Living in what is fondly referred to as ‘Tornado Alley,’ spring is an interesting time. Between wondering if the weekly test siren is the real deal or just reminding us it’s noon on Saturday or making sure all the patio furniture is cleaned out of the cellar in case of a ‘nader whirling by, we stay pretty busy. In the United States, there have been many deadly tornadoes, but these three twisters were the showstoppers:
Top Three Worst Tornadoes In US History
- The Tri-State Tornado of 1925. Occurring on March 18, 1925, this tornado remains the deadliest single tornado in the history of the United States and the second deadliest in the world. It claimed 695 lives and injured over 2000. It began in Missouri and cut through Illinois and Indiana on a long path of destruction. Though the Fujita scale has not been created yet, meteorologists today would categorize this tornado as an EF5. The path length across the states totaled 219 miles.
- The Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak of 1936. This set of 14 tornadoes began on April 5, 1936, and lasted until the afternoon of April 6, 1936, for 18 hours. These tornadoes killed 454 people and injured over 2500. Meteorologists today categorize these tornadoes as EF3-EF5 on the Fujita scale. One fact about this tornado outbreak is that Elvis Presley survived this set of tornadoes when they hit his town of Tupelo, Mississippi. He was 15 months old.
- The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840. This tornado happened in Natchez, Mississippi, on May 6, 1840. The death of 317 people resulted from this devastating tornado, with an additional 109 injured. There was no rating system back during this time, but meteorologists would now classify this tornado as an EF4 on the Fujita scale. It was 35 miles long, 1000 yards wide, and left a 0.57-mile path of destruction.
The Largest Tornado Was…
Although these tornadoes were the deadliest, the largest tornado ever recorded in the United States hit El Reno, Oklahoma, on May 31, 2013. It had a swath of 2.6 miles at its peak and wind speeds reached 321 mph. It had a death toll of eight and injuries to 151. It was rated as an EF3 tornado. It was not given EF5 status due to the lack of ground damage.
