Violent Tornadoes

Tornadoes rated EF4 or EF5, with damage-based wind estimates of 166 mph or higher, are typically considered violent in the United States. Prior to 2007, the ratings are F4 and F5. There have been 638 such tornadoes rated since 1950.

Violent tornadoes by state

In the modern record, the top five states for these meanest of twisters are Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Kansas, and Alabama. (note: these counts include EF4/5 that crossed state boundaries once for each state)

Recent violent tornadoes

So far, there has been one EF4 in 2022. It happened in and around Winterset, Iowa on March 5.

Three violent tornadoes occurred in 2021 — all were EF4. The first was in Georgia on March 25. In December, one crossed from Arkansas through Missouri and into Tennessee. Another struck Kentucky the same day.

The six violent tornadoes that happened in 2020 were all EF4. A violent tornado hit Baxter, Tennessee in the pre-dawn March 3. Two occurred in Mississippi on April 12, as did one in South Carolina during the early morning of April 13. On April 19, another EF4 struck Mississippi in and around Hurricane Creek. Dalton, Minnesota was the sight of the final EF4 of the year on July 8.

Doppler-era violent tornadoes

From 1995-2021 the average is 6.2 violent tornadoes per year.

Doppler era’s biggest season for violent tornadoes was 2011, when 23 were documented. 2018 became the first year in the modern record to have zero violent tornadoes tallied.

Pre-doppler violent tornadoes

The average of the pre-doppler period is 10.5 violent tornadoes per year. 1974 holds the modern record, with 36 F4 and F5 tornadoes in that year alone.

Deaths from tornadoes, 1950-2019

Through 2019 (the most recent year with full info from SPC), violent tornadoes accounted for 63 percent of tornado fatalities despite making up only one percent of all tornadoes. This is out of a total of 65,162 tornadoes on the books for the period, with total deaths of 5,932.

Days with the most violent tornadoes

Four dates have witnessed 10 or more violent tornado touchdowns. 4/3/1974 with 30, 4/11/1965 with 17, 4/27/2011 with 15 and 3/21/1952 with 10. 11 dates have seen five or more violent tornadoes and 23 have had four or more such touchdowns.

Statistics are based off the Storm Prediction Center tornado database. 2021 numbers are preliminary and thus not included in the averages noted even though they are included in the graphics. Preliminary 2022 numbers can be found at Wikipedia. This page is undergoing development, and last updated March 20, 2022.