Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey. Every one the National Weather Service has filed, by year and by state, with the deadliest and costliest.
The deadliest and costliest on the map
The deadliest and costliest tornado episodes on record.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 81,308
- Deaths
- 6,410
- Injuries
- 99,674
- Damage
- $78 billion
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Every year
From 1996 the record holds 48 kinds of event with each office’s narrative; before that, tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, and before 1955 tornadoes alone.
Deaths each year
The deadliest
Deaths from this kind of event within each episode.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, May 22 to 23, 2011A strong upper level trough across the central plains region and a strong upper level disturbance along with a frontal boundary in the area produced numerous severe storms with a few supercells across southeast Kansas.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, April 27, 2011A powerful storm system crossed the Southeast United States on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, resulting in a large and deadly tornado outbreak.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, April 11, 1965
- Tornadoes in Texas, May 11, 1953
- Tornadoes in Michigan, June 8, 1953
- Tornadoes in Arkansas, March 21, 1952
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Mississippi, February 21, 1971
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, April 27, 2011A powerful storm system roared across the Southeast United States on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. In the wake of this system, hundreds of people were left injured and/or homeless, along with approximately 100 people who lost their lives in the northern Alabama area alone.
- Tornadoes in Massachusetts, June 9, 1953
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, May 25, 1955
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 3, 1974Moved from northwest of Elizabethtown, doing damage on the north side of town. Moving into Nelson County, produced significant damage near Cox's Creek where the Whitney Horse Farm was damaged, crossing Lilly Pike where several homes, barns, and trailers were demolished, across…
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1985
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Ohio, April 11, 1965
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, April 21, 1967
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, December 10 to 11, 2021On the evening of Friday, December 10, 2021, a potent storm system moving across the central United States resulted in significant long-track tornadoes.
- Tornadoes in Mississippi, March 3, 1966
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, April 10, 1979
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Michigan, April 11, 1965
- Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Tennessee, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, May 15, 1968
- Tornadoes and Hail in North Carolina, March 28, 1984
- Tornadoes and Hail in Ohio, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Florida, February 22 to 23, 1998The first tornado in a major tornado outbreak set down along Route 92 about 5 miles southwest of Daytona Beach.
The costliest
Damage from this kind of event within each episode, in the dollars of its year.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, April 27, 2011
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, May 22 to 23, 2011
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, May 20 to 21, 2013
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, October 20 to 21, 2019
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Florida, March 12 to 13, 1993
- Tornadoes and Hail in Tennessee, March 2 to 3, 2020
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, May 16, 2025
- Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, March 31, 1973
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, April 27, 2011
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, May 3, 1999
- Tornadoes in Illinois, November 17, 2013
- Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, April 3, 1974
- Tornadoes and Hail in Ohio, May 31, 1985
- Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, April 11, 1965
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, June 3, 1980
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, April 3, 2012
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Ohio, May 27 to 28, 2019
- Tornadoes and Tropical Storm in Florida, October 9 to 10, 2024
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, April 26, 1991
- Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, July 28, 1986
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, November 15, 1989
- Tornadoes and Flooding in Kansas, April 14 to 15, 2012
- Tornadoes and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1985
- Tornadoes in Mississippi, April 24, 2010
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, May 8, 2003
By state
| State or waters | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 10,090 | 595 | 9,633 | $7.2 billion |
| Oklahoma | 5,054 | 364 | 5,501 | $6.0 billion |
| Kansas | 4,965 | 238 | 2,854 | $3.4 billion |
| Florida | 3,820 | 207 | 3,448 | $4.3 billion |
| Illinois | 3,647 | 236 | 4,649 | $3.1 billion |
| Mississippi | 3,532 | 537 | 7,200 | $2.9 billion |
| Iowa | 3,501 | 100 | 2,341 | $2.9 billion |
| Nebraska | 3,400 | 56 | 1,216 | $1.9 billion |
| Alabama | 3,206 | 692 | 8,468 | $6.4 billion |
| Missouri | 3,118 | 429 | 4,590 | $7.1 billion |
| Louisiana | 2,801 | 180 | 2,958 | $1.9 billion |
| Arkansas | 2,565 | 413 | 5,569 | $3.6 billion |
| Colorado | 2,445 | 5 | 282 | $298 million |
| Minnesota | 2,433 | 101 | 1,987 | $2.0 billion |
| Georgia | 2,356 | 220 | 4,351 | $3.7 billion |
| Indiana | 2,103 | 276 | 4,383 | $2.8 billion |
| South Dakota | 1,947 | 19 | 488 | $260 million |
| Wisconsin | 1,820 | 98 | 1,646 | $1.1 billion |
| North Dakota | 1,799 | 29 | 364 | $205 million |
| Tennessee | 1,704 | 408 | 5,018 | $3.4 billion |
| North Carolina | 1,691 | 137 | 2,808 | $2.1 billion |
| Ohio | 1,565 | 200 | 4,716 | $3.0 billion |
| Kentucky | 1,497 | 246 | 3,784 | $1.1 billion |
| South Carolina | 1,319 | 67 | 1,434 | $669 million |
| Michigan | 1,291 | 253 | 3,467 | $1.3 billion |
| Pennsylvania | 1,091 | 83 | 1,309 | $1.9 billion |
| Virginia | 913 | 39 | 952 | $557 million |
| Wyoming | 765 | 4 | 115 | $49 million |
| New Mexico | 687 | 5 | 163 | $66 million |
| New York | 563 | 32 | 318 | $489 million |
| California | 488 | 0 | 97 | $136 million |
| Maryland | 438 | 9 | 327 | $383 million |
| Montana | 432 | 4 | 29 | $56 million |
| Arizona | 306 | 3 | 152 | $50 million |
| Idaho | 224 | 0 | 9 | $9.5 million |
| New Jersey | 207 | 1 | 80 | $85 million |
| Massachusetts | 205 | 105 | 1,566 | $544 million |
| West Virginia | 191 | 3 | 122 | $46 million |
| Utah | 146 | 1 | 96 | $178 million |
| Maine | 140 | 1 | 20 | $9.8 million |
| Washington | 138 | 6 | 303 | $31 million |
| Oregon | 134 | 0 | 5 | $33 million |
| Connecticut | 130 | 4 | 703 | $603 million |
| New Hampshire | 112 | 1 | 30 | $13 million |
| Nevada | 97 | 0 | 2 | $1.7 million |
| Delaware | 81 | 3 | 78 | $13 million |
| Vermont | 53 | 0 | 12 | $6.0 million |
| Hawaii | 42 | 0 | 6 | $3.9 million |
| Puerto Rico | 26 | 0 | 0 | $694,000 |
| Rhode Island | 20 | 0 | 24 | $5.0 million |
| District of Columbia | 5 | 0 | 1 | $202,000 |
| Alaska | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Every kind of event
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Hail
- Flash Flood
- High Wind
- Winter Storm
- Drought
- Winter Weather
- Tornado
- Heavy Snow
- Flood
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind
- Heat
- Heavy Rain
- Strong Wind
- Excessive Heat
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
- Cold/Wind Chill
- Lightning
- Dense Fog
- Blizzard
- Frost/Freeze
- Ice Storm
- High Surf
- Funnel Cloud
- Wildfire
- Tropical Storm
- Waterspout
- Coastal Flood
- Lake-Effect Snow
- Debris Flow
- Hurricane (Typhoon)
- Dust Storm
- Rip Current
- Storm Surge/Tide
- Marine High Wind
- Sleet
- Avalanche
- Marine Hail
- Astronomical Low Tide
- Marine Tropical Storm
- Tropical Depression
- Freezing Fog
- Lakeshore Flood
- Dust Devil
- Marine Strong Wind
- Dense Smoke
- Marine Hurricane/Typhoon
- Volcanic Ashfall
- Seiche
- Sneakerwave
- Volcanic Ash
- Tsunami
- Marine Tropical Depression
- Marine Dense Fog
- Northern Lights
- Marine Lightning
- Hurricane
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.