Central and Eastern Severe Weather
One of the severe storm disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $2.6 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($2.1 billion at the time) and 2 deaths.
What the offices filed during it
The 70 most significant severe storm episodes filed in these dates, colored by kind.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Losses, 2024 dollars
- $2.6 billion
- Losses at the time
- $2.1 billion
- Deaths
- 2
The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.
By state, as filed
| State | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | 174 | 1 | 6 | $16 million |
| Missouri | 150 | 1 | 0 | $14 million |
| Arkansas | 61 | 0 | 0 | $1.2 million |
| Oklahoma | 92 | 0 | 0 | $1.0 million |
| Kansas | 157 | 0 | 0 | $833,000 |
| Louisiana | 19 | 0 | 0 | $713,000 |
| Kentucky | 27 | 0 | 0 | $170,000 |
| Indiana | 3 | 0 | 0 | $150,000 |
| South Carolina | 51 | 1 | 0 | $126,000 |
| Georgia | 15 | 0 | 0 | $57,000 |
| Illinois | 7 | 0 | 0 | $32,000 |
| Alabama | 74 | 0 | 0 | $13,000 |
| Texas | 21 | 0 | 0 | $10,000 |
| South Dakota | 24 | 0 | 0 | $9,000 |
| Nebraska | 13 | 0 | 0 | $2,000 |
| Virginia | 3 | 0 | 0 | $2,000 |
| Colorado | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Montana | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wyoming | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| North Dakota | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delaware | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| North Carolina | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Oregon | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Episode by episode
- Hail and High Wind in Colorado, May 2, 2020A quick moving shortwave trough brushed northwest Colorado and produced scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms north of Interstate 70. Some showers produced gusty outflow winds and one thunderstorm generated quarter-sized hail.
- Damaging Wind in Oregon, May 2, 2020High based thunderstorms produced strong outflow winds across the Columbia Basin and Blue Mountain Foothills. Most of the gusts were 45-50 mph.
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 2, 2020A dryline was present in the eastern Permian Basin and Lower Trans Pecos. Very hot temperatures were across the area which helped to create instability in the atmosphere. Dry air was present beneath the cloud layer.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Colorado, May 2, 2020A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 64 mph in eastern Arapahoe County. In addition, hail up to nickel size was observed in Weld County.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 2, 2020Low pressure tracking along a nearly stationary frontal boundary draped along the I-70 corridor triggered a cluster of strong to severe thunderstorms across portions of central Illinois during the evening of May 2nd.
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Indiana, May 3, 2020A complex of thunderstorms moved across Illinois during the late evening hours of May 2nd and crossed in to west central Indiana after midnight.
- Hail in Colorado, May 2, 2020A late-night thunderstorm traveled eastward through Yuma county dropping hail up to a nickel size.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 3, 2020An early morning cluster of elevated supercell thunderstorms produced very large hail across portions of central Kansas on May 3rd, 2020.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 3 to 4, 2020The first of three rounds of storms occurred as a front interacted with very unstable air to produce numerous severe thunderstorms that caused extensive hail and wind damage over portions of the area.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, May 3 to 5, 2020The first of three rounds of storms occurred as a front interacted with very unstable air to produce numerous severe thunderstorms that caused extensive hail and wind damage over portions of the area. Hail larger than golf balls was reported over the south side of Springfield.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, May 3 to 4, 2020The morning of May 3, 2020 brought a marginally severe storm into portions of east central Kansas and west central Missouri. This storm was somewhat isolated in the damage it caused, but the worsts of this two day event occurred the next day.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, May 3 to 4, 2020Earlier in the month, there was huge hail in northern Arkansas. On the 3rd, up to tennis ball size hail was noted around Mountain Home (Baxter County), with golf ball to hen egg size stones near Lakeview, Midway, and Norfork (all in Baxter County), Omaha (Boone County), Peel…
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Missouri, May 3, 2020Numerous reports of wind damage and an isolated tornado accompanied a squall line of thunderstorms that moved rapidly east-southeast. The wind damage was mainly along and south of a line from Van Buren to Greenville to Sikeston.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, May 3, 2020An unstable, southwest flow aloft resulted in a few severe thunderstorms across portions of the Billings Forecast Area.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, May 3, 2020A cold front sagged south into the Mid-South during the day on May 3, 2020. A potent, quick-moving shortwave interacted with this front and convection developed across Missouri by noon.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, May 3, 2020A cold front sagged south into the Mid-South during the day on May 3, 2020. A potent, quick-moving shortwave interacted with this front and convection developed across Missouri by noon.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 3, 2020A cold front sagged south into the Mid-South during the day on May 3, 2020. A potent, quick-moving shortwave interacted with this front and convection developed across Missouri by noon.
- Damaging Winds in Kentucky, May 3, 2020Numerous reports of wind damage accompanied a squall line of thunderstorms that moved rapidly east-southeast. The wind damage was mainly along and south of a line from Clinton to Murray. The atmosphere was moderately unstable, with cape values on the order of 1500 to 2000 J/kg.
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 3, 2020A complex of severe thunderstorms called a MCS (Mesoscale Convective System) developed across southern Kansas on Saturday night, May 2, 2020, then tracked eastward across southern Missouri and western Kentucky during the morning of May 3, 2020 before reaching Middle Tennessee in…
- Hail in South Dakota, May 3, 2020A severe thunderstorm developed over the northern Black Hills, bringing large hail to the Deadwood and Sturgis areas.
- Hail in South Dakota, May 3, 2020A long-lived supercell thunderstorm developed on the northeastern slopes of the Black Hills and tracked east-southeast across west central into south central South Dakota before weakening.
- Hail in Wyoming, May 3, 2020A thunderstorm produced hail to the size of quarters in parts of northwestern Weston County.
- Damaging Winds in Alabama, May 3, 2020A long-lived complex of thunderstorms which originated over Kansas during the early morning hours, moved through southern Missouri, northern Arkansas and eventually into Tennessee and far north Alabama during the late afternoon and early evening hours.
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 3, 2020A long-lived complex of thunderstorms which originated over Kansas during the early morning hours of the 5th, moved through southern Missouri, northern Arkansas and eventually into Tennessee and far north Alabama during the late afternoon and early evening hours.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, May 3, 2020Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms developed during the late afternoon hours on May 3rd along a surface trough of low pressure in the Nebraska Panhandle. As storms moved east, they encountered better low level moisture and became severe.
- Damaging Winds in Kentucky, May 3, 2020A line of showers and thunderstorms redeveloped across the lower Ohio Valley along and ahead of a slowly southward sagging cool front this afternoon and evening. These entered portions of the Bluegrass region, particularly Montgomery County, by early evening.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Alabama, May 3 to 4, 2020A complex of strong to severe thunderstorms which originated in Kansas and Missouri earlier in the day, tracked east-southeast through southern middle Tennessee and far northeast Alabama. The system resulted in several reports of wind damage a couple reports of large hail.
- Hail in South Dakota, May 3, 2020A thunderstorm briefly became severe across parts of southern Rapid City, producing hail to quarter size.
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 3, 2020A long track bow echo moved into Southeast Tennessee producing scattered severe convection.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 3 to 5, 2020A moist and moderately instable airmass combine with weak northwesterly upper-level flow and a frontal boundary stalled across north Georgia resulted in isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms each afternoon and evening.
- Hail in Montana, May 3, 2020A trough of low pressure at the surface accompanied a cold front and provided the lift and focus for strong thunderstorms to develop and move across northeast Montana. One of the stronger storms became severe over Wibaux County.
- Hail in North Dakota, May 3, 2020A short-wave trough approached an area of elevated deep layer shear but modest instability over western North Dakota. Thunderstorms developed, with one becoming severe producing one-inch diameter hail over Golden Valley County.
- Hail in Nebraska, May 3, 2020A severe thunderstorm traveled southeast into the southeastern part of Nebraska dropping hail up to nickel size during the evening hours.
- Hail in South Dakota, May 3, 2020A thunderstorm became severe over the central Black Hills, producing hail around quarter size.
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 3, 2020An isolated thunderstorm produced a microburst that caused wind damage near Oak Creek Reservoir in Coke County.
- Hail in Colorado, May 3, 2020Severe thunderstorm produced large hail over parts of Elbert, Logan and Washington counties. The hail ranged from nickel to golfball size.
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, May 3, 2020Thunderstorms formed ahead of a southward surging boundary. These thunderstorms produced wind damage in King George County.
- Hail in Colorado, May 3, 2020Late-night severe thunderstorms traveled eastward through Kit Carson County along I-70 as well as through northern Yuma county dropping hail up to nickel size. Smaller size hail events were recorded during this episode.
- Damaging Winds in Delaware, May 3, 2020A mid-level disturbance, the last and strongest in a series of several, approached the mid-Atlantic late on May 3. A cold front was also slowly approaching the coast at the time.
- Hail in Kansas, May 3, 2020A late-night severe thunderstorm brought hail as large as quarter size to Sherman County as it crossed over the border from CO to KS.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, May 4, 2020During the early morning hours of May 4th, several severe thunderstorms moved eastward from Colorado in the southwestern Nebraska area.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 4 to 5, 2020Severe thunderstorms began developing over central Kansas very early on 5/4. Initial supercells produced very large hail, up to baseball size. The threat transitioned to more of a strong wind concern later in the morning.
- Hail in Kansas, May 4, 2020Another round of early morning elevated supercells produced very large hail across portions of central and south central Kansas on May 4th, 2020.
- Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 4, 2020A few instances of severe winds occurred across portions of north central Kansas just after sunrise on the morning of the 4th.
- Flash Flood and Hail in Oklahoma, May 4, 2020Strong to severe thunderstorms developed over northeastern Oklahoma during the morning of the 5th, as warm, moist, and unstable air was drawn northward over a warm front that stretched across the area.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 4, 2020Two distinct rounds of severe thunderstorms moved into eastern Kansas the morning of May 4. The first round was associated with a supercell that moved into Linn and Miami Counties and produced high winds.
- Hail in Arkansas, May 4, 2020Strong to severe thunderstorms developed over northeastern Oklahoma during the morning of the 5th, as warm, moist, and unstable air was drawn northward over a warm front that stretched across the area. These storms developed into northwestern Arkansas by mid morning.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, May 4, 2020A front stalled across the Mid-South started to lift north as low pressure tracked into southwest Missouri. Meanwhile, a potent upper-level disturbance tracked across the region and triggered thunderstorms across Missouri.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 4, 2020Two small but intense bowing thunderstorm clusters moved rapidly east/southeastward across southeast Missouri during the late afternoon hours.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, May 4, 2020A front stalled across the Mid-South started to lift north as low pressure tracked into southwest Missouri. Meanwhile, a potent upper-level disturbance tracked across the region and triggered thunderstorms across Missouri.
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, May 4, 2020A couple of supercells produced very large hail in central Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of the 4th. Other storms later produced large hail and damaging wind gusts across portion of southern Oklahoma.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Tennessee, May 4, 2020A front stalled across the Mid-South started to lift north as low pressure tracked into southwest Missouri. Meanwhile, a potent upper-level disturbance tracked across the region and triggered thunderstorms across Missouri.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, May 4 to 5, 2020Scattered thunderstorms, including one supercell storm, developed during the evening in the vicinity of a stationary front draped across upstate South Carolina. The supercell storm produced a swath of large hail across Spartanburg County.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 4, 2020Just one day after a derecho brought widespread wind damage to Middle Tennessee, another complex of severe thunderstorms called a MCS (Mesoscale Convective System) developed across western Tennessee in the afternoon hours on May 4, then moved across southern Middle Tennessee…
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 4 to 5, 2020Thunderstorms developed along a cold front as it pushed south of the Red River the evening of Monday, May 4. A few storms became severe, primarily along and north of the Highway 380 corridor, with hail being the main severe weather occurrence.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 4, 2020A complex of strong to severe thunderstorms which originated in Kansas and Missouri earlier in the day, tracked east-southeast through southern middle Tennessee and far northeast Alabama.
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, May 5, 2020A cluster of thunderstorms developed in the vicinity of a stationary front and moved into northeast Georgia after midnight. Localized damaging wind gusts were reported across Habersham County.
- Hail in Oklahoma, May 5, 2020A weak cold front drifted south across Central and Eastern Oklahoma into Western and Central Arkansas during the early morning hours of May 5th, as a series of weak upper level disturbances traversed east across these areas.
- Tornado and Hail in South Carolina, May 5, 2020Upper energy and a surface wave of low pressure moved east and interacted with a nearly stationary surface front, which combined with strong atmospheric instability and shear, led to a band of supercells that tracked east across the northern Midlands of SC producing large hail…
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Kentucky, May 5, 2020A heavy swath of rain, totaling up to 2-3 inches, fell across portions of the Cumberland Valley up towards the Hal Rogers Parkway this morning as widespread showers and thunderstorms moved through.
- Hail in North Carolina, May 5, 2020Scattered to numerous thunderstorms developed across the southern North Carolina mountains during the late afternoon and evening. One of the storms produced golf ball size hail in Transylvania County.
- Tornadoes and Hail in South Carolina, May 5, 2020For the second day in a row, thunderstorms, including severe severe storms developed across the mountains and in the vicinity of a stationary front and moved southeast across portions of upstate South Carolina from late afternoon into the evening.
- Hail in South Dakota, May 5, 2020Diurnal destabilization produced a narrow corridor of 600-1000 J/kg MLCAPE across south central South Dakota by late afternoon on May 5. A reinforcing trough in northwest flow dropped southeast across the area in the late afternoon.
- Hail in Texas, May 5, 2020Early evening thunderstorms along a cold front produced hail.
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, May 5, 2020Multiple thunderstorms, including at least one severe severe storm, developed across the mountains and in the vicinity of a stationary front and moved southeast across northeast Georgia from late afternoon into the evening.
- Hail in South Carolina, May 5, 2020A cold front combined with a trough aloft produced large hail.
- Hail in Nebraska, May 5, 2020Some weak storms popped up in northeast Nebraska. There were a few hail reports of the storms ranging from 0.50 in up to 0.88 in.
- Hail in North Carolina, May 5, 2020A cold front combined with a trough aloft produced large hail.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Louisiana, May 5 to 8, 2020A cold front moved into Louisiana and stalled on the 5th causing a round of severe weather. A second front moved in during the 8th causing another round.
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 5, 2020An isolated thunderstorm produced a brief damaging wind gust as it was dissipating. The storm occurred under a cold pool of air associated with a closed 500 mb low over central and northern Illinois.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2020Tornadoes in 2020
Sources
NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.