A tornado near Anadarko, Oklahoma, in 1999Tornadoes are violently rotating columns of air that are in contact with the Earth and either a cumulonimbus or a cumulus cloud. Tornadoes are often referred to as twisters, whirlwinds, or cyclones. While most tornadoes attain winds of less than 110 miles per hour (180 km/h), are about 250 feet (80 m) across, and travel a few miles (several kilometers), the wind speeds in the most intense tornadoes can reach 300 miles per hour (480 km/h), are more than two miles (3 km) in diameter, and stay on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 km). Various types of tornadoes include the multiple vortex tornado, landspout, and waterspout. Other tornado-like phenomena that exist in nature include the gustnado, dust devil, fire whirl, and steam devil. Most tornadoes occur in North America (in the United States and Canada), concentrated in a region nicknamed the Tornado Alley. Tornadoes also occur in South America, South Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
Asquall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed lasting minutes, as opposed to a wind gust, which lasts for only seconds. They are usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to the increase of the sustained winds over that time interval, as there may be higher gusts during a squall event. They usually occur in a region of strong sinking air or cooling in the mid-atmosphere. These force strong localized upward motions at the leading edge of the region of cooling, which then enhances local downward motions just in its wake. (Full article...)
This page documents all tornadoes confirmed by various weather forecast offices of the National Weather Service in the United States during November to December 2018. Based on the 1991–2010 averaging period, 58 tornadoes occur across the United States throughout November while 24 more occur in December.
November saw multiple large outbreaks, the first of which was an extension of an outbreak that began at the end of October while the last one extended into December. December also featured an unusually strong tornado in the state of Washington. November and December finished significantly above average with 88 and 66 tornadoes respectively. However, both months did not have any violent tornadoes, leaving the United States without any tornadoes of such intensity for all of 2018. (Full article...)
Map of tornado warnings and confirmed tornadoes from the outbreak sequence
A multi-day period of significant tornado activity along with significant derechos occurred across the Midwestern United States and the Mississippi Valley as well as an additional tornado in the Canadian province of Quebec. From May 19–27, 2024, two derechos occurred and tornadoes were reported across large portions of the Central United States, with multiple Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) watches issued across the sequence. On May 19, strong tornadoes occurred with isolated supercells in Colorado and Oklahoma while a derecho produced widespread wind damage and weak tornadoes across Kansas into the early morning hours of May 20. Limited tornadic activity took place on May 20, but another outbreak along with widespread damage struck mainly Iowa and Wisconsin on May 21. Five fatalities were confirmed with a large, violent, long-tracked EF4 tornado that went through Greenfield, Iowa. Scattered to widespread severe weather and tornadoes occurred over the next two days, including an EF2 tornado that injured 30 people on the west side of Temple, Texas. Another derecho formed in southwestern Nebraska late on May 23 and moved eastward, producing widespread wind damage and weak tornadoes through Nebraska and Iowa and northwestern Illinois before withering away in the northern part of the state during the morning hours of May 24.
A nocturnal outbreak occurred during the overnight hours of May 25 into May 26. An isolated supercell in northern Texas produced multiple tornadoes, including a low-end EF3 tornado that passed near Valley View, Texas, killing seven people. Another longer-lived supercell moved through northeastern Oklahoma and across northern Arkansas, producing several tornadoes along with straight-line winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). Two fatalities were confirmed from an EF3 tornado that struck Claremore, Oklahoma along with areas near Pryor. Later, it produced a very large EF3 tornado near Decatur, Arkansas, which became the largest tornado ever recorded in Arkansas. Another EF3 tornado killed four people near Olvey and Pyatt while an additional tornadic death occurred with yet another EF3 tornado that passed near Yellville and through Briarcliff. Another supercell in southern Missouri produced a low-end EF3 tornado that passed near Morehouse and through Sikeston, killing one. May 26 would be the most active day of severe weather; several rounds of squall lines and tornadic supercells moved through the Mid-Mississippi and the Ohio Valleys, producing widespread wind damage, large hail, and tornadoes. This included a very destructive, intense high-end EF3 tornado that prompted the issuance of four tornado emergencies across areas that had been previously impacted by the 2021 Western Kentucky tornado. One person was killed by this tornado. Severe weather activity became more isolated and scattered on May 27, marking the end of the outbreak sequence.
In all, 222 tornadoes occurred during the outbreak sequence; 21 people were killed by tornadoes while 10 other people died due to non-tornadic events as well. Over 240 people were injured. (Full article...)
1903 – An F3 tornado hit the west side of Streator, Illinois, killing six people. Five died when the grandstand of a racetrack collapsed, and a guard died at a factory. A farm west of town was completely destroyed.
July 18
1883 – An F3 tornado passed near Hitchcock, South Dakota sweeping away at least one farm house. At least three people, possibly as many as seven, were killed on one farm.
1996 – An F5 tornado hit Oakfield, Wisconsin, destroying 60 homes, 6, businesses, and 2 churches with 4 homes completely swept away. The tornado injured 12 people but killed none. An F2 tornado killed on person in Marytown, Wisconsin.
July 19
1950 – An F3 tornado hit Lima, Ohio, damaging or destroying 300 homes and injuring 30 people.
2018 – A tornado outbreak hit the Upper Midwest with the greatest impacts in Iowa. An EF3 tornado hit the eastern side of Pella, Iowa, causing major damage to the Vermeer Company facility, where 13 people were injured. Another EF3 tornado caused major damage in Marshalltown, Iowa, injuring 22 people. One other person was injured during cleanup.
...that the 2021 South Moravia tornado, an IF4 tornado with winds between 207–260 mph (333–418 km/h), was the strongest tornado to hit the Czech Republic in modern history?
Image 6Radar 3D volume scan of the supercell showing debris lofted over 30,000 feet (9.1 km) in the air as the tornado struck Mayfield (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado)
Image 11High-end EF3 damage to homes in the Creekwood subdivision in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Numerous fatalities occurred in this area. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
Image 14A satellite view of the extratropical cyclone that was responsible for the tornado outbreak on December 11. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
Although historically the U.S.stateofConnecticut is not typically known to fall casualty to tornadoes, more than 100 of these powerful storms have affected the state in modern history, resulting in at least 48 deaths, 780 injuries, and more than $500 million in damage. This list of tornadoes in the state is likely incomplete, as official records date back only to 1950 for tornadoes in the United States.
As with most of the northeastern United States, the number of tornadoes peaks in the summer months, normally in July or August. Hartford County has had the most tornadoes in the state, although since 1950 Litchfield County has reported the most tornadoes. Several areas have been struck more than once, and Waterbury has been struck by no less than four tornadoes since 1955. (Full article...)
WikiProject Weather is the main hub for all articles that are weather-related. WikiProject Weather strives to improve articles in a variety of weather topics, including Tropical Cyclones, Severe Weather, General meteorology, Non-tropical Storms, Climate, Floods, Droughts and wildfires, Meteorological instruments and data, Meteorological Biographies, and Space Weather. If you would like to help, please visit the project talk page.
WikiProject Meteorology is a collaborative effort by dozens of Wikipedians to improve the quality of meteorology- and weather-related articles. If you would like to help, visit the project talk page, and see what needs doing. The project is currently being merged into WikiProject Weather.
WikiProject Tropical cyclones is a daughter project of WikiProject meteorology. The dozens of semi-active members and several full-time members focus on improving Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones.
Wikipedia is a fully collaborative effort by volunteers. So if you see something you think you can improve, be bold and get to editing! We appreciate any help you can provide!
Weather
Oceans
Tsunamis
Energy
Physics
World
Tropical cyclones
Featured Article or List - show another
