25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes (2024)

FAQs

What is the deadliest tornado to hit the US? ›

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.

The two most active states for tornadoes are Texas, with 124, and Kansas, with 87, in an average year. They are both located in the heart of Tornado Alley, a nickname given to an area in the Plains between Central Texas and South Dakota that has some of the most tornadic activity in the world.

The state with the highest number of F5 and EF5 tornadoes per square mile, however, was Iowa. The state with the most number of tornadoes classified as "violent", or F4 and F5, is Kentucky, and the state with the highest average intensity ranking for tornadoes is Alabama.

Supercell Tornadoes

Tornadoes that come from a supercell thunderstorm are the most common, and often the most dangerous. A rotating updraft is a key to the development of a supercell, and eventually a tornado.

In total, two tornadoes received the rating of F6, but both were later downgraded to F5. Based on aerial photographs of the damage it caused, Fujita assigned the strongest tornado of the 1974 Super Outbreak, which affected Xenia, Ohio, a preliminary rating of F6 intensity ± 1 scale.

1. Tri-State Tornado: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana (1925) On March 18, 1925, the deadliest tornado in U.S. history, the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, tore a 219-mile-long path across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

That's exactly what was happening in spring 2024. The tornadoes mostly occurred in the traditional Tornado Alley, from northern Texas to South Dakota, with an extension across the Corn Belt through Iowa and as far east as Ohio, matching the findings of that study.

1. The Tri-State Tornado of March 25, 1925. The ”single” deadliest tornado in U.S. history was the famous Tri-State Tornado of March 25, 1925. At least695 people died in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana when a F5 mile-wide monster carved a course that was apparently 219 miles through the three states.

The largest tornado outbreak on record was the 2011 Super Outbreak, with 362 tornadoes and about $10 billion in direct damages. It surpassed the 1974 Super Outbreak, in which 148 tornadoes were counted. Both occurred within the United States and Canada.

Out of all those tornadoes, only 60 (0.085 percent) have ever been rated an F5 or EF-5. 59 of those tornadoes touched down in the U.S., with Canada's sole F5 twister hitting Elie, Manitoba, on June 22, 2007. That's an exceptionally small number—and it's not just because violent tornadoes are particularly uncommon.

What is the fastest tornado ever recorded? ›

The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado was a large, long-lived and exceptionally powerful F5 tornado in which the highest wind speeds ever measured globally was recorded at 321 miles per hour (517 km/h) by a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radar.

Twister – (slang) A colloquial term for a tornado.

Hurricanes tend to cause much more overall destruction than tornadoes because of their much larger size, longer duration and their greater variety of ways to damage property.

Yes, the elusive 'snownado' is real

While it likely won't cause any damage, the whirl of wind that lofts up light and fluffy snow is technically classified as a type of tornado, equal to that of the dust devil you would see during the spring and summer months.

Though the F scale actually peaked at F12 (Mach 1), only F1 through F5 were used in practice, with F0 attached for tornadoes of winds weaker than hurricane force.

The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado was a large, long-lived and exceptionally powerful F5 tornado in which the highest wind speeds ever measured globally was recorded at 321 miles per hour (517 km/h) by a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radar.

1. The Tri-State Tornado of March 25, 1925. The ”single” deadliest tornado in U.S. history was the famous Tri-State Tornado of March 25, 1925. At least695 people died in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana when a F5 mile-wide monster carved a course that was apparently 219 miles through the three states.

The nation's last EF-5 tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013.