1998-1999 Tornadoes and a Long-Term U.S. Tornado Climatology

by Neal Lott, Sam McCown and Tom Ross

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National Climatic Data Center Technical Report No. 99-02

1998–1999 Tornadoes and a Long-Term U.S. Tornado Climatology

Neal Lott, Sam McCown, Tom Ross

 

November 1999
Updated August 2000

U.S. Dept of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service
National Climatic Data Center
Asheville, NC 28801-5001

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Table 5: Historical F5 Tornadoes

List of U.S. F5 Tornadoes
(1880 – 1999)

	Date	Time (LST)	Location	Deaths	Injuries	Distance (Miles)/Width (Yards)
1	Apr 24, 1880	1850	IL West Prairie	6	33	13 miles/500 yd
2	Jun 12, 1881	1630	MO Hopkins Area	2	15	30 miles/800 yd
3	Jun 17, 1882	1830	IA Grinnell	65	300	105 miles/800 yd
4	Apr 1, 1884	1700	IN Oakville	8	70	12 miles/600 yd
5	May 22, 1893	1700	WI Willow Springs Township	3	10	20 miles/1200 yd
6	Jul 6, 1893	1635	IA Pomeroy	71	200	40 miles/800 yd
7	Sep 21, 1894	1930	IA Kossuth Co. Area	43	200	22 miles/1200 yd
8	May 1, 1895	1630	KS Harvey Co. Area	8	25	22 miles/1200 yd
9	May 15, 1896	1600	TX Sherman	73	200	15 miles/300 yd
10	May 25, 1896	1930	Ortonville - Oakwood Area	47	100	27 miles/800 yd
11	Jun 11, 1899	1700	NE / IA Salix, IA	5	2	13 miles/200 yd
12	May 10, 1905	1800	OK Synder	97	150	40 miles/800 yd
13	Jun 5, 1906	1630	IA / MN / WI Houston Co. (MN) Area	4	18	55 miles/800 yd
14	Apr 23, 1908	1800	NE Cuming - Thurston Cos.	3	10	15 miles/400 yd
15	May 12, 1908	1730	IA Frement - Page Cos.	0	20	20 miles/400 yd
16	Jun 5, 1908	2030	NE Fillmore Co. Area	11	30	35 miles/800 yd

17	Apr 20, 1912	1630	OK Kingfisher Co.	0	6	15 miles/1600 yd
18	Apr 27, 1912	1230	OK Kiowa - Canadian Cos.	15	40	90 miles/800 yd
19	Jun 11, 1915	1930	KS Kiowa Co.	0	0	15 miles/1600 yd
20	May 25, 1917	1400	KS Andale & Sedgwick Areas	23	70	65 miles/1200 yd
21	Jun 5, 1917	1705	KS Topeka Area	9	50	25 miles/600 yd
22	May 21, 1918	1430	IA Crawford -Greene Cos.	6	30	50 miles/800 yd
23	Jun 22, 1919	1600	MN Fergus Falls	59	200	15 miles/400 yd
24	Apr 15, 1921	1410	Harrison Co (TX) - Pike Co (AR) Hempstead Co AR	62	300	105 miles/2000 yd
25	Mar 11, 1923	2000	TN Pinson	20	70	15 miles/400 yd
26	Mar 18, 1925	1301	MO /IL/ IN Reynolds Co (MO)- Gibson CO (IN) Deaths: MO:13 IL:609 IN:76 Murphysboro (IL): 234, W. Frankfort (IL): 148, De Soto (IL): 69 Tri-State Tornado	695	2027	219 miles/1320 yd
27	May 7, 1927	1800	KS Barber Co. - McPherson Co.	10	300	95 miles/1600 yd
28	May 22, 1933	1820	NE Tyron Area	8	10	25 miles/1200 yd
29	Apr 26, 1938	1415	NE Oshkosh Area	3	6	30 miles/1600 yards
30	Apr 14, 1939	2300	OK / KS Woodward Co. (OK) - Barber Co. (KS)	7	19	75 miles/800 yd
31	Jun 18, 1939	1510	MN Hennepin Co. - Anoka Co.	9	222	25 miles/400 yd

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32	Mar 16, 1942	1600	IL Peoria Co. - Marshall Co.	7	70	35 miles/400 yd
33	Apr 29, 1942	2230	KS Oberlin Area	15	25	20 miles/300 yd
34	Jun 22, 1944	2030	WI /IL Grant Co. (WI) - Stevenson Co (IL)	9	80	80 miles/400 yd
35	Apr 12, 1945	1740	OK Antlers	69	353	28 miles/800 yd
36	Apr 9, 1947	1742	TX / OK / KS Hemphill Co (TX) - Barber Co (KS) Woodward (OK) Higgins, Glazier (TX)	167	1000	170 miles/2000 yd
37	May 21, 1949	1700	IL / IN Palestine (IL)	4	7	8 miles/50 yd
38	Mar 21, 1952	2145	MS / TN Marshall Co. (MS) - Fayette Co (TN) Byhalia (MS) & Moscow (TN)	17	66	30 miles/400 yd
39	May 11, 1953	1610	TX Waco Downtown Devastated: Bricks 5 feet deep	114	597	23 miles/660 yd
40	May 29, 1953	2000	ND Ft. Rice (Morton Co.)	2	20	20 miles/600 yd
41	Jun 8, 1953	2030	MI Genesee Co. Flint	116	867	20 miles/800 yd
42	Jun 27, 1953	1545	IA Adair Area	1	2	10 miles/200 yd
43	Dec 5, 1953	1735	MS Warren Co. Vicksburg	38	270	7 miles/500 yd
44	May 25, 1955	2126	OK / KS Blackwell (OK) Remarkable electrical activity Glowing Funnel	20	280	23 miles/500 yd

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45

May 25, 1955

2215

OK / KS Kay Co. (OK) Cowlet Co. (KS) Udall (KS)

80

270

30 miles/800 yd

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92	Apr 16, 1998	1615	TN Wayne Co. - Lawrence Co. Grass/Dirt pulled from ground	3	27	46 miles/1760 yd
93	May 3, 1999	1717	OK Grady Co. - Oklahoma Co. Amber, Newcastle, Moore, Oklahoma City Pavement Removed from Roads Estimated 316 mph winds	36	680	37 miles/1320 yd

Notes about Tornado Classifications

The Fujita Tornado Scale has been used by meteorologists to classify tornado intensities since it was formulated by Dr. Theodore Fujita in 1971. Because it is a subjective damage assessment tool, there are differences in the intensity classifications for individual tornadoes, depending upon the source used. This list depends upon three sources:

1. "Storm Data" Publication (used as a source after 1982 for this report) and the "U.S. Local Storm Reports" Database, by the National Climatic Data Center;
2. National Weather Service's (NWS) National Severe Storm Forecast Center /

Storm Prediction Center WWW page covering tornadoes from 1950 to present;

1. "Violent Tornado Climatography, 1880-1982" by T.P. Grazulis and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NUREG).

Rather than try to reconcile such differences, the above list includes all indicated F5 tornadoes, regardless of the three sources. Differences are noted below.

1. Tornadoes listed as F5 by the NWS, but not by NUREG:
   Numbers: 38, 40, 41, 43, 44, 47, 50, 62, 67, and 75
2. Tornadoes listed as F5 by NUREG, but not by NWS:
   Numbers: 52, 55, 56, 57, 68

There are at least two other tornado data sources (not necessarily independent of those listed above) which may exhibit additional differences. These are the University of Chicago's Damage Area Per Path Length (DAPPL) database and the Tornado Project.

* Damage estimates are derived from the National Weather Service's (NWS) National Severe Storm Forecast Center / Storm Prediction Center web page entitled "The 10 Costliest U.S. Tornadoes." Property damage has been adjusted to 1995 dollars. As with all statistics given on this page, the values are for single tornado events. Only four of the top ten costliest tornadoes were of F5 category; five of the remaining six were F4, and one was F2.

Reference: 1984: Grazulis. T.P., "Violent Tornado Climatography, 1880-1982," NUREG/CR-3670, PNL-5006 RB, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington D.C., 184 pp.