The Deadliest US Tornadoes Since 1950

15 of the 15 deadliest tornadoes were rated 4 or 5. The decade with the most of them is the 1950s, with 7. The 15 together injured 10,504 people, 11% of all tornado injuries in the record.

The share of tornadoes that killed anyone rises steeply with the rating: 0.1% of tornadoes rated 0, 0.7% of those rated 1, 4.4% rated 2, 22.1% rated 3, 59.4% rated 4 and 90.0% rated 5. Because the rating is assigned from damage, and damage to occupied buildings is both what raises a rating and what kills people, the two are not independent: a violent tornado over empty land can end up with a lower rating than one of the same strength that hit a town.

Among complete decades, the 1950s had the most tornado deaths (1,420) and the 1980s the fewest (522). Single bad years dominate: the deadliest year in the record, 2011, accounts for 553 deaths on its own. The number of tornadoes recorded went from 4,793 in the 1950s to 12,070 in the 2010s, mostly because far more weak tornadoes were reported, so the number of tornadoes is a poor guide to the number of deaths. In deaths per year, the 1950s averaged 142 and the 2010s 91; tornadoes that killed anyone numbered 251 and 189 in those decades.

Tornado deaths cluster in outbreaks, when one weather system produces many tornadoes in a day. The record has 17 days on which tornadoes killed 50 or more people. The deadliest day, April 27, 2011, had 210 tornadoes in 16 states, 29 of them deadly, with 319 deaths. Dates are as SPC records them, almost all in Central Standard Time, so an outbreak that ran past midnight can be split across two days.

April is the deadliest month, with 1,888 deaths across all years (30%), while the month with the most tornadoes is May (16,070). The two need not match: the deadliest days are outbreaks of strong tornadoes, and a single outbreak can set a month's total for the whole record.

By the state SPC lists, the most tornado deaths since 1950 are in Alabama (679), Texas (609) and Mississippi (505). The full ranking of states by tornadoes and deaths is in the state rankings guide.

Deaths and injuries are those SPC attributes to each tornado as a whole, including those far from any city named here. Figures can be revised; the 1950–2025 file used here differs slightly from the previous edition for some older tornadoes. Deaths from the same storm system but from wind, hail or flooding are not in this database.

For warnings and where to shelter, the National Weather Service keeps tornado safety guidance. Each city page here lists the deadliest tornadoes within 25 miles of it.