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U.S. Tornadoes

1840: May 6, Natchez, Miss.: tornado struck heart of the city, killing 317 and injuring over 1,000.
1880: April 18, Marshfield, Mo.: series of 24 tornadoes demolished city, killing 99 people.
1884: Feb. 19, Miss., Ala., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Ky., Ind.: series of 60 tornadoes caused estimated 800 deaths.
1890: March 27, Louisville, Ky.: twister hit community and caused 76 deaths.
1896: May 27, eastern Mo. and southern Ill.: series of 18 tornadoes; 1 tornado destroyed large section of St. Louis, Mo., killing 255.
1899: June 12, New Richmond, Wis.: tornado struck while circus was in town, causing 117 deaths.
1902: May 18, Goliad, Tex.: tornado killed 114.
1903: June 1, Gainesville, Holland, Ga.: twister caused 98 deaths.
1905: May 10, Snyder, Okla.: tornado killed 97.
1908: April 24–25, La., Miss., Ala., Ga.: 18 tornadoes resulted in 310 deaths (143 of these caused by 1 tornado that moved from Amite, La. to Purvis, Miss.).
: April 24, Natchez, Miss.: twister struck, causing 91 deaths.
1913: March 23, eastern Nebr. and western Iowa: Easter Sunday: 8 tornadoes resulted in 181 deaths (103 in Omaha, Nebr.).
1917: May 26, Mattoon, Ill.: tornado smashed area, causing 101 deaths.
1920: April 20, Starkville, Miss.; Waco, Ala.: tornado killed 88.
1924: June 28, Lorain, Sandusky, Ohio: tornado swept through cities, causing 85 deaths.
1925: March 18, Mo., Ill., Ind.: the “Tri-State Tornado” was the most violent single twister in U.S. history. It caused the deaths of 695 people and injured over 2,000. Property damage was estimated at $16.5 million.
1927: May 9, Poplar Bluff, Mo.: twister killed 98.; Sept. 29, St. Louis, Mo.: a five-minute tornado ripped through the city and caused 79 deaths.
1932: March 21–22, Ala., Miss., Ga., Tenn.: outbreak of 33 tornadoes killed 334 (268 in Ala.).
1936: April 5–6, Deep South: series of 17 tornadoes; 216 killed in Tupelo, Miss., and 203 killed in Gainesville, Ga.
1944: June 23, W. Va., Pa., Md.: 4 tornadoes caused 153 deaths.
1947: April 9, Woodward, Okla.: tornado demolished town, killing 181.
1952: March 21–22, Ark. and Tenn.: 28 tornadoes caused 204 deaths.
1953: May 11, Waco, Tex.: a single tornado killed 114.; June 8, Flint, Mich.: tornado killed 115.; June 9, Worcester, Mass.: tornado hit town, killing 90.
1955: May 25, Udall, Kans.: tornado killed 80.
1965: April 11–12, Midwest–Great Lakes region: tornadoes in Iowa, Ill., Ind., Ohio, Mich., and Wis. caused 256 deaths.
1967: April 21, northern Ill., also Mo., Iowa, lower Mich.: series of 52 tornadoes caused 58 deaths.
1971: Feb. 21, Miss., La., Ark., Tenn.: series of 10 tornadoes resulted in 121 deaths.
1974: April 3–4: a series of 148 twisters within 16 hours comprised the deadly “Super Tornado Outbreak” that struck 13 states in the East, South, and Midwest. Before it was over, 330 died and 5,484 were injured in a damage path covering more than 2,500 mi.
1979: April 10, northern Tex. and southern Okla.: 11 tornadoes caused 59 deaths.
1984: March 28, N.C. and S.C.: 22 tornadoes caused 57 deaths.
1985: May 31, Pa. and Ohio: 27 tornadoes resulted in 75 deaths. Estimated damages were $450 million.
1990: Aug. 28, northern Ill.: fast-moving tornado struck the southwest suburbs of Chicago, killing 29 and injuring more than 300.
1992: Nov. 21–23, southeast Tex. to Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley: total of 94 tornadoes caused 26 deaths and $291 million in damage.
1994: March 27, Ala., Ga., and N.C.: Palm Sunday tornado outbreak resulted in 42 deaths and 320 injuries. Property damages reached $107 million. Twenty people died and 90 were injured when a tornado caused the roof of a church near Piedmont, Ala., to collapse.
1997: May 27, central Tex.: multiple tornadoes, including one particularly strong twister that devastated the town of Jarrell, caused 29 deaths and an estimated $20 million in damage.
1999: Jan. 17–22, Tenn. and Ark.: a series of tornadoes left 17 dead. Damages were estimated at $1.3 billion.; May 3, Okla. and Kans.: unusually large twister, thought to have been a mile wide at times, killed 44 people and injured at least 748. A separate tornado killed another 5 and injured about 150 in Kans. Damages totaled at least $1 billion.
2000: Feb. 14, southwest Ga.: at least 5 tornadoes struck southwest Ga., killing 19 people and injuring over 100.
2002: Nov. 9–11, central and southeast U.S.: series of more than 70 tornadoes across 9 states from Miss. to Pa. killed 36 people.
2003: May 1–10, southern and midwestern U.S.: more than 400 tornadoes in 10 days killed 42.
2006: March–April, plains, Tenn, and Ohio valley, U.S.: more than 500 tornadoes killed 47 people in the 2–month period.
2007: March 1, Ala., Minn., Miss., and Ga.: a series of tornados killed about 20 people, including eight high school students.; May 7, Kan.: ten people died in a Category F-5 tornado that completely wiped out a small Kansas farming town.
2008: Jan. 7–8, Ark., Ill., Mo., and Wis.: a series of tornados caused by record-breaking temperatures killed at least six people, including two children, destroyed houses, and flooded roads.; Feb. 5–6, Tenn., Ark., Ala., Ky., and Mo.: 47 people are killed and hundreds more injured after violent tornadoes rip through the southern United States. According to emergency officials, the victims include 24 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, 7 in Kentucky, and 3 in Alabama.; March 14–15, Georgia: two people are killed and at least 30 people are injured when violent tornadoes strike Atlanta and northwestern counties of Georgia including Polk County and Floyd County. The storms cause damage to the CNN Center, the Georgia Dome, and the Convention Center in Atlanta, and leave thousands of homes without power statewide.; May 1–2, Arkansas: seven people are killed and 13 more injured in Arkansas when storms hit 16 counties Thursday night and Friday morning.; May 11, Okla., Mo., Ga.: more than 20 people die and hundreds more are injured when tornadoes hit Missouri, Oklahoma, and Georgia. Racine, a town about 170 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri saw the most damage, leaving about 9,000 people without electricity for over three days.

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Related content from HighBeam Research on: U.S. Tornadoes

Evolution of the U.S. Tornado Database: 1954-2003 (Weather and Forecasting)

A record year? 'U.S. Tornado--Catastrophe Review' reveals that the number of twisters in the first quarter of 2008 has surpassed the previous four-year average.(A.M. Best Special Report)(Financial report) (Best's Review)

Central U.S. weathers unseasonal tornadoes. (National Report). (Claims)

The correlation between U.S. tornadoes and Pacific Sea surface temperatures (Monthly Weather Review)

THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF DISASTER: AN ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING U.S. TORNADO FATALITIES AND INJURIES, 1998-2000* (Demography)

Gone with the wind: last spring, the most savage tornadoes in U.S. history blew away trees, cars, and houses.(Earth science: weather) (Science World)

The deadliest U.S. tornadoes.(weatherfront)(Brief Article)(Illustration) (Weatherwise)

A disastrous cyclone in Myanmar, a high-intensity earthquake in China and a series of tornados through the U.S. mid-section hit within days of each other in May, prompting outgoing stated clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and another top Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) executive, Linda Bryant Valentine, to urge prayers focusing on the theme of Psalm 46: "God is our refuge and strength.".(Briefly noted)(disaster relief)(Brief article) (The Christian Century)

Industry responds to costliest-ever U.S. tornado loss (Rough Notes)

Storms to cost U.S. insurers more than US$1.55 billion (Canadian Underwriter)

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