Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2004

F0 tornado, Moline, Kansas, June 12, 2004

Name: F0 tornado, Moline, Kansas, June 12, 2004
Start: 2004-06-13T03:41:00.000Z
Location: Moline, Kansas

This F0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Elk County on June 12, 2004, touching down at 10:41 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
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.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
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.
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 record

Rating: F0
Date: June 12, 2004
Touchdown: 10:41 PM CDT (03:41 UTC)
Path length: 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width: 75 yards (69 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Elk County
Touchdown point: 37.400, -96.220
Lift-off point: 37.400, -96.200
Record number: 1233

What the Weather Service recorded

Brief touchdown in open country.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

26 minutes of warning. NWS ICT issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:15 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
02:15 UTC	03:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	ICT
03:15 UTC	04:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	ICT

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:24 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 12, 10:14 PM CDT, 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 12, 10:14 PM CDT, 27 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1014 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

.MESO UPDATE...

LONE TORNADIC SUPERCELL THAT HAS BEEN PRODUCING NUMEROUS TORNADOES
CONTINUES TO TRACK EAST. SFC ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT THE SUPERCELL
IS FEEDING OFF A SHARP DEWPOINT GRADIENT WHICH EXTENDS FROM THE CITY
OF HOWARD IN ELK COUNTY...SOUTHEAST TOWARDS THE CITY OF INDEPENDENCE
IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY. EXPECT THAT THIS SUPERCELL WILL CONTINUE TO
THRIVE OFF THIS SHARP DEWPOINT GRADIENT AND TURN MORE TOWARDS THE SE
INTO MONTGOMERY COUNTY DURING THE NEXT HOUR OR SO. WIND PROFILER
DATA IN NDSK STILL SHOWS FAVORABLE DIRECTIONAL SHEAR IN THE LOW LEVELS
FOR CONTINUATION OF TORNADIC ACTIVITY.

WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATES THAT ANOTHER SHARP TROUGH IS MOVING
INTO EASTERN COLORADO. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK EAST AND REACH
CENTRL PART OF THE STATE WELL AFTER MIDNIGHT. AS A RESULT MORE
STORMS COULD REDEVELOP LATER TONIGHT ACROSS S CENTRL KS ALONG THE
NOSE OF THE LOW LEVEL JET.

JAKUB/15

--------------------------------------------------------------------

...MESO UPDATE...
STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING JUST
EAST OF A N TO S ORIENTED BOUNDARY, WHICH IS ACTUALLY JUST E OF THE
DRYLINE. THIS SECONDARY BOUNDARY EXTENDS ALONG A LINE ROUGHLY FM
GLENDALE TO CHENEY TO CALDWELL. TO THE EAST OF THIS SECONDARY
BOUNDARY LIES DEEPER LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. BEST STORM EXHIBITING
SUPERCELL CHARACTERISTICS IS OVER N-CNTRL SUMNER COUNTY ATTM. THE
HILLSBORO AND LAMONT PROFILERS BOTH SHOW DECENT VEERING WIND
PROFILES, WHICH IS CONTRIBUTING TO 30-35 KTS OF DEEP LAYER SHEAR.
WHEN COMBINED WITH 4000 CAPE, THIS IS MORE THAN SUFFICIENT TO
PROMOTE A FEW SUPERCELLS EAST OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED SECONDARY
BOUNDARY INTO THE MID EVENING HRS. VERY LARGE HAIL, DAMAGING WIND
GUSTS, AND A TORNADO OR TWO WL REMAIN PSBL THRU 04Z, WITH THE STORMS
LIKELY MOVG INTO THE FLINT HILLS.

JMC

--------------------------------------------------------------
333 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

CONDITIONS ARE LOOKING FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. TORNADOES, ALONG WITH VERY
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS, WILL BE POSSIBLE. A LARGE COMPLEX OF
THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE/DEVELOP TONIGHT OVER EASTERN KANSAS, POSING A
LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN/LOCALIZED FLOODING THREAT FOR SOUTHEAST
KANSAS. TORNADO WATCHES IN EFFECT THROUGH THE EVENING FOR ALL AREAS
EXCEPT EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

LATEST SFC ANALYSIS INDICATES A DRYLINE STRETCHING FROM JUST EAST OF
RUSSELL, TO NEAR MEDICINE LODGE SOUTH THROUGH WESTERN OKLAHOMA.
DRYLINE IS BULGING WEST OF WICHITA AND HUTCHINSON, INCREASING
CONVERGENCE. CUMULUS FIELD STRETCHES JUST EAST OF THIS DRYLINE,
INDICATIVE OF DEEPER LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE. THE WESTERN EDGE OF THIS
STRATO CU WILL LIKELY BE INITIATION POINT FOR EXPLOSIVE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT AFTER 4 PM ALONG AND JUST WEST OF THE I-135
CORRIDOR. SUPERCELLS LOOK LIKELY, WITH VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS THE MAIN THREAT. 0-6 KM SPEED SHEAR IS NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE.
HOWEVER, GIVEN EXTREMELY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS/VERY MOIST LOW-LEVELS
(MLCAPES ON THE ORDER OF 5000 J/KG) AND DECENT DIRECTIONAL SHEAR,
ISOLATED TORNADOES, WITH A FEW LARGE TORNADOES, WILL BE POSSIBLE.
SFC TEMPS ARE REACHING THE UPPER 80S AND LOWER 90S ALONG THE I-135
CORRIDOR, RESULTING IN CIN VALUES BELOW -10 J/KG FOR MEAN MIXED
LAYER PARCELS. ADDITIONALLY, SPEED SHEAR SHOULD INCREASE THROUGH THE
LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS SOUTHERN ROCKIES SHORTWAVE EJECTS OUT
INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. PLEASE REFER TO THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER
OUTLOOK PRODUCT FOR FURTHER DETAILS ON THIS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS
SITUATION.

THINKING AN EXPANSIVE MCS WILL MOVE/DEVELOP INTO SOUTHEAST KANSAS
LATER TONIGHT, AS WAA/ISENTROPIC LIFT INCREASES, POSING A HEAVY
RAIN/LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND THREAT. SERIOUSLY
CONTEMPLATED A FLOOD WATCH GIVEN HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST KANSAS OVER THE PAST FEW NIGHTS. HOWEVER, THINKING BULK OF
MCS AND ASSOCIATED HEAVY RAIN WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE CWA. BUT
LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE MAINLY EAST OF A EUREKA TO SEDAN
LINE. IF AREA GETS NAILED TONIGHT, MAY NEED TO CONSIDER FLOOD WATCH,
ESPECIALLY IF MORE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE AREA SUNDAY
AND MONDAY.

DRYLINE HANGS OUT IN VICINITY OF CENTRAL/SOUTH CENTRAL KS SUNDAY AND
MONDAY. SO A COUPLE MORE SEVERE EPISODES MAY BE IN THE PICTURE BOTH
DAYS. CAP LOOKS TO BE SLIGHTLY STRONGER ON MONDAY, BUT 20 TO 30 POPS
SEEM PRUDENT. ELEVATED SEVERE CONVECTION MAY BE A POSSIBILITY ONCE
AGAIN SUNDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. STAY TUNED, AS MOST OF OUR ATTENTION
AT THIS TIME IS FOCUSED ON THIS AFTERNOON/TONIGHTS POTENTIAL SEVERE
WEATHER.

GFS IS STILL SWINGING A FRONTAL BOUNDARY SOUTH ACROSS THE CWA BY
MID-WEEK. HOWEVER, WILL WAIT FOR A BIT MORE RUN-TO-RUN CONSISTENCY
TO INSERT POPS. ALL MODELS ARE COOLING DOWN THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY
LATE WEEK, AS SFC HIGH PRESSURE NOSES SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA. TRENDED
TEMPS DOWN INTO THE LOW-MID 80S FOR NOW.

&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
WICHITA         71  89  71  89 /  50  30  30  20
HUTCHINSON      69  89  68  90 /  40  30  20  20
NEWTON          71  89  70  89 /  50  30  30  20
ELDORADO        71  88  71  89 /  50  30  40  20
STROTHER FIELD  72  89  71  89 /  50  30  30  20
RUSSELL         65  90  64  90 /  20  20  20  20
GREAT BEND      65  90  65  90 /  20  20  20  20
SALINA          67  89  67  89 /  50  30  30  20
MCPHERSON       68  89  68  89 /  40  30  30  20
COFFEYVILLE     72  87  71  88 /  50  40  40  20
CHANUTE         72  86  71  88 /  50  40  40  20
IOLA            72  86  71  87 /  50  40  40  20
&&

.ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.
&&

21/KLEINSASSER

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 12, 4:00 PM CDT, 6 hours 41 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
400 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-131200-
RUSSELL-LINCOLN-BARTON-ELLSWORTH-SALINE-RICE-MCPHERSON-MARION-CHASE-
RENO-HARVEY-BUTLER-GREENWOOD-WOODSON-ALLEN-KINGMAN-SEDGWICK-HARPER-
SUMNER-COWLEY-ELK-WILSON-NEOSHO-CHAUTAUQUA-MONTGOMERY-LABETTE-
400 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT

SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS
CENTRAL AND SOUTH-CENTRAL KANSAS BY LATE AFTERNOON. THESE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY LARGE HAIL UP TO
BASEBALL SIZE, DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH, AND ISOLATED
TORNADOES. IN FACT, GIVEN THE MAGNITUDE OF INSTABILITY, A FEW STRONG
TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING ACROSS CENTRAL AND
SOUTH-CENTRAL KANSAS.

THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONVERGE INTO A BIG COMPLEX OVER
EASTERN KANSAS TONIGHT. AS A RESULT, HEAVY RAINFALL AND LOCALIZED
FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS DURING THE
OVERNIGHT HOURS. THERE WILL ALSO BE A CONTINUED LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WIND THREAT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY
NIGHT. HOWEVER IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL EXACTLY WHERE THINGS WILL SET
UP. PLEASE STAY TUNED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING
ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTH-CENTRAL KANSAS. A FEW SPOTTERS MAY BE
NEEDED OVERNIGHT IN SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS.

&&

FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION, SEE OUR
WEBPAGE AT (LOWERCASE) HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/ICT/HWO/HWOICT.HTM

JAKUB/CARUSO/KLEINSASSER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 12, 9:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
912 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0912 PM     TORNADO          4 SSW ATLANTA           37.38N 96.79W
06/12/2004                   COWLEY             KS   AMATEUR RADIO

            A LARGE TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT THIS TIME.

&&

BRW

Local storm report, Jun 12, 9:24 PM CDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
924 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0912 PM     TSTM WND GST     SALINA                  38.82N 97.62W
06/12/2004  60 MPH           SALINE             KS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

0910 PM     TSTM WND DMG     SALINA                  38.82N 97.62W
06/12/2004                   SALINE             KS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES DOWN.

&&

BRW

Local storm report, Jun 12, 10:00 PM CDT, 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1000 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0959 PM     HAIL             1 N FALL RIVER          37.62N 96.03W
06/12/2004  1.00 INCH        GREENWOOD          KS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

BRW

Local storm report, Jun 12, 10:31 PM CDT, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1031 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1031 PM     HAIL             1 NNW ROXBURY           38.57N 97.43W
06/12/2004  0.75 INCH        MCPHERSON          KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

BRW

Local storm report, Jun 12, 10:39 PM CDT, 2 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1039 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1031 PM     HAIL             8 SE FALL RIVER         37.53N 95.93W
06/12/2004  1.00 INCH        WILSON             KS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

BRW

Local storm report, Jun 12, 10:40 PM CDT, 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1040 PM CDT SAT JUN 12 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1039 PM     TSTM WND GST     BUXTON                  37.45N 95.92W
06/12/2004  88 MPH           WILSON             KS   CO-OP OBSERVER

&&

BRW

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Lamont, OK (KLMN), 00:00Z

3.7 hours before the tornado, 142 km from the path. June 13, 2004.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 4355 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -13 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 5031 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1343 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 239 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.2
Supercell composite: 17.4
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lamont, OK (KLMN), 12:00Z

8.3 hours after it, 142 km from the path. June 13, 2004.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 24 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -459 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1384 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 431 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.6
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:39 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Report	Where	County	Remark
01:04 UTC	HAIL 0.75	3 Nw Fredonia	Wilson, KS
01:55 UTC	TORNADO	1 S Atlanta	Cowley, KS	TORNADO ON THE GROUND 1 MILE SOUTH OF THE AIRPORT IN ATLANTA.
02:02 UTC	TORNADO	1 E Atlanta	Cowley, KS	TORNADO ON THE GROUND EAST OF AIRPORT.
02:12 UTC	TORNADO	4 Ssw Atlanta	Cowley, KS	A LARGE TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT THIS TIME.
02:59 UTC	HAIL 1	1 N Fall River	Greenwood, KS
03:31 UTC	HAIL 1	8 Se Fall River	Wilson, KS
03:39 UTC	TSTM WND GST 88	Buxton	Wilson, KS
03:53 UTC	HAIL 1	Fredonia	Wilson, KS
05:30 UTC	TSTM WND GST 70	2 S Rosalia	Butler, KS

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2004 tornado in Kansas Every tornado in Kansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Kansas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 12, 2004

16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 12	8:45 AM CDT	F0	Saint Francois, MO	1.5	50
June 12	11:55 AM CDT	F0	Breckinridge, KY	0.8	50		$100,000
June 12	12:28 PM CDT	F0	Saunders, NE	0.5	100
June 12	4:40 PM CDT	F0	Cherokee, KS	0.1	25
June 12	4:50 PM CDT	F0	Jasper, MO	0.1	25
June 12	4:55 PM CDT	F0	Pecos, TX	1.3	150
June 12	7:10 PM CDT	F0	Sumner, KS	1.5	75
June 12	7:25 PM CDT	F3	Sumner, KS	4.0	75	2	$500,000
June 12	9:00 PM EDT	F1	Allendale, SC	3.0	150
June 12	8:25 PM CDT	F0	Cowley, KS	3.0	100
June 12	8:45 PM CDT	F1	Lincoln, MN	1.6	100		$100,000
June 12	8:55 PM CDT	F0	Cowley, KS	0.5	50
June 12	8:56 PM CDT	F0	Jones, TX	0.1	20
June 12	9:15 PM CDT	F0	Lyon, MN	0.1	50
June 12	9:15 PM CDT	F0	Cowley, KS	1.0	50
June 12	9:58 PM CDT	F0	Elk, KS	1.0	50

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.