Midwest Tornado Outbreak
One of the severe storm disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $2.8 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($2.2 billion at the time) and 2 deaths.
What the offices filed during it
The 47 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
- $2.8 billion
- Losses at the time
- $2.2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 194 | 0 | 3 | $3.9 million |
| Missouri | 352 | 0 | 19 | $3.0 million |
| Arkansas | 71 | 0 | 1 | $1.1 million |
| Illinois | 89 | 0 | 0 | $1.1 million |
| Kansas | 115 | 0 | 0 | $744,000 |
| Mississippi | 29 | 0 | 0 | $568,000 |
| Wisconsin | 45 | 0 | 0 | $474,000 |
| Minnesota | 49 | 0 | 0 | $307,000 |
| Kentucky | 6 | 0 | 0 | $202,000 |
| Oklahoma | 46 | 0 | 0 | $177,000 |
| Nebraska | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
| New York | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hawaii | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| Texas | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Indiana | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tennessee | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Episode by episode
- Tornadoes in Texas, March 5, 2017A couple of brief weak tornadoes touched down in open fields and caused no damage.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, March 6 to 7, 2017A strong cold front pushed through the region during the evening and overnight hours of March 6th-7th, 2017. The front interacted with instability and strong wind shear across the region to produce quite a bit of wind damage and a few tornadoes.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, March 6, 2017An intense shortwave trough crossed the central and northern Plains during the day on March 6th. This resulted in a strong cold front that swept through eastern Nebraska and western Iowa during the afternoon.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, March 6, 2017An intense shortwave trough crossed the central and northern Plains during the day on March 6th. This resulted in a strong cold front that swept through eastern Nebraska and western Iowa during the afternoon.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, March 6, 2017Early Spring thunderstorms developed in portions of northwest Iowa and produced isolated severe wind gusts.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Minnesota, March 6, 2017A powerful storm system that developed across the northern plains Monday, March 6th, produced a swath of large hail and some damaging wind gusts from central Minnesota, southward into the central plains. Three tornadoes were confirmed in east central and southern Minnesota.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, March 6, 2017A low pressure system developed off the Rockies in the Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota region and deepened as it moved eastward through South Dakota through the day on the March 6th.
- Hail in Minnesota, March 6, 2017Thunderstorms dropped hail up 1.5 in diameter in the Brainerd Lakes region on March 6th.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, March 6, 2017During the late afternoon and evening of March 6 a line of severe t-storms developed and raced northeast at 50-60 mph. The storms developed within an environment that featured marginal moisture values featuring dewpoints in the lower to middle 50s.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Missouri, March 6, 2017On the evening of March 6, 2017 a line of severe thunderstorms formed, then moved into eastern Kansas and western and central Missouri. Ahead of and along this line of storms supercells formed and produced large hail, damaging winds, and several tornadoes.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, March 6, 2017A line of thunderstorms developed along a cold front and moved across southeast Minnesota during the evening hours of March 6th. These storms produced damaging winds and hail.
- Tornado and Hail in Kansas, March 6, 2017A strong cold front and dry line intersected over areas of the Kansas Turnpike late in the afternoon and early evening of March 6th, 2017.
- Tornado and Hail in Kansas, March 6, 2017On the evening of March 6, 2017 a line of severe thunderstorms formed, then moved into eastern Kansas and western and central Missouri.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, March 6, 2017A line of thunderstorms developed along a cold front and moved across northeast Iowa during the evening hours of March 6th. These storms produced large hail and some damaging winds.
- Tornado and Hail in Wisconsin, March 6, 2017A line of thunderstorms developed along a cold front and moved across western Wisconsin during the evening hours of March 6th. These storms produced a tornado near Barre Mills (La Crosse County) along with damaging winds and hail.
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, March 6 to 7, 2017Strong to severe thunderstorms developed during the evening hours of the 6th over north central Oklahoma, along a cold front that moved into the area. A very moist and moderately unstable air mass was in place over eastern Oklahoma ahead of these storms.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, March 6, 2017A line of severe storms tracked east over eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and northeast Missouri during the evening of March 6th. Widespread winds over 70 mph, small hail, and several tornadoes were reported.
- Damaging Winds in Kansas, March 6, 2017A strong cold front pushed through the region during the evening and overnight hours of March 6th-7th, 2017. The front interacted with instability and strong wind shear across the region to produce quite a bit of wind damage across southeast Kansas.
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 6 to 7, 2017A line of storms fired along a front on the evening of the 6th in central Oklahoma up into Kansas.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, March 6, 2017A line of severe storms tracked east over eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and northeast Missouri during the evening of March 6th. Widespread winds over 70 mph, small hail, and several tornadoes were reported.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, March 6 to 7, 2017As a cold front moved across the region, a squall line developed and moved rapidly east across the forecast area. There were numerous reports of damaging winds, large hail and 8 tornadoes.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, March 6 to 7, 2017A strong cold front triggered a squall line across western Iowa into eastern Kansas during the afternoon of March 6th.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, March 6 to 7, 2017Strong to severe thunderstorms developed during the evening hours of the 6th over north central Oklahoma, along a cold front that moved into the area. A very moist and moderately unstable air mass was in place over northwestern Arkansas ahead of these storms.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, March 6 to 7, 2017As a cold front moved across the region, a squall line developed and moved rapidly east across the forecast area. There were numerous reports of damaging winds, large hail and 8 tornadoes.
- Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, March 6 to 7, 2017A line of strong to severe thunderstorms producing damaging winds accompanied the passage of a cold front from the late evening on March 6th into the early morning hours on March 7th.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, March 6 to 7, 2017A line of severe storms tracked east over eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and northeast Missouri during the evening of March 6th. Widespread winds over 70 mph, small hail, and several tornadoes were reported.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, March 6 to 9, 2017A storm system brought severe thunderstorms and three tornadoes on March 6-9, 2017.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, March 7, 2017A line of severe thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois producing a swath of damaging winds.
- Damaging Winds in Indiana, March 7, 2017A line of severe thunderstorms moved across northern Indiana producing a swath of damaging winds.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, March 7, 2017A cold front produced a line of severe thunderstorms during the early morning hours of March 7th.
- Damaging Winds in Missouri, March 7, 2017An east-southeast moving squall line crossed southeast Missouri during the early morning hours, producing an isolated microburst at Cape Girardeau.
- Damaging Winds in Illinois, March 7, 2017An east-southeast moving squall line crossed southern Illinois during the early morning hours, producing isolated damaging winds in the southern tip of Illinois.
- Damaging Winds in Kentucky, March 7, 2017An east-southeast moving squall line crossed western Kentucky during the early morning hours, producing isolated microbursts in the Purchase area of western Kentucky.
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, March 7, 2017A cold front produced a line of severe thunderstorms during the early morning hours of March 7th.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 7, 2017Stretching southward from a low pressure system in the Midwest, a cold front moved across Mississippi during the day on March 7th.
- Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, March 7, 2017A snow shower resulted in downburst winds in Waupun. Shingles were removed from 2 homes.
- Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Hawaii, March 7 to 10, 2017An upper trough near the island chain induced heavy downpours and thunderstorms over Maui, particularly the leeward Haleakala area.
- Damaging Winds in New York, March 8, 2017A line of showers and isolated thunderstorms developed during the early afternoon hours ahead of an approaching cold front and upper level disturbance.
- Hail in Kansas, March 9, 2017A cluster of elevated supercells developed during the morning hours of March 9th, 2017 across southeast Kansas. Hail as large as golfballs fell across Woodson and Allen counties. The hail covered the ground in Allen county, Kansas.
- Hail in Kansas, March 9, 2017Morning thunderstorms developed over portions of east central Kansas. Several hail reports of large hail were received including a 2 inch diameter stone.
- Hail in Kansas, March 9, 2017An isolated supercell thunderstorm produced a few reports of large hail across southeastern Kansas.
- Hail in Missouri, March 9, 2017Hail up to the size of golf balls formed within an area of strong to severe thunderstorms in portions of western Missouri and eastern Kansas. Despite the strong storms hail was the only hazard reported. There were no wind or tornado reports with this activity.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, March 9, 2017Severe thunderstorms producing numerous reports large hail along with scattered wind damage and a couple of tornadoes impacted Missouri Ozarks and southeastern Kansas Thursday, March 9, 2017.
- Hail in Kansas, March 9, 2017Hail up to the size of golf balls formed within an area of strong to severe thunderstorms in portions of western Missouri and eastern Kansas. Despite the strong storms hail was the only hazard reported. There were no wind or tornado reports with this activity.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 9, 2017Isolated thunderstorms developed across portions of Mississippi during the afternoon of March 9th.
- Tornadoes and Flood in Missouri, March 9, 2017A cluster of severe thunderstorms over south central Missouri organized into a bowing line of storms as it tracked eastward during the evening.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 9 to 10, 2017A very unstable atmosphere provided for multiple rounds of thunderstorms of which several were severe throughout the 9th and early morning of the 10th of March.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2017Tornadoes in 2017
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.