Tornado records

This article lists various tornado records. The most "extreme" tornado in recorded history was the Tri-State Tornado, which spread through parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925. It is considered an F5 on the Fujita Scale, even though tornadoes were not ranked on any scale at the time. It holds records for longest path length at , longest duration at about 3½ hours, and fastest forward speed for a significant tornado at anywhere on Earth. In addition, it is the deadliest single tornado in United States history with 695 fatalities. It was also the third most costly tornado in history at the time, but has been surpassed by several others non-normalized. When costs are normalized for wealth and inflation, it still ranks third today.

The deadliest tornado in world history was the Daulatpur–Saturia tornado in Bangladesh on April 26, 1989, which killed approximately 1,300 people. In the history of Bangladesh at least 19 tornadoes killed more than 100 people each, almost half of the total for the rest of the world.

For 37 years, the most extensive tornado outbreak on record, in almost every category, was the 1974 Super Outbreak, which affected a large area of the central United States and extreme southern Ontario in Canada on April 3 and April 4, 1974. Not only did this outbreak feature 148 tornadoes in only 18 hours, but an unprecedented number of them were violent; 7 were of F5 intensity and 23 were F4. During the peak of this outbreak there were 16 tornadoes on the ground at the same time. More than 300 people, possibly as many as 330, were killed by tornadoes during this outbreak. However, this record was later broken during the 2011 Super Outbreak, which resulted in 360 tornadoes and 324 tornadic fatalities. However, the most tornadoes spawned in the shortest amount of time is 104 over 5 hours and 26 minutes, during the 1981 United Kingdom tornado outbreak on 23 November 1981.

Tornado outbreaks

Most tornadoes in a single 24-hour period

The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest tornado outbreak spawned by a single weather system in recorded history; it produced 360 tornadoes from April 25–28, with 216 of those in a single 24-hour period on April 27 from midnight to midnight CDT, fifteen of which were violent EF4–EF5 tornadoes. 348 deaths occurred in that outbreak, of which 324 were tornado related. The outbreak largely contributed to the record for most tornadoes in the month of April with 773 tornadoes, almost triple the prior record (267 in April 1974). The overall record for a single month was 542 in May 2003, which was also broken.

The infamous 1974 Super Outbreak of April 3–4, 1974, which spawned 148 confirmed tornadoes across eastern North America, held the record for the most prolific tornado outbreak in terms of overall tornadoes for many years, and still holds the record for most violent, long-track tornadoes (7 F5 and 23 F4 tornadoes). More significant tornadoes occurred within 24 hours than any other day on tornado record. Due to a secular trend in tornado reporting, the 2011 and 1974 tornado counts are not directly comparable.

Most violent tornadoes (F4/EF4 and F5/EF5) in an outbreak

Longest continuous outbreak and largest autumnal outbreak

Most tornado outbreaks in North America occur in the spring, but there is a secondary peak of tornado activity in the fall. It is historically less consistent from year to year but can include exceptionally large and/or intense outbreaks. In 1992, an estimated 95 tornadoes broke out in a record 41 hours of continuous tornado activity from November 21 to 23. This is also among the largest-known outbreaks in areal expanse. Many other very large outbreaks have occurred in autumn, especially in October and November, such as the 2002 Veterans Day weekend outbreak, in which 83 tornadoes occurred from November 9 to 11, and November 17, 2013, when 73 tornadoes were produced in 11 hours.

Greatest number of tornadoes spawned from a hurricane

The greatest number of tornadoes spawned from a hurricane is 120 from Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, followed by Hurricane Beulah with 115 in September 1967 and 103 from Hurricane Frances in September 2004 (a couple weeks before Ivan). Hurricanes prior to the 1990s, when tornado records were more sparse, perhaps produced more tornadoes than were officially documented.

Tornadoes annually and monthly

Most tornadoes for each calendar month

Tornado casualties and damage

Deadliest single tornado in world history

On April 26, 1989, in Bangladesh a large tornado took at least 1,300 lives.

Deadliest single tornado in US history

The Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925, killed 695 people in Missouri (11), Illinois (613), and Indiana (71). The outbreak it occurred with was also the deadliest known tornado outbreak, with a combined death toll of 747 across the Mississippi River Valley.

Most damaging tornado

Similar to fatalities, damage (and observations) of a tornado are a coincidence of what character of tornado interacts with certain characteristics of built up areas. That is, destructive tornadoes are in a sense "accidents" of a large tornado striking a large population. In addition to population and changes thereof, comparing damage historically is subject to changes in wealth and inflation. The 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado on May 27, incurred the most damages adjusted for inflation, with an estimated $5.36 billion (2022 USD). In raw numbers, the Joplin tornado of May 22, 2011, is considered the costliest tornado in recent history, with damage totals at $3.71 billion (2022 USD). Until April 2011, the Bridge Creek-Moore tornado of May 3, 1999, was the most damaging, Which was later surpassed by the 2011 Tuscaloosa–Birmingham tornado, with a damage total of $3.18 Billion (2022 USD), though this tornado would only last about a month as the most costly as it would be surpassed by the previously mentioned Joplin tornado.

Lists of damage and fatality records

Largest and most powerful tornadoes

Highest winds observed in a tornado

During the F5 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado on May 3, 1999, in the southern Oklahoma City metro area, a Doppler on Wheels situated near the tornado measured winds of momentarily in a small area inside the funnel approximately above ground level. These are also the highest wind speeds observed on Earth.

On May 31, 2013, a tornado hit rural areas near El Reno, Oklahoma. The tornado was originally rated as an EF3 based on damage; however, after mobile radar data analysis was conducted, it was concluded to have been an EF5 due to a measured wind speed of greater than , second only to the Bridge Creek–Moore tornado. Revised RaXPol analysis found winds of well above ground level and ≥ below with some subvortices moving at . These winds may possibly be as high or higher than the winds recorded on May 3, 1999. Despite the recorded windspeed, the El Reno tornado was later downgraded back to EF3 due to the fact that no EF5 damage was found, likely due to the lack of sufficient damage indicators in the largely rural area west of Oklahoma City.

Winds were measured at using portable Doppler radar in the Red Rock, Oklahoma tornado during the April 26, 1991 tornado outbreak in north-central Oklahoma. Though these winds are possibly indicative of F5 intensity, this particular tornado's path never encountered any significant structures and caused minimal damage. Thus it was rated F4.

Longest damage path and duration

The longest-known track for a single tornado is the Tri-State Tornado with a path length of . For years there was debate whether the originally recognized path length of over 3.5 hours was from one tornado or a series. Some very long track (VLT) tornadoes were later determined to be successive tornadoes spawned by the same supercell thunderstorm, which are known as a tornado family. The Tri-State Tornado, however, appeared to have no gaps in the damage. A six-year reanalysis study by a team of severe convective storm meteorologists found insufficient evidence to make firm conclusions but does conclude that it is likely that the beginning and ending of the path was resultant of separate tornadoes comprising a tornado family. It also found that the tornado began to the west and ended farther east than previously known, bringing the total path to . The segment from central Madison County, Missouri to Pike County, Indiana is likely one continuous tornado and the segment from central Bollinger County, Missouri to western Pike County, Indiana is very likely a single continuous tornado. Another significant tornado was found about east-northeast of the end of aforementioned segment(s) of the Tri-State Tornado Family and is likely another member of the family. Its path length of over about 20 minutes makes the known tornado family path length total to over about 5½ hours. Grazulis in 2001 wrote that the first of the (originally recognized) track is probably the result of two or more tornadoes and that a path length of was seemingly continuous.

Longest path and duration tornado family

What at one time was thought to be the record holder for the longest tornado path is now thought to be the longest tornado family, with a track of at least on May 26, 1917, from the Missouri border across Illinois into Indiana. It caused severe damage and mass casualties in Charleston and Mattoon, Illinois.

What was probably the longest track supercell thunderstorm tracked across 6 states in 17.5 hours on March 12, 2006, as part of the March 2006 tornado outbreak sequence. It began in Noble County, Oklahoma and ended in Jackson County, Michigan, producing many tornadoes in Missouri and Illinois.

Largest path width

Officially, the widest tornado on record is the El Reno, Oklahoma tornado of May 31, 2013 with a width of at its peak. This is the width found by the National Weather Service based on preliminary data from University of Oklahoma RaXPol mobile radar that also sampled winds of which was used to upgrade the tornado to EF5. However, it was revealed that these winds did not impact any structures, and as a result the tornado was downgraded to EF3 based on damage.

The F4 Hallam, Nebraska tornado during the outbreak of May 22, 2004 was the previous official record holder for the widest tornado, surveyed at wide. A similar size tornado struck Edmonson, Texas on May 31, 1968, when a damage path width between was recorded from an F3 tornado.

Highest forward speed

The highest accepted forward speed of a tornado on record was from the 1925 Tri-State Tornado. Other weak tornadoes have approached or exceeded this speed, but this is the fastest forward movement observed in a major tornado.

Greatest pressure drop

A pressure deficit of was observed when a violent tornado near Manchester, South Dakota on June 24, 2003, passed directly over an in-situ probe deployed by storm chasing researcher Tim Samaras. In less than a minute, the pressure dropped to , which are the greatest pressure decline and the lowest pressure ever recorded at the Earth's surface when adjusted to sea level.

On April 21, 2007, a pressure deficit was reported when a tornado struck a storm chasing vehicle in Tulia, Texas. The tornado caused EF2 damage as it passed through Tulia. The reported pressure drop far exceeds that which would be expected based on theoretical calculations.

There is a questionable and unofficial citizen's barometer measurement of a drop around Minneapolis in 1904.

Early tornadoes

Earliest-known tornado in Europe

* The earliest recorded tornado in Europe struck Freising (Germany) in 788.
* The earliest-known Irish tornado appeared on April 30, 1054, in Rostella, near Kilbeggan. The earliest-known British tornado hit central London on October 23, 1091, and was especially destructive.

Earliest-known tornado in the Americas

* An apparent tornado is recorded to have struck Tlatelolco (present day Mexico City), on August 21, 1521, two days before the Aztec capital's fall to Cortés. Many other tornadoes are documented historically within the Basin of Mexico.

First confirmed tornado and first tornado fatality in present-day United States

* August 1671 – Rehoboth, Massachusetts
* July 8, 1680 – Cambridge, Massachusetts – 1 death

Earliest-known tornado in Asia

* The earliest recorded Asian tornado struck near the city of Calcutta in present-day West Bengal, India in 1838. It was described as moving remarkably slow across its path southeast over the span of 2 to 3 hours. It was recorded to cause significant damage to the area, including hail being observed at the Dum Dum weather observatory.

First published scientific studies of a tornado

A few scientists in Europe, the US, and elsewhere documented the occurrence of tornadoes in the late 18th and early-mid 19th centuries to try to discern patterns of distribution and sometimes with inferences about formative processes and dynamics.

For intensive studies of tornadoes, these are the earliest known publications:

* 1765: German scientist Gottlob Burchard Genzmer published a detailed survey of the damage path of an extremely violent tornado which occured near Woldegk, Germany, on 29 June 1764. It covers the entire, 33 km (18.6 mi) long track and also includes eyewitness reports as well as an analysis of the debris and hail fallout areas. Genzmer calls the event an "Orcan" and only compares it to waterspouts or dust devils. Based on the damage survey, modern day meteorologists from the ESSL were able to assign a rating of F5 T11, making it the earliest known F5 tornado worldwide. The T11 rating on the Torro-Scale also places this event among the most violent tornadoes ever documented worldwide.

* 1839–41: A detailed survey of damage path of significant tornado that struck New Brunswick, New Jersey

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