List of Indian tornadoes

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

A waterspout in the Indian Ocean

Tornadoes in India are rare, with only ~12 tornadoes being recorded between 1976 and 2010. ^[1] Most tornadoes in India are deadly, with an average of 80 people killed per tornado. The deadliest Indian tornado on record hit areas near Belda on March 24, 1998, killing 250 people.

Events

Pre-1950s

• April 8, 1838 - A long-tracked and destructive FU tornado tore through downtown Kolkata, damaging numerous structures and killing 215. ^[2]
• May 1, 1865 - A strong FU tornado tracks through rural areas west of Pandua, taking an extremely unusual sharp-turned path and killing 20 people. ^[3]
• April 27, 1888 - A relatively brief FU tornado moves through Serampore, killing 7 people. ^[2]
• March 13, 1921 - A violent tornado struck Barisal, West Bengal and caused significant damage to property and infrastructure. Homes were razed, trees were uprooted and many person were killed or injured. ^[4]
• June 30, 1936 - A "terrific cyclone" in North Malabar affected a large swath of area, causing 2 thousand crore in damage before dissipating. ^[5]
• March 2, 1942 - A tornado occurred in Burdwan ^[6]

1950s

• March 20, 1951 - A brief and extremely weak FU tornado touches down in the outskirts of Sherpur, causing no damage. ^[2]

1960s

• April 19, 1963 -.On April 19, 1963, a tornado impacted Cooch Behar district in North Bengal and the adjacent Goalpara district in North Assam, India. The tornado's path spanned 36 kilometres and had a funnel diameter of 100–130 meters, rotating anticlockwise. ^[7]
• March 21, 1969 - A weak FU tornado tracks through areas near Ushti, causing little damage and no fatalities. ^[2]

1970s

• April 7, 1977 - A brief FU tornado tracks through rural Palashipara, killing 2 people. ^[2]
• April 15, 1977 - An FU tornado affects areas north of Contai, killing 10. ^[2]
• March 18, 1978 - A freak tornado hit the University campus area in North Delhi killing at least 28 people and injuring over 700 others, about 100 of them seriously. ^[8]
• April 16, 1978 - A brief but extremely powerful FU tornado touches down west of Bhadrak, in Purana Bandgoda, killing 150. ^{[9] [2]}
• April 17, 1978 - At least one hundred people were killed and more than 500 injured as a tornado battered Ramachandrapur in the administrative district of Keonjhar, Orissa. ^[10]
• April 18, 1978 - a FU tornado hit Karimpur in Nadia district and went on to Murshidabad district. 128 deaths were reported. ^[11]

1980s

• April 17, 1981 - A strong FU tornado tracks through populated areas east of Kendujhar, reaching a maximum width of 997 meters and killing ~120. ^[2]
• April 12, 1983 - A brief but powerful FU tornado touches down in rural areas surrounding Kanchrapara, destroying crops and other structures in its path. The tornado is estimated to have killed 50 people. ^[2]

1990s

• April 9, 1993 - An F2 tornado tracks through densely populated areas south of Berhampore, killing 145 and injuring an unknown number of people. ^{[12] [2]}
• March 24, 1998 - A relatively strong but brief tornado inflicts F2 damage to areas outside of Belda, inflicting damage to buildings and killing 250 people. ^{[13] [2]}

2000s

• October 9, 2003 - An EFU tornado caused damage to several buildings and injured several people when it went through the 3 villages of Harahari, Chhamugram and Manigram in Murshidabad district. It lasted 5 minutes and occurred at 10 am local time. ^[14]
• August 15, 2007 - An EF0 tornado was spotted close to Sahanewal Airport and damaged standing crops, uprooted trees and blew off the roof of a tube well. ^[15]
• March 31, 2009 - An EF3+ tornado destroyed 300 homes in Rajkanika and 11 other villages in Kendrapada District. There were about 20 casualties and 150 injured. ^[16]

2010s

• April 15, 2010 - 128 killed by EFU tornado in Bihar caused by a Nor' Wester. ^[17]
• May 16, 2012 - An EFU tornadic waterspout formed on the Godavari River in Dummugudem mandel in Andhra Pradesh (in present-day Telangana). The tornado lasted 10–15 minutes and sucked out many fish from the water. No injuries were caused by it. ^[18]
• August 26, 2013 - An EFU tornado ripped off at least 40 feet of the roof of the terminal building of Ranchi Airport. It lasted 15 minutes and caused no injuries. ^[19]
• April 2, 2015 - A dark and dusty EFU tornado in Bikaner, Rajasthan displaced 50 families and ripped off trees and power lines. ^[20]
• May 31, 2017 - A sudden tornado impacted Chagharia and a few other villages in Kendrapada District. 30 thatched houses were damaged, trees were uprooted and 5 people were injured. ^[21]
• October 12, 2018 - A Multi-Vortex tornado hit Kharagpur, West Bengal and snapped power lines, downed trees, and caused significant damage to homes. There was a lot of footage of the tornado destroying trees and houses, most of it was posted on Facebook. The tornado was caused by Cyclone Titli. ^[22]
• February 7, 2019 - A Large tornado struck Faridabad, Haryana, a satellite city of New Delhi(India's Capital), causing downed trees, roof damage and some other Major damage. Along with the tornado, New Delhi, Faridabad and nearby cities, towns and villages, were hit by a hailstorm which caused 40 injuries, and also a rainstorm which caused New Delhi to get 30 millimetres of rain, which is more than the average 15 millimeters of rain New Delhi gets in the month of February. ^[23]
• October 1, 2019 - A likely tornado touched down in Talod, Sabarkantha District, Gujarat and caused light damage to cotton and peanut plants. There is only a few videos of the Tornado and several news channels said it was 'Tornado-like cloud' even though the 'Tornado-like cloud' was rotating and had some debris flying around it. ^[24]

2020s

• June 15, 2020 - A tornado touched down in the Kendrapara District of Odisha and caused damage to 70 thatched houses in the villages of Talchua, Tikayat Nagar, RajendraNagar, Baghamari, Giria Pahi, Garta and Banipal in Rajnagar Block. It was on the ground for 5 to 10 minutes and caused 12 injuries. Kendrapara District Collector Samarth Verma said that the wind speed of the tornado was probably more than 100 kmph (60 mi/h) ^[25]
• May 25–26, 2021 - At least two tornadoes were spawned by the outer bands of Cyclone Yaas in the districts of North 24 Paragana and Hooghly. One tornado was reported in Halishar with another reported in Chinsurah. Two people died with five injured, and 80 houses were damaged. Damage to trees and some businesses occurred as well. On May 26, Another tornado was spotted in Mahakalapada, Kendrapada District. ^{[26] [27]}
• May 7, 2022 - On May 7, A tornadic waterspout that formed on the Brahmaputra river caused significant damage to several huts in Barpeta, Assam at 10:20 a.m local time. No deaths or injuries were reported. It occurred during Severe Cyclonic Storm Asani. ^[28]
• March 24, 2023 - A large cone tornado struck Fazilka in India on March 24, causing significant damage. At least 50 un-reinforced masonry homes were severely damaged or destroyed. Farming equipment was tossed, trees were snapped or uprooted, power poles were downed, and there was significant crop damage in farm fields. At least 12 people were injured. ^[29]
• July 2, 2023 - On July 2, an allegedly EF-1 Strength tornado struck Rajkania block in Kendrapada District, Odisha and caused light damage to few huts in the villages of Talchua and RajendraNager. ^[30]
• March 2, 2024 - A tornado touched down near Moga, Punjab, causing significant damage. ^[31]
• March 31, 2024 - A tornado, accompanied by a nor'wester, struck the city of Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, killing five people and injuring over 100 others. More than 100 houses were destroyed by the tornado. ^[32]

References

1. Aryan, Aniket. "Tornadoes in India | SRIRAMs IAS". www.sriramsias.com. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
2. "Bengal Tornadoes--background info". bangladeshtornadoes.org. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
3. De, Saumyendu; Sahai, Atul (July 8, 2024). "Was the earliest documented account of tornado dynamics published by an Indian scientist in an Indian journal?". ResearchGate.
4. "VIOLENT TORNADO". Brisbane Courier. 1921-03-14. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
5. "Cyclone In North Malabar - MUCH DAMAGE CAUSED". The Indian Express. 1 July 1936. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
6. "India weather review. Annual summary. Part C, Storms and depressions" (PDF).
7. Saha, K. R. (1 July 1966). "The Cooch Behar -Assam Tornado of 19 April 1963". MAUSAM. 17 (3): 427–432. doi: 10.54302/mausam.v17i3.5736 .
8. "HT This Day: March 18, 1978 -- Tornado hits North Delhi: 30 dead". Hindustan Times. 2022-03-11. Archived from the original on 2022-03-13. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
9. "Tornado that killed hundreds of villagers on April 16, 1978 in Odisha's Keonjhar".
10. "Forty Years Ago, April 17, 1978: Tornado Kills 100". The Indian Express. 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
11. "List of 86 tornados in Bengal for 1838-2001". bangladeshtornadoes.org. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
12. P, K. Misra; Goldar, R. N.; Banerjee, S. K. (1996-07-01). "Devastating tornado -of Kandi (9 April 1993) -A case study". MAUSAM. 47 (3): 301–306. doi: 10.54302/mausam.v47i3.3748 . ISSN   0252-9416.
13. "World News Briefs; Tornado in India Kills at Least 105". The New York Times. Associated Press. 1998-03-25. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-07-08.
14. "Tornado hits Murshidabad district". zeenews.india.com. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
15. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-geophysical-location-of-Ludhiana-in-Punjab-region-of-study_fig1_229894449.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
16. "ODISHA STATE DISASTER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY | Rajkanika Tornado Disaster Management, 31st March, 2009" . Retrieved 2025-05-27.
17. "120 die as tornado hits Bihar, Bengal". The Times of India. 2010-04-15. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2025-05-27.
18. archive, From our online (2012-05-16). "Tornado over Godavari river!". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
19. "A massive and violent tornado hit Ranchi around 4pm on Monday. At least 40 feet of the roof of the terminal building of Ranchi airport has been flown away in the tornado. The tornado remained around 15 minutes at the airport which caused a panic at the place". The Times of India. 2013-08-26. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2025-05-27.
20. Fritz, Angela (2015-04-02). "Watch: Close-up video of ominous India tornado". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2025-05-27.
21. archive, From our online (2017-06-01). "Tornado plays havoc in Kendrapara". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
22. চেনা অচেনা পথে (Chena Ochena Pothe) (2018-10-12). Cyclone Titli in Kharagpur . Retrieved 2025-05-27– via YouTube.
23. TW (2019-02-08). "Tornado hits Faridabad, intense hailstorm Delhi-NCR, India". The Watchers. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
24. "Gujarat: Tornado-like cloud formation in Sabarkantha leaves farms damaged". India Today. 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
25. "12 injured as tornado wreaks havoc in Odisha's Kendrapara". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
26. "Two electrocuted to death, 80 houses damaged as 'tornado' hits West Bengal districts". The Times of India. 2021-05-25. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2025-05-27.
27. "Tornado In Kendrapada Triggers Panic Among Locals During Cyclone Yaas". Tornado In Kendrapada Triggers Panic Among Locals During Cyclone Yaas. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
28. Wild WeatherUS (2022-05-07). Tornado rips roofs off in Assam, India (May. 07, 2022) . Retrieved 2025-05-27– via YouTube.
29. "Tornado in Punjab's Fazilka damages houses, crops | Video". India Today. 2023-03-25. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
30. Kanak News (2023-07-02). Tornado Wreaks Havoc In Odisha's Kendrapara, Residents Of Rajnagar & Talachua Area Affected . Retrieved 2025-05-27– via YouTube.
31. "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Archived from the original on 2024-12-07. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
32. "IMD warns of more tornadoes in northern Bengal after 5 killed and over 100 injured in Jalpaiguri". The Indian Express. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2025-05-27.

Bibliography

• Dewan, Ashraf; Finch, Jonathon (July 8, 2024). "Bengal Tornadoes". Bangladesh and East India Tornadoes Background Information.