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The big facts page

150 tornado facts, all checked

Every fact on this site in one place, each linked to its NOAA, Storm Prediction Center, Met Office, TORRO or ESSL source. Our build checks each one against the source text; see the sources page. Things that can change carry the date we checked them.

Jump to: What a tornado is | Kinds of tornado | How tornadoes form | The EF, TORRO and IF scales | Where tornadoes happen | Tornadoes in the UK | Tornadoes in Europe | Watches, warnings and being ready | Forecasting, radar and spotters | History and records

About the numbers

Our sources sometimes put the same thing in different ways, so we say who says what. The Met Office says around 30 tornadoes a year are reported in the UK; TORRO’s own 1981–2010 average is about 36. The Storm Prediction Center gives about 60 US tornado deaths in an average year, while NOAA Education gives an average of 71 a year for 1993–2022. EF-scale winds are 3-second gusts in mph; where we show km/h, we converted them ourselves. Figures that change, such as yearly averages and records, show the date we checked them (31 Oct 2026).

What a tornado is

  1. 1 A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that reaches from a thunderstorm down to the ground. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  2. 2 The Met Office describes a tornado as a rapidly rotating column of air reaching between the base of a storm cloud and the Earth’s surface. Met Office: Tornadoes
  3. 3 By definition, a tornado must touch the ground and a storm cloud at the same time. So “tornado on the ground” says the same thing twice. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  4. 4 A spinning funnel that hangs from the cloud but doesn’t reach the ground is a funnel cloud. Once it touches the ground, it’s a tornado. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  5. 5 Wind is invisible, so you often only see a tornado when it forms a condensation funnel of water droplets, dust and debris. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  6. 6 A tornado can touch the ground without a full funnel. Sometimes the only sign is whirling dust or debris. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  7. 7 A typical tornado is 20 to 100 metres wide, lasts a few minutes and travels around a mile (1.6 km). Met Office: Tornadoes
  8. 8 Typical tornado winds are 75 to 100 mph (120 to 180 km/h). Met Office: Tornadoes
  9. 9 The largest, rarest tornadoes can be over 2 miles (3.2 km) wide, travel over 60 miles (100 km) and have winds above 300 mph (480 km/h). Met Office: Tornadoes
  10. 10 Tornadoes can last from a few seconds to more than an hour, but most last less than 10 minutes. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  11. 11 A typical tornado moves along at around 10–20 mph, but some barely move and others race along at more than 60 mph. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  12. 12 Most tornadoes spin anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere, but not all of them. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  13. 13 People who have been near a tornado say it sounds like a jet engine or a freight train, and is very loud. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  14. 14 Unlike a hurricane, a tornado has no calm “eye”. Instead, it can have several smaller whirls, called subvortices, spinning inside it. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  15. 15 Subvortices usually come in groups of 2 to 5 and last less than a minute each. They can add over 100 mph to the wind. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  16. 16 Tornadoes can look white, grey, black, or even red: it depends on the light behind them and the dust and soil they pick up. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  17. 17 “Wedge” and “rope” are storm-spotters’ words for a tornado’s shape. Shape and size don’t tell you how strong a tornado is. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  18. 18 Tornadoes used to be called cyclones. Today, “cyclone” usually means a much larger weather system. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ

Kinds of tornado

  1. 19 Most tornadoes come from supercells: thunderstorms with a rotating updraft. NOAA NSSL: Types of tornadoes
  2. 20 As few as 20 per cent of supercell thunderstorms actually produce a tornado. NOAA NSSL: Types of tornadoes
  3. 21 Nearly 20% of tornadoes come from long lines of strong thunderstorms (called QLCS). These often happen late at night or early in the morning. NOAA NSSL: Types of tornadoes
  4. 22 A landspout is a tornado with a narrow, rope-like funnel that forms while the storm cloud is still growing. Its spin starts near the ground. NOAA NSSL: Types of tornadoes
  5. 23 A waterspout is a tornado over water. In US records, waterspouts only count as tornadoes if they reach land. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  6. 24 Landspouts and waterspouts usually do damage of EF2 or less. NOAA NSSL: Types of tornadoes
  7. 25 Dust devils are not tornadoes, even though they can do damage. NOAA Education: Tornadoes
  8. 26 TORRO calls dust devils, fire devils and eddies the “lesser whirlwinds”. They form from rising warm air or from wind flowing round obstacles, not from a storm cloud. TORRO: Whirlwinds
  9. 27 A gustnado is a small, usually weak whirl in the gusty wind blowing out of a thunderstorm. It isn’t joined to the cloud above, so it isn’t a tornado. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  10. 28 Hurricanes often produce tornadoes. Hurricane Ivan in 2004 produced a record 118 tornadoes over three days. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ

How tornadoes form

  1. 29 Scientists say the honest answer to “how do tornadoes form?” is that we don’t fully understand. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  2. 30 Forecasters look for four ingredients for tornadic thunderstorms: moisture, instability, lift and wind shear. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  3. 31 Wind shear is when the wind at two different heights blows at different speeds or in different directions. It can start air spinning like a horizontal tube. NOAA NSSL: Types of tornadoes
  4. 32 Rising air in the thunderstorm tilts that spinning tube from horizontal to vertical. NOAA NSSL: Types of tornadoes
  5. 33 Stage 1, storm development: the Sun heats the ground, warm bubbles of air rise, and in an unstable atmosphere they grow into towering cumulonimbus (thunder) clouds. Met Office: Tornadoes
  6. 34 Stage 2, storm organisation: where winds increase strongly with height, the updraught starts to rotate. Thunderstorms with deep, lasting rotation are called supercells. Met Office: Tornadoes
  7. 35 Stage 3, tornado formation: downdraughts help bring the rotation lower until a narrow column of violently rotating air reaches the ground. Met Office: Tornadoes
  8. 36 Stage 4, dissipation: cold downdraughts wrap round the tornado and cut off its warm air. It narrows and dies away. Met Office: Tornadoes
  9. 37 Lift often comes from fronts, drylines and other boundaries between air masses: they push air upwards so storms can start. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  10. 38 The rotating updraft in a supercell, called a mesocyclone, is usually 2–6 miles across: much bigger than the tornado that may form inside it. NOAA NSSL: Tornado detection
  11. 39 A wall cloud is a lowered patch of cloud under the storm’s rain-free base. One that produces a tornado can be there 10–20 minutes before the tornado appears, but not always. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  12. 40 Tornadoes don’t need a hot day. What matters is how the temperature near the ground compares with the air higher up. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  13. 41 A tornado uses only a tiny fraction of a thunderstorm’s energy. It’s dangerous because that energy is squeezed into a small area. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  14. 42 A tornado that narrows can spin faster, just as an ice skater spins faster when they pull their arms in. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ

The EF, TORRO and IF scales

  1. 43 Tornado wind speeds are rarely measured directly. Experts look at the damage and work out what wind speed must have caused it. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  2. 44 Dr Ted Fujita introduced the original Fujita (F) scale in February 1971. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The Enhanced Fujita scale
  3. 45 The Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale, an update by meteorologists and wind engineers, came into use in the USA on 1 February 2007. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: EF scale wind speeds
  4. 46 The EF scale uses 28 damage indicators, such as types of building and trees, each with 8 degrees of damage. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  5. 47 The EF scale is a set of wind estimates (not measurements) based on damage. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: EF scale wind speeds
  6. 48 EF0: 65–85 mph (3-second gust). NOAA Storm Prediction Center: EF scale wind speeds
  7. 49 EF1: 86–110 mph. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: EF scale wind speeds
  8. 50 EF2: 111–135 mph. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: EF scale wind speeds
  9. 51 EF3: 136–165 mph. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: EF scale wind speeds
  10. 52 EF4: 166–200 mph. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: EF scale wind speeds
  11. 53 EF5: over 200 mph. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: EF scale wind speeds
  12. 54 In the USA, a tornado rated EF2 or above counts as “significant”. Any tornado can still do harm. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  13. 55 Old F-scale ratings were not changed: an F5 rated years ago is still an F5. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  14. 56 A strong tornado that crosses open country with little to damage can end up with a low EF rating. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  15. 57 The TORRO scale (T-scale), also called the International Tornado Intensity Scale, was devised in 1972 by Dr Terence Meaden in the UK. TORRO: The TORRO tornado intensity scale
  16. 58 The T-scale is linked to the Beaufort wind scale: Beaufort force B = 2 × (T + 4). TORRO: The TORRO tornado intensity scale
  17. 59 T0 starts at 17–24 metres per second (39–54 mph). The scale runs up to T10 (121–134 m/s, 270–299 mph) and beyond. TORRO: The TORRO tornado intensity scale
  18. 60 On the T-scale, T0–T3 are weak tornadoes, T4–T7 strong and T8–T11 violent. TORRO: The TORRO tornado intensity scale
  19. 61 TORRO describes its T-scale as a true wind-speed scale rather than purely a damage scale. TORRO: The TORRO tornado intensity scale
  20. 62 In Europe, the International Fujita (IF) scale was published on 28 July 2023. ESSL says the US EF scale was built for typical US structures and is hard to use elsewhere. ESSL: The International Fujita scale
  21. 63 Like the EF scale, the IF scale uses damage indicators and degrees of damage. Its ratings run IF0, IF0.5, IF1, IF1.5, IF2, IF2.5, IF3, IF4 and IF5. ESSL: The International Fujita scale
  22. 64 A mobile Doppler radar measured winds of about 301 mph (give or take 20 mph) just above the ground in the 3 May 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado in Oklahoma: the highest winds ever found near Earth’s surface. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  23. 65 Nobody knows the highest wind speed in a tornado: strong tornadoes destroy weather instruments. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ

Where tornadoes happen

  1. 66 About 1,200 tornadoes hit the USA each year. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics · checked 31 Oct 2026
  2. 67 Official US tornado records only go back to 1950, so the true average isn’t known. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  3. 68 “Tornado Alley” is a nickname invented by the media for a broad area of the central USA. Violent tornadoes happen outside it every year. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  4. 69 Tornadoes have been reported in all 50 US states. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  5. 70 Tornadoes happen in many parts of the world, including Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  6. 71 Two of the highest concentrations of tornadoes outside the USA are in Argentina and Bangladesh. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  7. 72 Other tornado-prone areas include the Canadian Prairies, Bangladesh, Britain, north-east Mexico, northern Argentina, southern Brazil and parts of south-west Russia. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  8. 73 North America is the continent where tornadoes happen most often. The most violent ones are rarely seen anywhere except the USA, Canada and Bangladesh. Met Office: Tornadoes
  9. 74 US tornado season moves north through the year: May into early June on the southern Plains, earlier in spring on the Gulf coast, and June or July further north. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  10. 75 Tornadoes can happen at any time of day or night, but most occur between 4 and 9 p.m. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  11. 76 Tornadoes are rare in the Arctic, but one was reported in Inuvik, Canada, on 15 July 2012. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  12. 77 Tornadoes happen in the mountains too: a hiker photographed one at 12,000 feet in Sequoia National Park, California, in 2004. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  13. 78 Rivers, hills and valleys don’t protect towns. The 1925 Tri-State Tornado crossed the Mississippi River. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  14. 79 Tornadoes don’t avoid city centres; city centres are just small targets. Tall buildings don’t stop tornadoes. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ

Tornadoes in the UK

  1. 80 Around 30 tornadoes a year are reported in the UK. Met Office: Tornadoes · checked 31 Oct 2026
  2. 81 TORRO’s 30-year average (1981–2010) is about 36 tornadoes a year in the UK. TORRO: Media information · checked 31 Oct 2026
  3. 82 UK tornadoes are usually small and short-lived, but can damage buildings if they pass over built-up areas. Met Office: Tornadoes
  4. 83 England has one of the highest tornado densities in the world: about 2.2 tornadoes per 10,000 km² a year, compared with 1.3 in the USA (a University of Manchester study). Met Office blog: Tornadoes in the UK (22 Jul 2025)
  5. 84 TORRO notes that the UK has been described as having the highest frequency of reported tornadoes per unit area in the world. TORRO: Tornado background
  6. 85 Most UK tornadoes have winds of up to 72 mph, which is T0 or T1 on the TORRO scale. Met Office blog: Tornadoes in the UK (22 Jul 2025)
  7. 86 UK tornado hotspots: south-central England between Reading and London (peaking near Guildford), a corridor from Bristol through Birmingham to Manchester, and parts of Essex and Suffolk. Met Office blog: Tornadoes in the UK (22 Jul 2025)
  8. 87 UK tornadoes can happen at any time of year, but summer and autumn see the most. Met Office blog: Tornadoes in the UK (22 Jul 2025)
  9. 88 In summer, UK tornadoes often form from single thunderstorms. In cooler months, they tend to form along narrow bands of storms on active cold fronts. Met Office blog: Tornadoes in the UK (22 Jul 2025)
  10. 89 On 23 January 2025, a tornado struck near Newquay in Cornwall, on a cold front linked to Storm Éowyn. Met Office blog: Tornadoes in the UK (22 Jul 2025)
  11. 90 On 23 November 1981, as a cold front swept across England and Wales, more than 100 tornadoes were reported in just over five hours: the largest recorded tornado outbreak in the UK and Europe. (TORRO’s own records count 104 tornadoes.) Met Office blog: Tornadoes in the UK (22 Jul 2025)
  12. 91 TORRO’s extremes list counts 104 tornadoes in the 23 November 1981 outbreak. TORRO: Tornado extremes
  13. 92 The UK’s deadliest tornado struck South Wales in 1913, killing five people. Met Office blog: Tornadoes in the UK (22 Jul 2025)
  14. 93 The UK’s costliest tornado hit Birmingham in July 2005. It lasted about 10 minutes, injured 39 people and did an estimated £40 million of damage along an 11 km path. Met Office blog: Tornadoes in the UK (22 Jul 2025)
  15. 94 The earliest known UK tornado hit London on 23 October 1091, damaging the church of St Mary-le-Bow. TORRO: Tornado extremes
  16. 95 TORRO rates the Welbourn, Lincolnshire tornado of 23 October 1666 (T8–9) as the most intense known in the UK. TORRO: Tornado extremes
  17. 96 The widest UK tornado on TORRO’s list was at Selsey, West Sussex, on 7 January 1998: about 900 metres wide. TORRO: Tornado extremes
  18. 97 The longest UK tornado track on TORRO’s list ran 32 km from Upton to Elsham in Lincolnshire on 19 August 1881. TORRO: Tornado extremes
  19. 98 The Met Office says the UK has little need of tornado warnings, but it works with NOAA in the USA to improve tornado forecasts. Met Office: Tornadoes
  20. 99 TORRO says “mini tornado” is not a recognised term: a tornado is a tornado, whatever its size. TORRO: Media information

Tornadoes in Europe

  1. 100 From 2006 to 2013, an average of at least 278 tornadoes over land, plus about 205 waterspouts, were reported across Europe each year. Groenemeijer & Kühne (2014), A Climatology of Tornadoes in Europe, Monthly Weather Review (ESSL) · checked 31 Oct 2026
  2. 101 In 1917, the scientist Alfred Wegener estimated that Europe gets at least 100 tornadoes a year. The modern records prove him right. Groenemeijer & Kühne (2014), A Climatology of Tornadoes in Europe, Monthly Weather Review (ESSL)
  3. 102 In Europe, tornado reports are densest in western and central Europe, and tornadoes have been reported from almost every region. Groenemeijer & Kühne (2014), A Climatology of Tornadoes in Europe, Monthly Weather Review (ESSL)
  4. 103 Europe’s tornado season peaks in July, with the fewest in December. Groenemeijer & Kühne (2014), A Climatology of Tornadoes in Europe, Monthly Weather Review (ESSL)
  5. 104 In Europe, tornadoes over land are most common between 3 and 4 p.m. local time; waterspouts peak between 9 and 10 a.m. Groenemeijer & Kühne (2014), A Climatology of Tornadoes in Europe, Monthly Weather Review (ESSL)
  6. 105 In 2024, 1,080 tornado reports (including waterspouts) were added to the European Severe Weather Database. ESSL Annual Report 2024 · checked 31 Oct 2026
  7. 106 ESSL runs the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD), which collects quality-controlled reports of severe storms across Europe. ESSL: European Severe Weather Database
  8. 107 Europe has had violent tornadoes too: ESSL lists Montville, France (19 August 1845) among Europe’s IF5 tornadoes. ESSL: Violent tornadoes in Europe
  9. 108 ESSL says the deadliest European tornado of recent decades hit the Ivanovo region of Russia in 1984, killing at least about 70 people. ESSL: FAQ about severe weather

Watches, warnings and being ready

  1. 109 A tornado watch means tornadoes are possible in and near the area. Get ready and keep checking the news. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  2. 110 A tornado warning means a tornado has been reported by spotters or shown by radar. Take shelter now. NOAA NSSL: Tornado basics
  3. 111 In the USA, the Storm Prediction Center issues tornado watches; local National Weather Service offices issue warnings. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  4. 112 A tornado watch typically lasts four to six hours. NOAA NSSL: Tornado forecasting
  5. 113 The best place in a building is the most interior room on the lowest floor, with no windows: below ground if possible. NOAA Education: Tornadoes
  6. 114 Wherever you are, protect your head with your hands and anything handy, such as a coat, book or pillow. NOAA Education: Tornadoes
  7. 115 If you’re outside and can’t get indoors, lie flat in a ditch or low spot in the ground. NOAA Education: Tornadoes
  8. 116 Plan ahead: know where you would shelter at home, at school, at work and when you’re out. NOAA Education: Tornadoes
  9. 117 A mobile home is not a good place to shelter. Pick a nearby sturdy building you can get to quickly. NOAA Education: Tornadoes
  10. 118 Don’t open windows to “equalise pressure”. It wastes precious time and you could be hurt by flying glass. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  11. 119 Never shelter under a motorway bridge. The wind can speed up there and flying debris is blasted underneath. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  12. 120 Cars are easily tossed by tornadoes. Leave the car for a sturdy building if you can. If not, lie flat in a low spot away from the road. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  13. 121 TORRO’s advice is the same in the UK: don’t try to outrun a tornado in a car; shelter in a solid building, or lie flat in a ditch if you’re caught in the open. TORRO: Media information
  14. 122 Flying debris is the biggest danger in a tornado. Keep thick coverings like a mattress, sleeping bags or blankets near your shelter. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  15. 123 Have a family tornado plan, and practise a tornado drill at least once a year. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  16. 124 Signs of a tornado include strong, lasting rotation in the cloud base, whirling dust or debris on the ground, and a loud, continuous roar that doesn’t fade like thunder. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  17. 125 Mobile homes don’t attract tornadoes. They’re just much easier for wind to damage than well-built houses. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  18. 126 After a tornado, stay out of badly damaged buildings until fire officials or an engineer have checked them. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  19. 127 Gustnadoes can still break windows and branches, so keep away from them too. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ

Forecasting, radar and spotters

  1. 128 Forecasters at NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center issue daily outlooks for severe thunderstorms across the USA. NOAA NSSL: Tornado forecasting
  2. 129 Forecasters can say when conditions are right for tornadoes, but not yet exactly when and where one will form, how strong it will be or its precise path. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  3. 130 On radar, a “hook echo” is a hook shape on the back of a storm. It often goes with a mesocyclone and means conditions are right for a tornado. NOAA NSSL: Tornado detection
  4. 131 NSSL discovered the Tornado Vortex Signature (TVS): a tight spin on Doppler radar that can appear several kilometres up before a tornado touches down. NOAA NSSL: Tornado detection
  5. 132 Dual-polarisation radar can spot debris such as leaves and insulation in the air, which is especially useful at night. NOAA NSSL: Tornado detection
  6. 133 In 1973, NSSL researchers used radar to watch the whole life of a tornado, at Union City, Oklahoma. NOAA Education: Tornadoes
  7. 134 The first documented successful tornado forecast was on 25 March 1948, by US Air Force officers Robert Miller and Ernest Fawbush, at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  8. 135 Before 1950, the US Weather Bureau at times discouraged or banned the word “tornado” in forecasts, for fear of causing panic. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  9. 136 Storm spotters are trained volunteers who report what they see to the National Weather Service. In the USA the network is called SKYWARN. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  10. 137 Spotters report live to forecasters. Chasers travel long distances after storms for research, photography or the media. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  11. 138 In the 1980s NSSL tried to put a 55-gallon drum full of instruments, called TOTO, in a tornado’s path. The film Twister was based on that work. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  12. 139 We can’t stop tornadoes. Anything powerful enough to break one up would do more damage than the tornado itself. NOAA NSSL: Tornado FAQ
  13. 140 In the USA, a tornado warning may come as a phone alert, sirens, TV and radio announcements, or NOAA Weather Radio. NOAA Education: Tornadoes

History and records

  1. 141 The deadliest tornado in US history was the Tri-State Tornado of 18 March 1925, which killed 695 people. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  2. 142 The deadliest US tornado year since records began in 1950 was 2011, when tornadoes killed 550 people in 15 states. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ · checked 31 Oct 2026
  3. 143 April 2011 had 817 tornadoes in the USA: the most in any month since 1950. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ · checked 31 Oct 2026
  4. 144 The widest tornado on record was near El Reno, Oklahoma, on 31 May 2013: officially 2.6 miles wide. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ · checked 31 Oct 2026
  5. 145 The costliest tornado on record hit Joplin, Missouri, on 22 May 2011 (EF5), with an estimated $2.8 billion in damage. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ · checked 31 Oct 2026
  6. 146 Ted Fujita and his team surveyed every tornado of the Super Outbreak of 3–4 April 1974 in the USA. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The Enhanced Fujita scale
  7. 147 The earliest tornado in a US year (since 1950) touched down two minutes after midnight on 1 January 2011, in Mississippi. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ
  8. 148 US tornadoes kill about 60 people in an average year, mostly from flying or falling debris. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ · checked 31 Oct 2026
  9. 149 TORRO notes that on 3 and 4 April 1974, 144 tornadoes touched down in 13 US states. TORRO: Media information
  10. 150 Canada’s first recorded F5 tornado was near Elie, Manitoba, on 22 June 2007. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: The online tornado FAQ