Deadliest tornado by year (1950-2006)

HurricaneBill · #1 Postby **HurricaneBill** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:16 am

I decided to make a list of the deadliest tornado for each year. This is made from data in the NCDC database of storm events.

I'm including the date, town/city (preferably the hardest hit), and counties (if no town/city name available). Also included is the tornado's Fujita rating and deaths/injuries.

I'll try to include some photos of each tornado if available.

1950: Feb 12 Logansport, LA F4 18 dead, 77 injured

1951: Sep 26 Waupaca, WI F4 6 dead, 3 injured

1952: Mar 21 Judsonia, AR F4 50 dead, 325 injured
http://jamesmskipper.tripod.com/jamesmskipper/tornado.html

1953: Jun 8 Flint, MI F5 116 dead, 844 injured
http://www.flint.lib.mi.us/gallery/beechertornado/picslideshow/index.shtml

1954: May 30 Lindsay, NE F4 6 dead, 23 injured

1955: May 25 Udall, KS F5 80 dead, 273 injured
http://www.tornadochaser.com/udall/damagephotos.htm

1956: Apr 15 Birmingham, AL F4 25 dead, 200 injured

1957: May 20 Ruskin Heights, MO F5 44 dead, 201 injured
http://www.tornadochaser.com/photo/may1957.gif

1958: Jun 4 Colfax, WI F5 21 dead, 74 injured
http://webpages.charter.net/colfaxpl/Tornado.html

1959: Feb 10 St. Louis, MO F4 21 dead, 345 injured

1960: May 5 Wilburton, OK F4 16 dead, 106 injured

1961: May 5 Howe, OK F4 16 dead, 58 injured

1962: Mar 31 Milton, FL F3 17 dead, 100 injured
http://www.kimandmikeontheroad.com/milton_tornado_of_1962.htm

1963: Apr 29 Lula, MS F3 5 dead, 10 injured

1964: Oct 3 Larose, LA F4 22 dead, 165 injured

1965: Apr 11 Dunlap, IN F4 36 dead, 321 injured
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/ind/Huffman.gif

1966: Mar 3 Jackson, MS F5 58 dead, 518 injured

1967: Apr 21 Oak Lawn, IL F4 33 dead, 500 injured

1968: May 15 Jonesboro, AR F4 35 dead, 364 injured

1969: Jan 23 Hazelhurst, MS F4 32 dead, 241 injured

1970: May 11 Lubbock, TX F5 26 dead, 500 injured
http://www.lubbockonline.com/tornado/gallery

1971: Feb 21 Pugh City, MS F4 58 dead, 795 injured

1972: (tie) Apr 5 Vancouver, WA F3 6 dead, 300 injured

(tie) Jun 18 Okeechobee City, FL F2 6 dead, ? injured

1973: (tie) Mar 31 Abbeville, SC F4 7 dead, 30 injured

(tie) May 27 Brent, AR F4 7 dead, 199 injured
http://www.brenttornado.com/html/pictures.html

1974: Apr 3 Xenia, OH F5 36 dead, 1150 injured
http://snrs.unl.edu/amet451/kozisek/xenia%20tornado.jpg
http://www.xeniatornado.com

1975: Jan 10 McComb, MS F4 9 dead, 210 injured

1976: Mar 29 Cabot, AR F3 5 dead, 64 injured
http://asms.k12.ar.us/armem/henrichs

1977: Apr 4 Smithfield, AL F5 22 dead, 130 injured
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/significant_events/1977/smithfield/index.php

1978: Jun 17 Lake Pomona, KS F1 16 dead, 3 injured
http://www.tornadochaser.com/photo/pomona5.gif

1979: Apr 10 Wichita Falls, TX F4 42 dead, 1740 injured
http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/700s/nssl0076.jpg

1980: May 13 Kalamazoo, MI F3 5 dead, 79 injured

1981: Apr 19 Bixby, OK F3 5 dead, 49 injured

1982: (tie) Apr 2 Paris, TX F4 10 dead, 170 injured

(tie) May 29 Marion, IL F4 10 dead, 181 injured
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/1982/images/pictures.jpg

1983: Apr 9 Inverness, FL F3 3 dead, 2 injured

1984: Mar 28 Greenville, NC F4 16 dead, 153 injured

1985: May 31 Niles, OH F5 18 dead, 310 injured
http://www.may311985tornadoes.com/Main_Page/108_Village_Plaza_T.jpg

1986: July 2 Jacksonville, NC F2 3 dead, 10 injured

1987: May 22 Saragosa, TX F4 30 dead, 121 injured
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309044359/html/images/p200046c4g60001.jpg

1988: Nov 15 Scott, AR F2 5 dead, 60 injured

1989: Nov 15 Huntsville, AL F4 21 dead, 463 injured

1990: Aug 28 Plainfield, IL F5 29 dead, 350 injured

1991: Apr 26 Andover, KS F5 17 dead, 225 injured
http://www.tornadochaser.com/photo/andoverter.gif

1992: Nov 22 Brandon, MS F4 12 dead, 122 injured

1993: Apr 24 Tulsa, OK F4 7 dead, 100 injured
http://www.k5kj.net/ChaseEvents/1993/19930424/tulsa1a.jpg (The tornado is rain-wrapped)

1994: Mar 27 Piedmont, AL F4 22 dead, 150 injured
http://www.annistonstar.com/www/as/palm/images/tornado.jpg

1995: Feb 16 Joppa, AL F3 6 dead, 130 injured

1996: Apr 14 Allison, AR F4 7 dead, 35 injured

1997: May 27 Jarrell, TX F5 27 dead, 12 injured
http://homepages.vvm.com/~curtis/Jarrell/BigJar.gif

1998: Apr 8 Oak Grove, Alabama F5 32 dead, 259 injured

1999: May 3 Moore, Oklahoma F5 36 dead, 583 injured
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/newsletter/spring2004/ambertornado.jpg

2000: (tie) Feb 13 Camilla, GA F3 11 dead, 175 injured

(tie) Dec 16 Tuscaloosa, AL F4 11 dead, 144 injured

2001: Feb 24 Pontotoc, MS F3 6 dead, 74 injured

2002: (tie) Nov 10 Saragossa, AL F3 7 dead, 53 injured

(tie) Nov 10 Wartburg, TN F3 7 dead, 28 injured

2003: May 4 Jackson, TN F4 11 dead, 86 injured

2004: Apr 20 Utica, IL F3 8 dead, 12 injured
http://members.cox.net/jondavies3/042004ilin/uticator_sml.gif

2005: Nov 6 Evansville, IN F3 25 dead, 230 injured
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/Image/pah/evvtor/Webcampic.jpg

2006: Apr 2 Newbern, TN F3 16 dead, 70 injured

#2 Postby **MississippiHurricane** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:56 am

link for Brandon ms Tornado (Middle of page) http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/events/brandon2002.html

#3 Postby **TampaFl** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:45 am

You forgot to add the central Florida Tornados of Feb. 23, 1998 which killed 42 & injured 260 people. There were 3 confirmed F 3 tornados. See link below:

NOAA/ NWS REPORT

NWS Melbourne Report

#4 Postby **CrazyC83** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 5:41 pm

TampaFl wrote:You forgot to add the central Florida Tornados of Feb. 23, 1998 which killed 42 & injured 260 people. There were 3 confirmed F 3 tornados. See link below:

NOAA/ NWS REPORT

NWS Melbourne Report

I believe these are single tornadoes, not outbreaks, that are being considered.

HarlequinBoy · #5 Postby **HarlequinBoy** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:43 pm

Newbern/April 2, 2006 Outbreak

^That link includes information on the Newbern/Dyer County Tornado of April 2, 2006.

#6 Postby **MGC** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:11 pm

I lived in Brandon MS in 1992 when the F-4 hit about 1 mile from my house. As I recall there was no warning by the Jackson WFO. The Jackson office was still using the old radar and as I recall the tornado was rain wrapped and didn't display the hook echo. The tornado was nearly 1 mile in diameter in parts of east Brandon. One of my son's fellow Cub Scouts was killed.....MGC

#7 Postby **MississippiHurricane** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 2:25 am

wow........sorry to hear that. I was in Elizabethtown KY when that happened. I was born here in 84 then right after moved to KY then moved back down here in 93. We have had a few big ones here, but the bad part is were always seem to get the worst ones at night and with them being rain wrapped dont help either

#8 Postby **Aslkahuna** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:12 am

The Flint MI tornado in 1953 was barely ahead of the Waco tornado of the same year which killed over 100 tore downtown Waco apart. A day after the Flint tornado the same storm system spawned a tornadic thunderstorm with the tornado hitting Worcester MA killing 93. The year was one of the deadliest for tornadoes and ironically the first year of operation of what is now SPC.

The Larose LA tornado in 1964 occurred in the outer squall band of incoming hurricane Hilda.

Steve

Lindaloo · #9 Postby **Lindaloo** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:45 am

Wasn't there a tornado that flattened Jarrell, Texas?

HurricaneBill · #10 Postby **HurricaneBill** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 3:29 pm

Lindaloo wrote:Wasn't there a tornado that flattened Jarrell, Texas?

Yep, see 1997.

Lindaloo · #11 Postby **Lindaloo** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:22 pm

Thanks Bill.

Lindaloo · #12 Postby **Lindaloo** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:24 pm

Is this a double image or is this two tornadoes at once??

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/ind/Huffman.gif

#13 Postby **Aslkahuna** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:11 am

That's a classic image from the 1965 Palm Sunday outbreak.

Steve

isobar · #14 Postby **isobar** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 3:09 pm

That image taken in Dunlap, IN in Elkhart County has been my background page for the last couple months. Never fails to take my breath away when logging on.

It's interesting that so many of the deadliest tornadoes have occurred outside of the traditional tornado alley, many occurring in the deep south. When I have time, I'd like to research how many occurred at night, how many were rain-wrapped in a HP, how many struck mobile homes, etc.

I'm convinced that "tornado alley" is a lot bigger than the central plains.

Lindaloo · #15 Postby **Lindaloo** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 4:14 pm

I agree Donna. Enterprise and Lady Lake and Deland Florida are nowhere near tornado alley.

#16 Postby **Aslkahuna** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:39 pm

Yet FL is in the top Five for average number of tornadoes per year.

Steve

HurricaneBill · #17 Postby **HurricaneBill** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 5:38 pm

I edited my first post to include a deadly tornado not included in the NCDC database.

The tornado in question is an F2 that struck Okeechobee City, FL on June 18th, killing 6. The tornado had been spawned by Hurricane Agnes. However, the deaths were listed as due to "windstorms". It was stated that there were no tornado-related deaths due to Agnes. However, there were in fact 7 fatalities due to tornadoes spawned by Agnes.

You can read more here about Hurricane Agnes's "forgotten outbreak".

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mlb/agnes30.html

#18 Postby **Stephanie** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:18 pm

Great list Bill! Thanks for putting it together and for everyone else who added to it.

Scary, scary stuff! Never been through or near one (there have been F0's and F1's in NJ) and I hope I never am!

HurricaneBill · #19 Postby **HurricaneBill** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:30 am

Added a photo of the F4 tornado that ravaged Piedmont, AL in 1994.

Deadliest tornado by year (1950-2006)

Deadliest tornado by year (1950-2006)

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