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This is a list of all official and authoritatively suggested possible F5 tornadoes ever recorded. Also included are the official Enhanced Fujita Scale EF5 tornadoes – the replacement of the older tornado classification system in the United States – which came into effect in February 2007. The difference between F4 and F5 is perhaps the most difficult rating to determine.[1]
Official F5 tornadoes
The tornadoes on this list have been officially rated F5 by the National Weather Service and compiled by the Storm Prediction Center and National Climatic Data Center.[2] No tornadoes prior to 1950 were ranked by these agencies due to inadequate engineering and other data on the historical tornadoes.
For United States tornadoes as of February 1, 2007, the Fujita scale has been recalibrated to more accurately match tornado speeds with their damage and to augment and refine damage descriptors. The new system is called the Enhanced Fujita scale. No earlier tornadoes will be reclassified, and no new tornadoes in the United States will be rated F5.
Total: 52
| Date |
Location |
Death Toll |
Wikipedia article |
Disputed? |
| March 21, 1952 |
Moscow, Tennessee |
16 |
Arkansas-Tennessee tornado outbreak of 1952 |
|
| May 11, 1953 |
Waco, Texas |
114 |
Waco Tornado |
|
| May 29, 1953 |
Ft. Rice, North Dakota |
2 |
|
|
| June 8, 1953 |
Flint, Michigan |
116[3] |
Flint-Worcester Tornadoes |
|
| June 27, 1953 |
Adair, Iowa |
1 |
|
|
| December 5, 1953 |
Vicksburg, MS |
38 |
|
Yes, destroyed structures were frail[4] |
| May 25, 1955 |
Blackwell, Oklahoma |
20 |
Plains Outbreak of May 1955 |
|
| May 25, 1955 |
Udall, Kansas |
82 |
Plains Outbreak of May 1955 |
|
| April 3, 1956 |
Grand Rapids - Hudsonville, Michigan |
18 |
Hudsonville-Standale Tornado of April 1956 |
|
| May 20, 1957 |
Kansas - Missouri |
44 |
Central Plains Outbreak of May 1957 |
|
| June 20, 1957 |
Fargo, North Dakota [1] |
10 |
Fargo Tornado of 1957 |
|
| December 18, 1957 |
Murphysboro, Illinois |
1 |
|
|
| June 4, 1958 |
Menomonie, Wisconsin |
20 |
|
|
| May 5, 1960 |
Prague, Oklahoma |
5 |
|
|
| April 3, 1964 |
Wichita Falls, Texas |
7 |
|
|
| May 5, 1964 |
Bradshaw, Nebraska |
2 |
|
|
| May 8, 1965 |
Gregory, South Dakota |
0 |
|
|
| March 3, 1966 |
Jackson, Mississippi |
57 |
Candlestick Park Tornado |
|
| June 8, 1966 |
Topeka, Kansas |
16 |
Topeka Tornado of 1966 |
|
| October 14, 1966 |
Belmond, Iowa |
16 |
|
Yes[4] |
| April 23, 1968 |
Gallipolis, Ohio |
7 |
Wheelersburg, Ohio tornado outbreak |
Yes, destroyed structures were not swept away[4] |
| May 15, 1968 |
Charles City, Iowa |
13 |
May 1968 tornado outbreak |
|
| May 15, 1968 |
Oelwein, Iowa |
1 |
May 1968 tornado outbreak |
|
| June 13, 1968 |
Tracy, Minnesota |
9 |
1968 Tracy tornado |
|
| May 11, 1970 |
Lubbock, Texas |
28 |
Lubbock Tornado |
|
| February 21, 1971 |
Delhi, Louisiana |
46 |
Mississippi Valley tornado outbreak of February 1971 |
|
| May 6, 1973 |
Valley Mills, Texas |
0 |
|
|
| April 3, 1974 |
Hanover - Depauw, Indiana |
6 |
Super Outbreak |
|
| April 3, 1974 |
Brandenburg, Kentucky |
31 |
Super Outbreak |
|
| April 3, 1974 |
Xenia, Ohio |
32 |
Super Outbreak |
|
| April 3, 1974 |
Sayler Park (Cincinnati, Ohio) |
3 |
Super Outbreak |
|
| April 3, 1974 |
Tanner, Alabama |
28 |
Super Outbreak |
|
| April 3, 1974 |
Guin, Alabama |
30 |
Super Outbreak |
|
| March 26, 1976 |
Spiro, Oklahoma |
2 |
|
|
| April 19, 1976 |
Brownwood, Texas |
0 |
|
|
| June 13, 1976 |
Jordan, Iowa |
0 |
|
|
| April 4, 1977 |
Birmingham, Alabama |
22 |
Birmingham Tornado of April 1977 |
|
| April 2, 1982 |
Broken Bow, Oklahoma |
0 |
|
|
| June 7, 1984 |
Barneveld, Wisconsin |
9 |
Barneveld, Wisconsin tornado outbreak |
|
| May 31, 1985 |
Niles, Ohio - Wheatland, Pennsylvania |
18 |
United States-Canadian Outbreak |
|
| March 13, 1990 |
Hesston, Kansas |
1 |
Central US Tornado Outbreak of 1990 |
|
| March 13, 1990 |
Goessel, Kansas |
1 |
Central US Tornado Outbreak of 1990 |
|
| August 28, 1990 |
Plainfield, Illinois |
29 |
Plainfield Tornado |
|
| April 26, 1991 |
Andover, Kansas |
17 |
Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak |
|
| June 16, 1992 |
Chandler, Minnesota |
1 |
Mid-June 1992 Tornado Outbreak |
|
| July 18, 1996 |
Oakfield, Wisconsin |
0 |
Oakfield Tornado |
|
| May 27, 1997 |
Jarrell, Texas |
27 |
Central Texas tornado outbreak |
|
| April 8, 1998 |
Oak Grove - Birmingham, Alabama |
32 |
Birmingham Tornado of April 1998 |
|
| April 16, 1998 |
Lawrence County, Tennessee |
3 |
Nashville tornado outbreak of 1998 |
|
| May 3, 1999 |
Bridge Creek - Moore, Oklahoma |
36 |
Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak |
|
| June 22, 2007 |
Elie, Manitoba [2] |
0 |
Elie, Manitoba Tornado |
Originally classed as a "strong F4" by Environment Canada, it was later re-classified after investigations into the storm's damage and strength, as Canada's first official F5. |
Official Enhanced Fujita Scale 5 (EF5) tornadoes
As of February 1, 2007, all tornadoes within the United States are rated with the Enhanced Fujita Scale which replaced the Fujita Scale. The following List of EF5 tornadoes has all tornadoes classified as EF5, the strongest category, since February 1, 2007.
Total 1.
Possible F5 tornadoes
These are tornadoes that were analyzed to be F5 or possibly F5 by an authoritative source.
| Date |
Location |
Death Toll |
Wikipedia article |
F5 reasoning |
| June 29, 1764 |
Woldegk, Germany |
1 |
|
Based on newspaper report[6][7] |
| April 23, 1800 |
Hainichen, Germany |
0 |
|
Based on newspaper report[6] |
| August 19, 1845 |
Monville, France |
70 |
|
Unverified classification of F5 by "tornado expert"[6] |
| April 24, 1880 |
Christian County, Illinois |
6-11 |
|
Homes were leveled, farms vanished[4] |
| June 12, 1881 |
Nodaway County, Missouri |
2 |
Hopkins Tornado of 1881 |
Two farms completely swept away[4] |
| June 17, 1882 |
Boone - Story - Marshall - Jasper - Poweshiek County, Iowa |
68 |
|
Several farms leveled, town of Grinnell devastated[4] |
| August 21, 1883 |
Rochester, Dodge County, Minnesota |
37 |
1883 Rochester Tornado |
Ten farms outside the town leveled[4] |
| April 1, 1884 |
Oakville, Indiana |
8 |
|
Parts of the town "vanished"[4] |
| August 28, 1884 |
Howard, South Dakota |
? |
|
[citation needed] |
| August 19, 1890 |
Vallée de Joux, France/Switzerland |
5 |
|
[3] |
| June 15, 1892 |
Faribault - Freeborn - Steele County, Minnesota |
12 |
|
Several farms destroyed[4] |
| May 22, 1893 |
Darlington, Wisconsin |
3 |
|
Two farm complexes swept away[4] |
| July 6, 1893 |
Cherokee - Buena Vista - Pocahontas - Calhoun County, Iowa |
71 |
|
Homes swept away in all four counties[4] |
| September 21, 1894 |
Iowa - Minnesota |
14 |
|
Five farms and a home were swept away leaving little trace[4] |
| May 1, 1895 |
Sedgwick County, Kansas |
8-11 |
|
Farms "entirely vanished"[4] |
| May 3, 1895 |
Sioux County, Iowa |
9-15 |
|
Farms swept away[4] |
| April 25 1896 |
Cloud County - Clay County - Washington County, Kansas |
9-11 |
|
[citation needed] |
| May 15, 1896 |
Sherman, Grayson County, Texas |
73 |
|
Farms, 20 homes leveled[4] |
| May 17, 1896 |
Nemaha - Brown County, Kansas - Nebraska |
25 |
|
Opera house in Seneca swept away, along with some farms[4] |
| May 25, 1896 |
Oakland County, Michigan |
47 |
|
Houses and farms leveled.[4] |
| November 25, 1896 |
Mart, Texas |
1 |
|
[citation needed] |
| May 18, 1898 |
Marathon County, Wisconsin |
12 |
|
Twelve farms destroyed[4] |
| June 12, 1899 |
St. Croix County - New Richmond, Wisconsin |
117 |
New Richmond Tornado |
Leveled several buildings, destroyed the town[4] |
| November 20, 1900 |
Moon Lake, Mississippi - Lagrange, Tennessee |
30 |
|
[citation needed] |
| May 8, 1905 |
Marquette, Kansas |
34 |
|
[citation needed] |
| May 10, 1905 |
Snyder, Oklahoma |
97 |
Snyder, Oklahoma tornado |
Many structures swept away[4] |
| June 5, 1905 |
Colling, Michigan |
5 |
|
Three farms "wiped out of existence"[4] |
| April 23, 1908 |
Pender, Nebraska |
3 |
|
Well-built home swept away[4] |
| June 5, 1908 |
Carleton, Nebraska |
11 |
|
Farms vanished[4] |
| August 20 1911 |
Antler, North Dakota |
7 |
|
[citation needed] |
| June 15, 1912 |
Creighton, Missouri |
5 |
|
Two large homes swept away[4] |
| June 11, 1915 |
Mullinville, Kansas |
0 |
|
One farm blown away[4] |
| May 25, 1917 |
Sedgwick, Kansas |
23 |
|
Many structures swept away[4] |
| May 26, 1917 |
Monroe County, Indiana |
0 |
|
Three farms leveled[4] |
| May 21, 1918 |
Boone County, Iowa |
9 |
|
At least two farms swept away[4] |
| May 21, 1918 |
Denison, Iowa |
4 |
|
Homes swept bare to the foundations[4] |
| June 22, 1919 |
Fergus Falls, Minnesota |
57 |
1919 Fergus Falls tornado |
Three block-wide swath swept away, house thrown into a lake[4] |
| April 20, 1920 |
Winston County, Alabama |
20 |
|
Many homes swept away[4] |
| July 22, 1920 |
Frobisher - Alameda, Saskatchewan |
4 |
|
"Splendid homes" swept away[4][8] |
| March 11, 1923 |
Pinson, Tennessee |
20 |
|
An entire section of the town swept away[4] |
| May 14, 1923 |
Big Spring, Texas |
23 |
|
A large home and farms were swept away[4] |
| September 21, 1924 |
Clark County - Taylor County, Wisconsin |
18 |
|
Twenty farms destroyed, some flattened[4] |
| March 18, 1925 |
Missouri - Illinois - Indiana |
695 |
Tri-State Tornado |
Hundreds of structures oblitterated[4] |
| June 3, 1925 |
Pottawattamie - Harrison County, Iowa |
0 |
|
Nearly the same path as the next tornado, see below |
| June 3, 1925 |
Pottawattamie - Harrison County, Iowa |
0 |
|
Parts of two farms and some homes swept away, but they may have been hit by both tornadoes[4] |
| April 12, 1927 |
Rock Springs, Texas |
74 |
Rock Springs Tornado of April 1927 |
Swept away more than 90% of the town[4] |
| May 7, 1927 |
McPherson, Kansas |
10 |
|
Some farms swept away[4] |
| June 1, 1927 |
Neede, Netherlands[6][9] |
? |
|
Some photographs indicate F5 damage[citation needed] |
| April 10, 1929 |
Sneed, Arkansas |
23 |
|
Destroyed the community[4] |
| July 20, 1931 |
Lublin, Poland |
? |
|
Unverified F5 rating by severe weather expert[6] |
| May 22, 1933 |
Tryon, Nebraska |
8 |
|
Two farms swept away[4] |
| July 1, 1935 |
Benson, Saskatchewan |
1 |
|
Several structures leveled[4][10] |
| April 5, 1936 |
Tupelo, Mississippi |
216 |
Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak |
Leveled many well-constructed houses[4] |
| April 26, 1938 |
Oshkosh, Nebraska |
3 |
|
School disintigrated, two farms swept away[4] |
| June 10, 1938 |
Clyde, Texas |
14 |
|
Nine homes swept away[4] |
| April 14, 1939 |
Vici, Oklahoma - Kiowa, Kansas |
7 |
|
Homes swept away[4] |
| July 15, 1940 |
Borzymmen (Borzymy), Mazury, Poland |
1 |
|
Rated as F4, unverified report cited damage as F4-F5[6] |
| March 16, 1942 |
Lacon, Illinois |
7 |
|
Many homes swept away[4] |
| April 28, 1942 |
Crowell, Texas |
11 |
|
Many homes "vanished"[4] |
| April 29, 1942 |
Oberlin, Kansas |
15 |
|
Three farms scoured from the earth[4] |
| June 17, 1944 |
Summit, South Dakota |
8 |
|
Farms swept away with no visible debris[4] |
| April 12, 1945 |
Antlers, Oklahoma |
69 |
Antlers Tornado of April 1945 |
Six hundred buildings destroyed[4] |
| June 17, 1946 |
Windsor, Ontario |
17 |
Windsor - Tecumseh, Ontario tornado of 1946 |
hundreds of houses destroyed, some with their foundations removed. Officially an F4, but some speculated F5 damage was caused. [11] |
| August 20, 1946 |
Klodzko Slaskie, Poland |
? |
|
Unverified damage report cited "F4-F5" damage[6] |
| April 9, 1947 |
Woodward, Oklahoma |
181 |
Glazier-Higgins-Woodward Tornadoes |
Several towns partially or totally destroyed[4] |
| May 31, 1947 |
Leedey, Oklahoma |
6 |
|
Many structures swept away leaving no debris[4] |
| September 26, 1951 |
Waupaca, Wisconsin |
6 |
|
Three farms swept away[4] |
| June 9, 1953 |
Worcester, Massachusetts |
94 |
Flint-Worcester Tornadoes |
Many strong multi-level structures levelled, some houses swept away[4] |
| May 1, 1954 |
Crowell - Vernon, Texas - Snyder, Oklahoma |
0 |
|
Vehicles thrown more than 100 yards[4] |
| June 16, 1957 |
Robecco Pavese, Valle Scuropasso, Italy |
? |
|
According to report, it was not clear if damage was F4 or F5[6] |
| June 10, 1958 |
El Dorado, Kansas |
15 |
|
Car was thrown 100 yards, damage photographs inconclusive[4] |
| May 19, 1960 |
Wamego, Kansas |
0 |
|
Two farms swept away[4] |
| May 20, 1960 |
Nechobrz, Poland |
? |
|
Unverified report of "F4-F5" damage[6] |
| May 30, 1961 |
Anselmo, Nebraska |
0 |
|
All buildings and machinery swept away from farm[4] |
| April 11, 1965 |
Dunlap, Indiana |
36 |
Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965 |
Truck stop and house leveled[4] |
| April 11, 1965 |
Strongsville, Ohio |
18 |
Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965 |
Homes swept away[4] |
| May 8, 1965 |
Primrose, Nebraska |
4 |
|
90% of the town demolished[4] |
| June 24, 1967 |
Palluel, France |
6 |
|
Unverified F5 intensity rating[6] |
| January 1, 1970 |
Bulahdelah, New South Wales |
0 |
Bulahdelah tornado |
left a damage path 21 kilometres (13 mi) long and 1–1.6 km (0.6–1 mi) wide through the Bulahdelah State Forest. According to reports, it threw a two ton tractor 100 m (328 ft) through the air, depositing it upside down. It is estimated that the tornado destroyed over one million trees.[12] |
| August 7, 1979 |
Woodstock, Ontario / Burgessville, Ontario |
2 |
Woodstock, Ontario Tornado of August 1979 |
Some speculated F5 damage. officially two "Twin F4" tornadoes |
| July 31, 1987 |
Edmonton, Alberta |
27 |
Edmonton Tornado |
Officially a "Strong F4", probably an F5. Canada's second deadliest tornado to date.[13] |
| April 26, 1991 |
Red Rock, Oklahoma |
0 |
Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak |
Doppler radar used by storm chasers indicated a wind speed in the F5 range[4] |
| June 8, 1995 |
Kellerville, Texas/Allison, Texas |
0 |
|
Project VORTEX surveyed to be F5, one home was so obliterated that NWS survey likely missed it[4] |
| May 4, 2003 |
Girard, Kansas - Franklin, Kansas |
0 |
May 2003 Tornado Outbreak Sequence |
[citation needed] |
See also
References
External links
Canadian sources
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