Tornadoes · United States

Tornadoes in Arizona

302 tornadoes since 1950, an average of 4.0 a year, 34th of the 53 states and territories in the record. They have killed 3 people and injured 152. None was rated F4 or above.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The deadliest in Arizona

  1. F2, Pima County, ArizonaAugust 27, 19642 killed, 9 injured
  2. F1, Pima County, ArizonaJune 23, 19741 killed, 40 injured

The strongest

  1. EF3, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 2010EF3, 30.1 mi (48 km)
  2. F3, Maricopa County, ArizonaAugust 4, 1957F3, 12.0 mi (19 km)
  3. EF3, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 2010EF3, 4.0 mi (6 km)
  4. F3, Yavapai County, ArizonaAugust 10, 1972F3, 0.1 mi (0 km)
  5. EF2, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 2010EF2, 26.0 mi (42 km)
  6. EF2, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 2010EF2, 18.6 mi (30 km)
  7. EF2, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 2010EF2, 14.8 mi (24 km)
  8. F2, Maricopa County, ArizonaJune 21, 1972F2, 13.5 mi (22 km)
  9. F2, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 24, 1992F2, 5.5 mi (9 km)
  10. EF2, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 2010EF2, 4.9 mi (8 km)
  11. F2, Maricopa County, ArizonaAugust 30, 1971F2, 4.7 mi (8 km)
  12. F2, Maricopa County, ArizonaJanuary 17, 1993F2, 2.1 mi (3 km)

The longest paths

  1. F1, Pinal and Maricopa counties, ArizonaSeptember 1, 197132.4 mi (52 km)
  2. EF3, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 201030.1 mi (48 km)
  3. F0, Navajo County, ArizonaOctober 18, 200530.0 mi (48 km)
  4. F1, Yavapai and Coconino counties, ArizonaMay 1, 198026.5 mi (43 km)
  5. EF2, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 201026.0 mi (42 km)
  6. EF2, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 201018.6 mi (30 km)
  7. F0, Pinal and Maricopa counties, ArizonaJune 21, 197217.8 mi (29 km)
  8. EF2, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 201014.8 mi (24 km)
  9. F2, Maricopa County, ArizonaJune 21, 197213.5 mi (22 km)
  10. F3, Maricopa County, ArizonaAugust 4, 195712.0 mi (19 km)
  11. F1, Maricopa County, ArizonaSeptember 8, 196111.8 mi (19 km)
  12. EF0, Maricopa County, ArizonaNovember 29, 201910.1 mi (16 km)

The costliest

  1. EF2, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 2010$1.0 million
  2. EF0, Yavapai County, ArizonaSeptember 27, 2014$500,000
  3. EF3, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 2010$400,000
  4. EF1, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 3, 2022$350,000
  5. EF1, Cochise County, ArizonaSeptember 23, 2019$250,000
  6. F1, Yavapai County, ArizonaSeptember 13, 1996$250,000
  7. EF3, Coconino County, ArizonaOctober 6, 2010$200,000
  8. EF0, Maricopa County, ArizonaNovember 29, 2019$100,000
  9. EF0, Maricopa County, ArizonaNovember 29, 2019$80,000
  10. EF0, Maricopa County, ArizonaNovember 18, 2025$50,000
  11. EF1, Pima County, ArizonaJuly 2, 2024$50,000
  12. EF0, Maricopa County, ArizonaMarch 1, 2014$50,000

The biggest days in Arizona

  1. October 6, 201011tornadoes
  2. June 21, 19726tornadoes
  3. November 29, 20194tornadoes
  4. November 22, 19964tornadoes
  5. September 23, 20193tornadoes
  6. May 22, 20093tornadoes
  7. October 18, 20053tornadoes
  8. October 24, 19923tornadoes
  9. February 13, 19923tornadoes
  10. March 15, 19853tornadoes
  11. September 5, 19813tornadoes
  12. May 4, 19763tornadoes

Every year

YearTornadoesDeathsInjuriesF4 and above
20258
20247
20235
20229
20216
20202
2019125
20185
20173
20161
20155
20143
20131
20121
20113
2010158
20094
20083
20066
20058
20043
20039
20013
19995
19982
19975
19969
19954
19945
19938
1992131
199122
19903
19891
19881
19873
19862
19853
19844
19835
19821
19813
19801
197933
19782
19772
19765
19751
197410140
19732
19721718
1971743
19703
196942
196858
19675
196659
1964229
19631
19623
196133
19602
195921
19584
19575
19563
19551
19542
19521

Every county in Arizona

A tornado is counted once for every county its path crossed, so these add up to more than 302. Each county has a page of its own: every tornado that crossed it, year by year.

CountyTornadoesDeaths
Maricopa County75
Coconino County49
Pinal County30
Yavapai County29
Pima County283
Navajo County23
Cochise County18
Apache County17
Mohave County17
Yuma County12
Gila County4
Santa Cruz County1
Graham County1
La Paz County1

Nearby

Warnings in force in ArizonaForecast for your townThe live radar over Arizona

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.