Oklahoma. The tornado was originally rated as an EF3 based on damage; however, after mobile radar data analysis was conducted, it was concluded to have been an EF5 due to a measured wind speed of greater than 296 mph (476 km/h), second only to the Bridge Creek–Moore tornado. Revised RaXPol analysis found winds of 302 ± 34 mph (486 ± 55 km/h) well above ground level and ≥291 mph (468 km/h) below 10 m (33 ft) with some subvortices moving at 175 mph (282 km/h).[38] These winds may possibly be as high or higher than the winds recorded on May 3, 1999. Despite the recorded windspeed, the El Reno tornado was later downgraded back to EF3 due to the fact that no EF5 damage was found, likely due to the lack of sufficient damage indicators in the largely rural area west of
Oklahoma City.[39][40]
Winds were measured at 262–280 mph (422–451 km/h) using portable
Doppler weather radar in the
Red Rock, Oklahoma tornado during the
April 26, 1991 tornado outbreak in north-central Oklahoma. Though these winds are possibly indicative of F5 intensity, this particular tornado's path never encountered any significant structures and caused minimal damage. Thus it was rated F4.[41]
The longest-known track for a single tornado is the
Tri-State tornado, occurring on March 18, 1925, with a path length of 151 to 235 mi (243 to 378 km). For years there was debate whether the originally recognized path length of 219 mi (352 km) over 3.5 hours was from one tornado or a series. Some very long track (VLT) tornadoes were later determined to be successive tornadoes spawned by the same supercell thunderstorm, which are known as a
tornado family. The Tri-State tornado, however, appeared to have no gaps in the damage. A six-year reanalysis study by a team of severe convective storm meteorologists found insufficient evidence to make firm conclusions but does conclude that it is likely that the beginning and ending of the path was resultant of separate tornadoes comprising a tornado family. It also found that the tornado began 15 mi (24 km) to the west and ended 1 mi (1.6 km) farther east than previously known, bringing the total path to 235 mi (378 km).[citation needed] The 174 mi (280 km) segment from central
Madison County, Missouri to
Pike County, Indiana is likely one continuous tornado and the 151 mi (243 km) segment from central
Bollinger County, Missouri to western Pike County, Indiana is very likely a single continuous tornado. Another
significant tornado was found about 65 mi (105 km) east-northeast of the end of aforementioned segment(s) of the Tri-State tornado family and is likely another member of the family. Its path length of 20 mi (32 km) over about 20 minutes makes the known tornado family path length total to 320 mi (510 km) over about 5+1⁄2 hours.[46]Grazulis in 2001 wrote that the first 60 mi (97 km) of the (originally recognized) track is probably the result of two or more tornadoes and that a path length of 157 mi (253 km) was seemingly continuous.[47]
On March 22, 1953, a tornado touched down near
Leesville, Louisiana at 21:00
UTC, the tornado would continue into far-northwest
Mississippi, before dissipating north of
Leland, killing two and injuring 22, the tornado would be rated F2 on the
Fujita scale, it travelled for 234.7 mi (377.7 km), making it possibly the longest tracked tornado in history, though it's likely that the path consisted of multiple different tornadoes as part of a
tornado family.[48][49]
Longest path and duration tornado family
What at one time was thought to be the record holder for the longest tornado path is now thought to be the longest tornado family, with a track of at least 293 miles (472 km) on May 26, 1917, from the Missouri border across Illinois into Indiana. It caused severe damage and mass casualties in
Charleston and
Mattoon, Illinois.[1]
Officially, the widest tornado on record is the
El Reno, Oklahomatornado of May 31, 2013 with a width of 2.6 miles (4.2 km) at its peak. This is the width found by the National Weather Service based on preliminary data from University of Oklahoma RaXPol mobile radar that also sampled winds of 296 mph (476 km/h) which was used to upgrade the tornado to EF5.[51] However, it was revealed that these winds did not impact any structures, and as a result the tornado was downgraded to EF3 based on damage.[52]
The F4
Hallam, Nebraskatornado during the
outbreak of May 22, 2004, was the previous official record holder for the widest tornado, surveyed at 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide. A similar size tornado struck
Edmonson, Texas on May 31, 1968, when a damage path width between 2 and 3 miles (3.2 and 4.8 km) was recorded from an F3 tornado.[53] Another tornado that has the similar width struck
Maxton and
Red Springs during the
March 28, 1984 Carolina Tornado Outbreak, this tornado had a width of 2.5 mile wide at one point, rated as F4 and killed 3 and injuring 280.[54] The EF4
Jiangsu tornado on June 23, 2016, also had a peak width of 4.1 km wide (2.5 miles).[55][56]
On May 3, 1999, a Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radar observed an F4 tornado as it crossed Mulhall during the
1999 Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak, which also produced the
Bridge Creek-Moore tornado. The DOW documented the largest-ever-observed core flow circulation with a distance of 1,600 m (5,200 ft) between peak velocities on either side of the tornado, and a roughly 7 km (4.3 mi) width of peak wind gusts exceeding 43 m/s (96 mph), making the Mulhall tornado the largest tornado ever measured quantitatively.[57]
On April 21, 1946, a
tornado struck the area in and around
Timber Lake, South Dakota. The
U.S. Weather Bureau published a paper in 1946 stating the width of this tornado was 4 miles (6.4 km), which would make this the widest tornado ever documented in history. However, this is outside the period of reliable documentation accepted by the
National Weather Service; 1950–present.[58]
Highest forward speed
The highest accepted forward
speed of an intense tornado on record was 73 mph (117 km/h) from the 1925 Tri-State tornado. Other weak tornadoes have approached or exceeded this speed, but this is the fastest forward movement observed in a major tornado.[1] The
2021 Western Kentucky tornado had a consistent average forward speed of 60 mph (97 km/h) for its entire path length of 165.6 miles (266.5 km).[59]
A
pressure deficit of 100 millibars (2.95 inHg) was observed when a violent
tornado near
Manchester, South Dakota on June 24, 2003, passed directly over an
in-situ probe deployed by storm chasing researcher
Tim Samaras.[61] In less than a minute, the pressure dropped to 850 millibars (25.10 inHg), which are the greatest pressure decline and the lowest pressure ever recorded at the Earth's surface when adjusted to sea level.[62][63]
On April 21, 2007, a 194-millibar (5.73 inHg) pressure deficit was reported when a
tornado struck a
storm chasing vehicle in
Tulia, Texas.[64] The tornado caused EF2 damage as it passed through Tulia. The reported pressure drop far exceeds that which would be expected based on theoretical calculations.[36]
There is a questionable and unofficial citizen's barometer measurement of a 192-millibar (5.67 inHg) drop around
Minneapolis in 1904.[65]
Early tornadoes
Earliest-known tornado in Europe
The earliest recorded tornado in Europe struck
Freising (Germany) in 788.[66][67]
The earliest-known Irish tornado appeared on April 30, 1054, in Rostella, near
Kilbeggan. The earliest-known British tornado hit central London on October 23, 1091, and was
especially destructive.[68]
Earliest-known tornado in the Americas
An apparent tornado is recorded to have struck
Tlatelolco (present day
Mexico City), on August 21, 1521, two days before the Aztec capital's fall to
Cortés. Many other tornadoes are documented historically within the
Basin of Mexico.[69]
First confirmed tornado and first tornado fatality in present-day United States
The earliest recorded Asian tornado struck near the city of
Calcutta in present-day
West Bengal,
India in 1838. It was described as moving remarkably slow across its 16-mile (26 km) path southeast over the span of 2 to 3 hours. It was recorded to cause significant damage to the area, including 3.5-pound (1.6 kg) hail being observed at the Dum Dum weather observatory.[73]
First published scientific studies of a tornado
A few scientists in Europe,[74] the US, and elsewhere documented the occurrence of tornadoes in the late 18th and early-mid 19th centuries to try to discern
patterns of distribution and sometimes with inferences about
formative processes and dynamics.
For intensive studies of tornadoes, these are the earliest known
publications:
1765: German scientist
Gottlob Burchard Genzmer published a detailed survey of the damage path of an extremely violent tornado which occurred near
Woldegk,
Germany, on 29 June 1764. It covers the entire, 33 km (18.6 mi) long track and also includes eyewitness reports as well as an analysis of the debris and hail fallout areas. Genzmer calls the event an "Orcan" and only compares it to
waterspouts or
dust devils. Based on the damage survey, modern day meteorologists from the
ESSL were able to assign a rating of F5 T11, making it the earliest known F5 tornado worldwide. The T11 rating on the
Torro-Scale also places this event among the most violent tornadoes ever documented worldwide.[75][76]
1839–41: A detailed survey of damage path of
significant tornado that struck
New Brunswick, New Jersey on 19 June 1835, which was the deadliest tornado in New Jersey history. The path was surveyed by many scientists on account of its location between New York City and Philadelphia, including early tornado theorists
James Pollard Espy and
William Charles Redfield. Scientists disagreed whether there was whirling, convergent, or rotational motion. A conclusion that remains accurate today is that the most intense
damage tends to be on right side of a tornado (with respect to direction of forward movement), which was found to be generally easterly).[77][78]
1840: The earliest known intensive study of a tornadic event published in Europe, by French scientist Athanase Peltier.[79]
Before the
Greensburg EF5 tornado on May 4, 2007, it had been eight years and one day since the United States had a confirmed F5/EF5 tornado. Prior to Greensburg, the last confirmed F5/EF5 had hit the southern
Oklahoma City metro area and surrounding communities on
May 3, 1999. This stretch was later surpassed by an ongoing drought which began on
May 20, 2013; it is now the longest interval without an F5/EF5 tornado since official records began in 1950.
Years without tornado rated violent (F4/EF4+) in United States
2018 was the only year since official records began in 1950 that no tornado in the United States was rated in the violent class (F4/EF4+).[82]
Exceptional survivors
Longest distance carried by a tornado
Matt Suter of
Fordland, Missouri holds the record for the longest-known distance traveled by anyone picked up by a tornado who survived their ordeal. On March 12, 2006, he was carried 1,307 feet (398 m), 13 feet (4.0 m) shy of one-quarter mile (400 m), according to National Weather Service measurements.[83][84]
The small town of
Codell, Kansas, was hit by a tornado on the same date (May 20) three consecutive years: 1916, 1917, and 1918.[88][89] The United States has about 100,000 thunderstorms per year; less than 1% produce a tornado. The odds of this coincidence occurring again are extremely small.
Tanner/Harvest, Alabama
Tanner, a small town in northern Alabama, was hit by an F5 tornado on
April 3, 1974 and was struck again 45 minutes later by a second F5 (however, the rating is disputed and it may have been high-end F4), demolishing what remained of the town. Thirty-seven years later, on
April 27, 2011 (the largest and deadliest outbreak since 1974), Tanner was hit yet again by the EF5
2011 Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado, which produced high-end EF4 damage in the southern portion of town. The suburban community of
Harvest, Alabama, just to the northeast, also sustained major impacts from all three Tanner tornadoes, and was also hit by destructive tornadoes in
1995 and
2012.
The south
Oklahoma City suburb of
Moore, Oklahoma was hit by violent tornadoes (which have ratings of at least F/EF4) in
1999,
2003,
2010, and
2013. The 1999 and 2013 events were rated F5 and EF5, respectively. In total, about 23 tornadoes have struck within the immediate vicinity of Moore since 1890, the most recent of which was an EF2 tornado on March 25, 2015.[90]
Dolores, Uruguay
The small town of
Dolores, Uruguay has been hit multiple times by intense tornadoes. On November 25, 1985, the city was hit by an intense tornado rated as an F3.[91] On December 8, 2012, 27 years later, another intense tornado occurred in the outskirts of the city. On April 15, 2016, an EF3 tornado destroyed large portions of the city.[92][93]
On April 30, 1940, two separate tornadoes, less than two hours apart struck the communities of
Chaffee,
Kelso and
Illmo,
Missouri.[1]Thomas P. Grazulis rated both tornadoes F2 on the Fujita scale and both tornadoes killed one person near Kelso.[1]
^The total outbreak had 146 tornadoes, of which 115
occurred on March 31.
^The 2013 El Reno tornado had recorded windspeeds of 302 miles per hour, 1 mile per hour greater than the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado's recorded windspeeds. However, these windspeeds were estimated in extremely fast-moving subvortices that rotated around the main tornado, which was estimated to have attained at least EF4 intensity. In addition, the 1999 tornado's windspeeds were measured in its main vortex.
References
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ISBN1-879362-03-1.
^Dr. R. Hennig, Katalog bemerkenswerter Witterungsereignisse. Berlin 1904; Originalquellen: Aventinus (Turmair), Johannes (gest. 1534): Annales Boiorum. Mit Nachtrag. Leipzig 1710; Annales Fuldenses, Chronik des Klosters Fulda. Bei Marquard Freher: Germanicarum rerum scriptores ua Frankfurt aM 1600–1611)
^Beck, Lewis C. (July 1839). "Note on the New Brunswick Tornado, or Water Spout of 1835". American Journal of Science and Arts. 36: 115–118.
^Redfield, W. C. (June 1841). "Whirling Action of the New Brunswick Tornado". American Railroad Journal. 12: 345–352.
^Peltier, Athanase (1840). Météorologie: Observations et recherches expérimentales sur les causes qui concourent à la formation des trombes (in French). Paris: H. Cousin.
OCLC457395666.
^De, S.; A. K. Sahai (2019). "Was the earliest documented account of tornado dynamics published by an Indian scientist in an Indian journal?". Weather. 75 (4): 120–123.
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^National Climatic Data Center; National Centers for Environmental Information.
"Texas Event Report: F5 Tornado (Brown County)". Storm Event Database. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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