Portal:Tornadoes

The 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, was a deadly tornado outbreak which affected the Southern United States and the lower Ohio Valley on February 5 and 6, 2008. The event began on Super Tuesday, while 24 states in the United States were holding primary elections and caucuses to select the presidential candidates for the upcoming presidential election. Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Alabama, and Tennessee were among the affected regions in which primaries were being held. Some voting locations were forced to close early due to the approaching severe weather.

The outbreak generated 87 tornadoes over 15 hours from the afternoon of February 5 until the early morning of February 6. The storm system produced several destructive tornadoes in heavily populated areas, most notably in the Memphis metropolitan area, in Jackson, Tennessee, and the northeastern end of the Nashville metropolitan area. (Full article...)

A high risk severe weather event is the greatest threat level issued by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) for convective weather events in the United States. On the scale from one to five, a high risk is a level five. A high risk is usually for major tornado outbreaks with numerous strong to violent tornadoes expected, and occasionally derechos with widespread destructive wind gusts, and these outlooks are typically reserved for the most extreme events. They are generally only issued on the day of the event. However, there have been three occurrences (April 7, 2006, April 14, 2012, and March 15, 2025) of a high risk being issued for Day 2 of the outlook period (with the event occurring the following day). Under the official protocol, a high risk cannot be issued for Day 3 of the outlook period. (Full article...)

This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1963, primarily in the United States. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due to fewer reports or confirmed tornadoes.

In the late evening hours of May 16, 2025, a large and deadly nocturnal EF4 tornado moved through the Kentucky cities of Somerset and London. The tornado, which was on the ground for almost an hour and a half, killed 19 people and injured 108 others along a 60 mi (97 km) track. The tornado produced damage that was rated EF4 by the National Weather Service in Jackson, Kentucky. This violent tornado occurred as part of a major tornado outbreak that spanned from May 15 to 16.

The supercell that produced this tornado initiated over 400 miles (640 km) away in the south-central Missouri Ozarks region. The supercell produced few tornadoes along its track through Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky, including a small but intense EF3 tornado that brought destructive impacts to the area south of the village of Blodgett, several homes suffered major damage, mobile homes were destroyed, trees were snapped. Two fatalities occurred and ten others were injured. Afterwards, the supercell crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky. The supercell produced a brief EF1 tornado near Lamasco and an EF2 tornado near Allegre, damaging or destroying several mobile homes and outbuildings. After the London tornado dissipated, the supercell eventually got absorbed into the mesoscale convective system.

The tornado first touched down in central Russell County, initially causing minor damage to trees and infrastructure before quickly intensifying to EF3 strength, inflicting major damage to a home near Whittle. The tornado weakened and shrunk after crossing into Pulaski County. After crossing Lake Cumberland, the tornado struck the southern side of Somerset at low-end EF3 intensity, inflicting severe to major damage to several homes and businesses. After leaving the city, the tornado tore through parts of the Daniel Boone National Forest at mid-range EF3 to low-end EF4 intensity, shredding and snapping several trees and destroying a couple of homes as the tornado entered Laurel County. The tornado then impacted the southern side of London at low-end EF4 intensity, inflicting catastrophic destruction to several homes and neighborhoods, resulting in several fatalities. The tornado dissipated shortly after near the community of Lida. The tornado was on the ground for 90 minutes and tracked for 60 miles (97 km). (Full article...)

December 23

• 1921 – A significant tornado outbreak hit the Southeastern United States. An F3 tornado destroyed 40 tenant homes on a plantation, killing two people, before striking Clarkedale, Arkansas. There, four more died in a store while Christmas shopping. An F2 tornado killed five people on plantations between Jonestown and Marks, Mississippi. One other person died when his horse stepped on a downed power line. Just past midnight, another F3 tornado killed one person in Spencer, Louisiana and at least five others (possibly eight) on nearby plantations. Eight more people were killed by tornadoes in the pre-dawn hours of Christmas Eve.
• 2014 – Seven tornadoes touched down in the Southeastern United States. The strongest, rated EF3, heavily damaged or destroyed numerous homes and businesses in Columbia, Mississippi, causing three deaths and 50 injuries. Two others died west of Laurel, Mississippi when an EF2 tornado obliterated a mobile home.
• 2015 – Another major tornado outbreak hit the Southeast. A long-track EF4 tornado killed nine people in northern Mississippi with homes destroyed in and near Holly Springs, Ashland, and Walnut. An EF3 tornado destroyed 33 homes and 2 businesses near Clarksdale and Marks, Mississippi, killing two people and injuring 26. Two others died from an EF2 tornado east of Linden, Tennessee.

December 24

• 1945 – An F2 tornado destroyed several homes, two churches, and a store near Sumrall, Mississippi. Three people died on one home, with one body carried a quarter mile (400 m). Ten people were injured.
• 1982 – Tornadoes struck areas of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. An F3 tornado destroyed most of Rose Bud, Arkansas and severely damaged or destroyed 28 homes in Saltillo, killing one person and injuring seven. An F3 tornado killed one person, and injured his wife, in a trailer south of Eastwood, Missouri. Their house had been destroyed by another tornado at the same location three weeks earlier. Antoher person was killed by an F3 tornado in Woodruff County, Arkansas. A long-track F4 tornado injured 11 people on a path from near Mammoth Spring, Arkansas to Van Buren, Missouri.
• 1988 – An F4 tornado destroyed a 54 homes, 13 apartment units, and 31 businesses in Franklin and Brentwood, Tennessee. One person died when a roof collapsed and seven others were injured. Six parked airplanes were also destroyed.

December 25

• 2012 – A tornado outbreak occurred on Christmas Day across the Deep South, with 31 tornadoes being confirmed from Texas to North Carolina. An EF3 tornado carved a 60-mile (97 km) path through Mississippi, injuring twelve, while an EF2 tornado struck downtown Mobile, Alabama, resulting in several injuries.

• ...that the 12-year gap between the 2013 Moore tornado and the 2025 Enderlin tornado, both of which were rated EF5, was the longest EF5 drought in recorded history?
• ...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?
• ...that five of the six people killed in the 2011 Cullman–Arab tornado were members of the same family?
• ...that Picher, Oklahoma, was hit so hard by a tornado in 2008 that it would become a ghost town in 2015?
• ...that the 2022 Andover tornado injured only three people, despite damaging more than 1,000 buildings?