Tornado Trends & Research
Patterns across every recorded U.S. tornado since 1950. Explore a specific area:
Recorded tornadoes71,808
Strongest on recordEF5
Longest path234.7 mi
Widest path4,576 yd
Injuries (total)99,005
Fatalities (total)6,273
What the records show
- Activity peaks in May — the heart of the U.S. severe season.
- Most tornadoes were recorded during the afternoon (based on the 71,748 of 71,808 records with a reported time).
- The most-recorded decade was the 2000s — though earlier decades have less complete records.
- Date range on record: January 3, 1950 to December 29, 2024.
By month (seasonality)
1931Jan
2057Feb
5011Mar
10296Apr
15753May
13018Jun
7362Jul
5053Aug
3592Sep
2924Oct
2787Nov
2024Dec
By time of day
284512a
24343a
26486a
42909a
1202612p
235913p
177456p
61699p
71,748 of 71,808 records include a reported time.
By decade
4793'50
6811'60
8579'70
8195'80
12136'90
12719'00
11924'10
6651'20
By EF rating
32810EF0
24539EF1
9903EF2
2628EF3
591EF4
59EF5
1278Unknown
Coming soon: weather context (temperature, setup) requires a separate meteorological dataset and isn't part of the SPC tornado records shown here.