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.

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.

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.

Tornadoes in North America

Magnitude, Fatalities, Injuries, and Crop Loss Data

By Homeland Infrastructure Foundation [source]

About this dataset

This dataset compiles historical data on tornadoes in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands – providing a critical resource to researchers and policy-makers alike. Obtained from the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center (SPC), it contains an intricate wealth of information that sheds light onto patterns of tornado outbreaks across time & geographical space yielding insights into factors like magnitude, fatalities/injuries caused and losses incurred by these devastating weather disasters. With attributes such as Start Longitude/Latitude, End Longitude/Latitude, Day of Origin & Time Zone – this dataset will enable a comprehensive analysis of changes over time in regards to both intensity & frequency for those interested in studying climate change and its impact on extreme weather events such as tornadoes. For disaster management personnel dealing with natural hazards like floods or hurricanes - a familiarity with this dataset can help identify areas prone to frequent storms - thereby empowering proactive measures towards their mitigation.*

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How to use the dataset

This dataset contains historical tornado tracks in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The data was obtained from the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center (SPC). It includes thirty-seven columns of statistics which you can use to analyze when, where, and how frequently tornadoes occur in North America over time.

Research Ideas

• Creating a tornado watch and warning system using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to track and predict the path of dangerous storms.
• Developing an insurance system that gives detailed information on historical data related to natural disasters including tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, etc., in order to better assess risk levels for insuring homes and businesses in vulnerable areas.
• Developing an app that provides real-time notifications for potential tornadoes by utilizing the dataset's coordinates and forecasting data from the National Weather Service (NWS). The app could even provide shelter locations near users based on their current location ensuring that people are aware of potential active threats nearby them quickly increasing safety levels as much as possible when these hazardous events occur

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. Data Source

License

License: Dataset copyright by authors - You are free to: - Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially. - Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. - You must: - Give appropriate credit - Provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. - ShareAlike - You must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. - Keep intact - all notices that refer to this license, including copyright notices.

Columns

File: Historical_Tornado_Tracks.csv | Column name | Description | |:--------------|:-------------------------------------| | OM | Origin Mode (Point or Line) (String) | | YR | Year (Integer) | | MO | Month (Integer) | | DY | Day (Integer) | | DATE | Date (String) | | TIME | Time (String) | | TZ | Time Zone (String) | | ST | State (String) | | STF | FIPS State Code (String) | | STN | State Name (String) | | MAG | Magnitude (Integer) | | INJ | Injuries (Integer) | | FAT | Fatalities (Integer) | | LOSS | Loss (Integer) | | CLOSS | Crop Loss (Integer) | | SLAT | Starting Latitude (Float) | | SLON | Starting Longitude (Float) | | ELAT | Ending Latitude (Float) | | ELON | Ending Longitude (Float) | | LEN | Length of Track (Float) ...

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."

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.

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. Accuracy or probability of detection (POD) is the percentage of time a tornado actually occurred in an area that was covered by a tornado warning. The difference between the accuracy percentage figure and 100% represents the percentage of events occurring without warning. 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.

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.

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of Tornadoes Youth Sports

This table contains the number of tornadoes by month for the United States. Each month also has summary statistics for fatalities, injuries, magnitude, and crop loss. 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.

Introduction

Tornadoes frequently occur in the United States, resulting in vast destruction and often injuries and death. They occur more often in the United States and Canada than in other countries with the most tornado-prone regions in the US being the central and southeastern states along a corridor sometimes called "Tornado Alley."

A tornado's destructiveness is derived largely from the wind speed within it. For this reason, meteoroligists rate tornadoes using a scale based on wind speed. In the US, tornadoes were originally rated on the Fujita Scale, and since February 2007 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The two scales cover slightly different speed ranges, but for practical purposes are the same. The enhanced Fujita scale is shown below.

The Enhance Fujita Scale

Origin

This dataset was derived from a dataset produced by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center. The primary changes made to create this dataset were the deletion of some columns, change of some data types, and sorting by date.

Column Definitions

• yr - 4-digit year
• mn - Month (1-12)
• dy - Day of month
• date - Datetime object (e.g. 1950-01-01)
• st - State where tornado originated; 2-digit abbreviation
• mag - F rating thru Jan 2007; EF rating after Jan 2007 (-9 if unknown rating)
• inj - Number of injuries
• fat - Number of fatalities
• slat - Starting latitude in decimal degrees
• slon - Starting longitude in decimal degrees
• elat - Ending latitude in decimal degrees (value of 0 if missing)
• elon - Ending longitude in decimal degrees (value of 0 if missing)
• len - Length of track in miles
• wid - Width in yards

References

NOAA Storm Prediction Center WIkipedia - Tornado Wikipedia - Fujita Scale Wikipedia - Enhanced Fujita Scale

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.

Tornadoes are columns of air that spin at a high rate of speed. They are small in scale but can be very violent. The area affected by a tornado's passage is between about 40 and 400 metres in width and between 1.7 and 36 kilometres in length. During a tornado the damage is due to wind as well as an extremely sudden drop in pressure. Tornadoes vary in intensity, measured on the Fujita or F scale, graduated from 0 to 5 based on the level of damage. The main season for tornadoes is from April to October, and every province is subject to the risk of tornadoes. This layer shows some of the major tornadoes that happened in Canada since the beginning of the 20th century to 1999.

Data includes location touchdown points and corresponding dates of Tornadoes in Pennsylvania from 1950 to 2004, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center (SPC). Data originates from the Severe Thunderstorm Database and the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration Storm Data publication.

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.

The State of the Climate is a collection of periodic summaries recapping climate-related occurrences on both a global and national scale. The State of the Climate Monthly Overview - National Tornadoes provides a summary of tornadic activity in the United States. Tornado occurrences and significant events, including storms and outbreaks, are covered. Regular monthly and annual reports begin in July 2008. Spring "tornado seaso" reports are available for 2006 and 2008. In some months during climatologically inactive periods, the narrative part of this report may be omitted.

Tornado activity in the United States increased in 2024, with 1,910 reported in the country. May 2024 was the month with the highest reported tornadoes, at 576 events. This month marks a transition from spring to summer, where the change in temperatures creates optimal conditions for tornado activity.

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.

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of Tornadoes Running Club Inc.

Tornado paths and starting/touchdown points in Oakland County, Michigan circa 1953-2015. Data provided by NOAA, OCIT, and Matt Malone of Farmington Hills GIS. Originally published as April 2017 Map of the Month