The United States experienced a significant surge in tornado activity in 2024, with 1,910 reported across the country. This marked a substantial increase from previous years, highlighting the unpredictable nature of these violent atmospheric phenomena. Fatalities and economic impact While tornado frequency increased, the death toll from such events remained relatively low compared to historical peaks. In 2023, 86 fatalities were reported due to tornadoes, a notable increase from the 23 deaths in 2022 but far below the 553 lives lost in 2011. Moreover, the economic impact of these storms was substantial, with tornado damage in 2023 amounting to approximately 1.38 billion U.S. dollars, nearly doubling from the previous year. However, this pales in comparison to the record-setting damage of 9.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2011. Comparison to other extreme weather events While tornadoes pose significant risks, hurricanes have historically caused more extensive damage and loss of life in the United States. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 remains the costliest tropical cyclone in recent decades, with damages totaling 200 billion U.S. dollars when adjusted to 2024 values. The impact of such extreme weather events extends beyond immediate destruction, as evidenced by the 1,518 hurricane-related fatalities recorded in 2005. As climate change continues to influence weather patterns, both tornado and hurricane activity may see further shifts in frequency and intensity in the years to come.

The graph illustrates the number of tornado-related fatalities in the United States from 2008 to 2024. The x-axis represents the years, abbreviated from ’08 to ’24, while the y-axis shows the number of deaths each year. Fatalities range from a low of 10 in 2018 to a peak of 553 in 2011. Most years have fatalities between 18 and 126, with notable exceptions in 2020 (76 deaths), 2021 (101 deaths), and 2023 (83 deaths). The data is presented in a bar graph format, highlighting the significant spike in fatalities in 2011 and the overall variability in tornado-related deaths over the 16-year period.

In 2024, there were a total of 52 fatalities reported due to tornadoes in the United States, down from 86 fatalities in the previous year. The highest figure reported in the U.S. since 1995 was in 2011, when tornadoes caused 553 fatalities.

Texas was the state with the highest number of reported tornadoes in the United States in 2024, with 169 disasters reported. Iowa followed second, with 131 tornadoes reported. The same year, the number of tornadoes in the U.S. increased relative to previous years, with 1,910 reported in the country.

In 2024, tornadoes resulted in approximately 1.7 billion U.S. dollars worth of damage across the United States. The North American country's economic damage caused by tornadoes peaked in 2011, at nearly 9.5 billion U.S. dollars. That same year, the number of fatalities due to tornadoes in the United States was also the highest.

This table contains a summary of the number of tornadoes by year for the United States. The table also provides summary statistics for fatalities, injuries, magnitude, and crop losses by hour. The data should be downloaded and used in a spreadsheet program like Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets. Data is derived from Tornado data from the National Weather Service.

Context

This data set contains the number of confirmed tornadoes for each state for each year and their responding affects.

Content

Current table includes number of confirmed tornadoes in each state for each year from 1951 to 2019. Future datasets will be related to Fujita/Enhanced Fujita rank, total damage (reported and inflation corrected), and fatalities/injuries. Data is from National Centers for Environmental Information's Storm Events Database.

Inspiration

I am curious about the trend of sever weather occurring in the United States over time. This started with tornadic events but will evolve to severe thunderstorm and hail events as well.

Tornado TracksThis feature layer, utilizing data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), displays tornadoes in the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands between 1950 and 2024. A tornado track shows the route of a tornado. Per NOAA, "A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. Because wind is invisible, it is hard to see a tornado unless it forms a condensation funnel made up of water droplets, dust and debris. Tornadoes can be among the most violent phenomena of all atmospheric storms we experience. The most destructive tornadoes occur from supercells, which are rotating thunderstorms with a well-defined radar circulation called a mesocyclone. (Supercells can also produce damaging hail, severe non-tornadic winds, frequent lightning, and flash floods.)"EF-5 Tornado Track (May 3, 1999) near Oklahoma City, OklahomaData currency: December 30, 2024Data source: Storm Prediction CenterData modifications: Added field "Date_Calc"For more information: Severe Weather 101 - Tornadoes; NSSL Research: TornadoesSupport documentation: SPC Tornado, Hail, and Wind Database Format SpecificationFor feedback, please contact: ArcGIScomNationalMaps@esri.comNational Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationPer NOAA, its mission is "To understand and predict changes in climate, weather, ocean, and coasts, to share that knowledge and information with others, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources."

This dataset represents data that was compiled from the United States severe report database (tornadoes 1950-2015).

This map layer shows tornado tracks in CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, from 1950 to 2015. Statistical data were obtained from the National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center (SPC).

Tornado Warnings are issued to enable the public to get out of harm’s way and mitigate preventable loss. NWS forecasters issue approximately 2,900 Tornado Warnings per year, primarily between the Rockies and Appalachian Mountains. Tornado Warning statistics are based on a comparison of warnings issued and weather spotter observations of tornadoes and/or storm damage surveys from Weather Forecast Offices in the United States. Lead Time (LT) for a Tornado Warning is the difference between the time the warning was issued and the time the tornado occurred (based on certified reports) in minutes, assuming the tornado tracked within the bounds of the warned area. Lead Times for all tornado occurrences within the U.S. are averaged to get this statistic for a given fiscal year. This average includes all warned events with zero lead times and all unwarned events. Lead Time is calculated down to the minute for individual Tornado Warnings and tornadic events. Although the timing of the warning transmission is recorded to the nearest second, typically there is only an estimate to the nearest minute of when a tornado touches down. Additionally, even though we can compute the average tornado warning lead time to a precision of 30 second increments or less, the reporting of this value implies greater accuracy in the data based on scientific and logistical restrictions on tornado reporting and surveying. Most tornadoes cannot be visually tracked from beginning to end and post-storm damage surveying is the official method with which the NWS categorizes tornado characteristics (intensity, path length & width) but must rely on radar data to estimate the timing of the tornado track.

Historical tornado records for the United States from 1950 to present.

Tornadoes, sometimes called twisters, are high-speed columns of rotating air connecting a thunderstorm to the ground. These storms vary greatly in size and strength, and are difficult for scientists to predict. The average tornado damage path is about one and a half to three kilometers (one to two miles) with a width of 45 meters (50 yards); however, some paths can stretch more than 160 kilometers (100 miles) and have widths greater than three kilometers (two miles).

Tornado paths are so small and unpredictable, local National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offices usually only have about 14 minutes to alert residents with a tornado warning before the storm reaches them. Because of this, the NWS issues tornado watches over a large area to warn residents a tornado could form in their vicinity hours before one can touch the ground.

Tornadoes only form when a thunderstorm has a certain combination of winds. As winds at varying speeds and directions cause rising air to start spinning, warmer air continues to rise and cooler air begins to sink to the ground. Once there are enough rising and sinking gusts of wind, the air near the ground begins to rotate. The rotating air throughout the tornado eventually speeds up to spin around one axis and begins to move horizontally across the land. Most tornadoes originate from supercell thunderstorms in which there are drastic differences in air temperatures and wind speeds, but not all supercell thunderstorms produce tornadoes.

Tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, including Australia, Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia; however, about 75 percent of the world’s known tornadoes have formed in the United States. About 1,200 tornadoes hit the U.S. every year. Although tornado season refers to the time of year when the United States sees the most tornadoes, peak tornado season varies across regions of the U.S. The southern Plains experience peak tornado season from May to early June, the Gulf coast from March to April, and the northern Plains and upper Midwest see the most tornadoes in either June or July. Even though there are times of the year when tornadoes are most prominent, they can occur at any time given the right weather conditions.

To assess the wind speeds of a tornado, the NWS implemented the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale), a set of wind estimates based on the intensity of damage from structures in the path of the storm. Because buildings have varying structural integrity, the EF Scale incorporates 28 damage indicators, such as building type (for example, barn, school, motel, or shopping mall), structures (for example, gas station canopy, mobile home, or transmission line tower) and trees (for example, hardwood or softwood). These damage indicators are then given a damage rating between 1 and 8, in which 1 = no damage and 8 = completely destroyed. From the values given for each damage indicator, the NWS derives an EF number between 0 and 5 that estimates the overall intensity of the tornado.

EF-0: Gale winds with speeds between 105 and 137 kmph (65-85 mph) EF-1: Moderate winds with speeds between 138 and 177 kmph (86-110 mph) EF-2: Significant winds with speeds between 178 and 217 kmph (111-135 mph) EF-3: Severe winds with speeds between 218 and 266 kmph (136-165 mph) EF-4: Devastating winds with speeds between 267 and 322 kmph (166-200 mph) EF-5: Incredible winds with speeds over 322 kmph (200 mph)

Do you have tornadoes where you live? Learn How to Stay Safe from Tornadoes!

This map layer features U.S. tornado track data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration between 1980 and 2022. This very large dataset has been filtered to visualize large and violent tornado tracks from EF-3 to EF-5 tornadoes that occurred between 2000 and 2017.

Want to learn more about tornadoes? Check out Forces of Nature.

This ranking shows the ten deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history, ranked by the death toll of their victims. The deadliest tornado of all time in the United States was the Tri-State Tornado on March 18, 1925 in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. It killed 695 people and injured over 2,000.

Tornadoes cause loss of life and damage to property each year in the United States and around the world. The largest impacts come from ‘outbreaks’ consisting of multiple tornadoes closely spaced in time. Here we find an upward trend in the annual mean number of tornadoes per US tornado outbreak for the period 1954–2014. Moreover, the variance of this quantity is increasing more than four times as fast as the mean. The mean and variance of the number of tornadoes per outbreak vary according to Taylor’s power law of fluctuation scaling (TL), with parameters that are consistent with multiplicative growth. Tornado-related atmospheric proxies show similar power-law scaling and multiplicative growth. Path-length-integrated tornado outbreak intensity also follows TL, but with parameters consistent with sampling variability. The observed TL power-law scaling of outbreak severity means that extreme outbreaks are more frequent than would be expected if mean and variance were independent or linearly related.

This table contains a summary of the number of tornadoes by hour (24 hour time) for the United States. The table also provides summary statistics for fatalities, injuries, magnitude, and crop losses by hour. The data should be downloaded and used in a spreadsheet program like Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets. Data is derived from Tornado data from the National Weather Service.

A database of verified tornado tracks across Canada has been created covering the 30-year period from 1980 to 2009. The tornado data have undergone a number of quality control checks and represent the most current knowledge of past tornado events over the period. However, updates may be made to the database as new or more accurate information becomes available. The data have been converted to a geo-referenced mapping file that can be viewed and manipulated using GIS software.

This statistic shows the number of natural disasters that occurred in the United States from 1900 to 2016, by type of disaster. There have been 24 heat waves in the United States from 1900 to 2016.

Natural disasters in the United States

The United States ranks second among countries with the most natural disasters. In 2015, a total of 22 natural disasters occurred in the U.S. Only China, with a total of 36 disasters in 2015, suffered from more natural disasters.

Most natural disasters on U.S. territory are of meteorological nature. For example: during the period from 1900 to 2016, about 106 tropical cyclones hit the U.S. coast. During that period 40 earthquakes and 2 tsunamis hit the U.S. A total of 13.5 million people were directly affected by the aforementioned 106 tropical cyclones.

Tornadoes also frequently affect the United States. In 2016, the U.S. was struck by about 971 tornadoes. Tornadoes are more common in the United States than in any other country. Tornadoes mostly strike east of the Rocky Mountains, in the so-called “Tornado Alley” stretching from northern Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Most of the storms occurred during tornado season, which lasts from March to August. In 2015, tornadoes caused economic damages totaling about 320 million U.S. dollars.

Aside from meteorological disasters, wildfires also cause a formidable amount of economic damage in the United States, destroying property and threatening lives. In 2016, there were about 68 thousand wildfires in the United States.

Although tornadoes can occur throughout the year, prime time for twisters in the U.S. is spring and early summer. Larger symbols show more violent tornadoes. Zoom into the map to see approximate tornado tracks.

This map layer shows tornado tracksin the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, from 1950 to 2013. Statistical data were obtained from the National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center (SPC).

These data include all tropical cyclone tornado reports used in Paredes et al. (2021) plus an additional year (e.g., 2020). These data will not be updated regularly. For the latest version, users should refer to https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/edwards/TCTOR/ or contact roger.edwards@noaa.gov.

Each specific tropical cyclone tornado record has been extracted from the broader Storm Prediction Center tornado database, for all Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico tropical cyclones to affect the continental United States from 1995–2020. The tornado records were analyzed individually to determine their presence within the circulation envelope of either a classified or remnant tropical cyclone, without regard to fixed radii from tropical cyclone center, inland extent, temporal cutoffs before or after landfall, or other such arbitrary thresholds that may either exclude tropical cyclone events or include non-tropical cyclone tornadoes unnecessarily. Unlike other climatologies previously published in the literature, the chosen time period for this examination essentially covers only the full national deployment of the WSR-88D radar network in the United States. This permits consistent comparisons of a very large sample size of tropical cyclone tornado events (>1600) during the era of modernized National Weather Service warning and verification practices.