Weather

75 years of American tornadoes

Every tornado NOAA has logged since 1950 — — of them, each drawn from touchdown to lift-off and coloured by strength. Press play: weak tornadoes build up as a haze, the violent few cut deep red lines, and Tornado Alley appears on its own.

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EF / Fujita rating

EF0 weakEF3EF5 violent

Dots are touchdown-only reports (no end point logged)

Data & source

Source: NOAA SPC Severe Weather Database (WCM), 1950–2025, public domain. Updated —.

Scope & caveats. Every tornado recorded by the SPC, not every tornado that occurred. The apparent rise over time is largely observational: before Doppler radar (roughly pre-1990s) weak tornadoes went uncounted, and rating practice has shifted (the EF scale replaced the older F scale in 2007). Read the early record as an undercount, not a like-for-like comparison. The most recent year is provisional and still being reviewed; some tornadoes are "not rated." Across the whole record the SPC logs — fatalities.

Tornadoes by rating, 1950–2025
Rating	Count
EF0 (weak)	33,329
EF1	25,179
EF2	10,079
EF3	2,669
EF4	596
EF5 (violent)	60
Not rated	1,546