The tornado outbreak of October 17–19, 2007 was a widespread tornado outbreak that took place across much of the eastern half of North America starting on October 17, 2007, and continuing into the early hours of October 19. The outbreak was also responsible for five deaths; three in Michigan and two in Missouri, plus many injuries. At least 64 tornadoes were confirmed including 16 on October 17 across six states including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri with wind damage reported in Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas and Mississippi. On October 18, at least 48 tornadoes were confirmed across eight states including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, plus widespread straight line wind damage. Until 2010, this event held the record for largest tornado outbreak ever recorded in the month of October according to NOAA.
An unseasonably strong tornado outbreak began on January 7, 2008, and continued for nearly four days across the Central and Southern United States, with the hardest hit area being southwestern Missouri, northwestern Arkansas, and the surrounding area. In addition, a strong supercell in northern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin produced that region's first January tornadoes since 1967.
A destructive and deadly tornado outbreak that took place across the Southern and Central United States from May 1 to May 3, 2008. The outbreak was responsible for at least seven fatalities and 23 injuries in Arkansas. There were at least 29 tornado reports from Iowa to Oklahoma on May 1 and 67 more in Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Texas on May 2. A total of 60 tornadoes were confirmed by weather authorities.
On March 2 and 3, 2012, a deadly tornado outbreak occurred over a large section of the Southern United States into the Ohio Valley region. The storms resulted in 41 tornado-related fatalities, 22 of which occurred in Kentucky. Tornado-related deaths also occurred in Alabama, Indiana, and Ohio. The outbreak was the second deadliest in early March for the U.S. since official records began in 1950; only the 1966 Candlestick Park tornado had a higher death toll for a tornadic system in early March.
A significant early season tornadic event affected portions of the Midwestern and Southern United States at the end of January 2013. The first signs of the outbreak came on January 23 as the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) detailed the eastward progression of a shortwave trough into an increasingly unstable air mass across portions of the lower Mississippi Valley; however, considerable uncertainty in the placement of severe thunderstorms caused the SPC to remove their threat outline. Succeeding many changes in the forecast, a Day 1 Moderate risk was issued for January 29, warning of the potential for widespread/significant damaging winds and a few strong tornadoes. The threat shifted eastward on January 30, encompassing a large section of the Southeastern United States. By late that day, the shortwave trough tracked northeastward into New England, ending the severe weather threat.
On November 17, 2013, the deadliest and costliest November tornado outbreak in Illinois history took shape, becoming the fourth-largest for the state overall. With more than 30 tornadoes in Indiana, it was that state's largest tornado outbreak for the month of November, and the second largest outbreak recorded in Indiana. Associated with a strong trough in the upper levels of the atmosphere, the event resulted in 77 tornadoes tracking across regions of the Midwest United States and Ohio River Valley, impacting seven states. Severe weather during the tornado outbreak caused over 100 injuries and eleven fatalities, of which eight were tornado related. Two tornadoes—both in Illinois and rated EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale—were the strongest documented during the outbreak and combined for five deaths. In addition to tornadoes, the system associated with the outbreak produced sizeable hail peaking at 4.00 in (10.2 cm) in diameter in Bloomington, Illinois, as well as damaging winds estimated as strong as 100 mph (160 km/h) in three locations.
On December 23, 2015, an outbreak of supercell thunderstorms produced tornadoes across northern Mississippi and middle Tennessee, resulting in 13 tornado-related deaths and numerous injuries. Other tornadoes occurred as far north as Indiana and Michigan. Scattered tornado activity continued over the next two days before the outbreak ended. This was the first of two deadly tornado outbreaks to impact the southern United States during December 2015 with the other occurring just a day after this one ended.
A significant four-day outbreak of tornadoes impacted areas across the High Plains, central Midwest, and parts of the Ohio Valley in early May. The outbreak also produced the first EF4 tornado of the year in Katie, Oklahoma on May 9, where one death occurred. An EF3 tornado near Connerville, Oklahoma also killed a person that day. Other notable tornadoes included two large EF2 tornadoes in Colorado on May 7, a large EF2 tornado near Catherine, Kansas on May 8, and a destructive EF3 tornado that struck Mayfield, Kentucky on May 10. Overall, 57 tornadoes were confirmed.
An extended period of significant tornado activity affected the Central United States in late May 2016. This outbreak sequence came less than two weeks after another damaging tornado outbreak that affected similar areas. The most prolific day was May 24 when 44 tornadoes touched down with at least 12 of them spawned by an intense, long-tracked supercell near Dodge City, Kansas. The strongest tornado from this outbreak was a violent EF4 tornado on May 25 that caused severe damage near Solomon, Abilene, and Chapman, Kansas, injuring eight. Overall, 98 tornadoes were confirmed.
A small but damaging outbreak of 15 tornadoes impacted the Southeastern United States on February 7, 2017. The most damaging tornado of the outbreak was a large and powerful EF3 tornado. The tornado caused considerable damage along its path and left approximately 10,000 homes without electricity. 33 injuries occurred in the area after the tornado hit near Chef Menteur Highway with hundreds of structures sustaining moderate to significant damage along the ten-mile path. In response to the disaster, Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency.
The tornado outbreak of February 28 – March 1, 2017 was a widespread and significant outbreak of tornadoes and severe weather that affected the Midwestern United States at the end of February 2017 and beginning of March. Fueled by the combination of ample instability, strong wind shear, and rich low-level moisture, the event led to 71 confirmed tornadoes and thousands of other non-tornadic severe weather reports. The most notable aspect of the outbreak was a long-tracked EF4 tornado—the first violent tornado of 2017 and the first violent tornado during the month of February since the 2013 Hattiesburg tornado—that tracked from Perryville, Missouri to near Christopher, Illinois, killing one person. Three EF3 tornadoes were recorded during the event, including one that caused two fatalities in Ottawa, Illinois, one that caused a fatality near Crossville, and one that heavily damaged or destroyed homes in and around Washburn. In addition to the deaths, 38 people were injured by tornadoes and an additional 30 were injured by non-tornadic impacts, mainly by fallen trees.
A significant severe weather and tornado outbreak affected the Southern United States between December 16–17, 2019. Discrete supercells developed in the early morning on December 16 and moved northeast, spawning multiple strong, long-tracked tornadoes in cities such as Alexandria and in Laurel before congealing into an eastward-moving squall line. During the outbreak, the National Weather Service issued several PDS tornado warnings as well as a rare tornado emergency for Alexandria. In addition to this, the Storm Prediction Center issued six tornado watches for the outbreak. The event happened to take place on the same date of another outbreak in a similar area 19 years earlier.
There was a multi-day severe weather and tornado outbreak impacted the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States from February 5–7. A powerful upper-level trough progressed eastward across the country, intersecting an abundant supply of moist air to produce severe weather. An eastward-propagating cold front supported a damaging squall line across the Southeast U.S. on February 5–6; supercell thunderstorms ahead of this line also produced numerous tornadoes. One EF1 tornado in the pre-dawn hours of February 6 killed one person in Demopolis, Alabama. On the morning of February 7, a secondary front progressed across Maryland and Virginia, unexpectedly leading to hundreds of damaging wind reports across Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Five tornadoes were reported in the Washington, D.C., area, the most on record for a wintertime severe weather event. Across the three-day outbreak, 37 tornadoes were confirmed, including several that were strong and long-tracked.
A significant early spring tornado outbreak occurred during the afternoon and evening hours of March 5, 2022 in the Midwest, primarily in the state of Iowa, before transitioning to a damaging wind event across northern parts of Illinois and Indiana. Multiple tornadoes were reported, several of which were produced by a dominant supercell thunderstorm in central Iowa. One long-track, low-end EF4 tornado caused major damage near the towns of Winterset and Norwalk, resulting in six fatalities. Multiple other supercells spawned along an area of moderate destabilization in northern Missouri, prompting further tornado warnings in southern Iowa, as they entered a highly favorable environment for maturing. Large hail and damaging wind gusts accompanied the storms, which continued their passage across the Midwestern states into overnight. More tornadic weather was confirmed in Arkansas and Missouri the next day and into the early morning of March 7. In addition to that, straight line winds killed one person near Hazel, Kentucky when a semi trailer was blown over on US 641. Another non-tornadic fatality occurred in western New York as the storm approached.
A large tornado outbreak struck the Southern region of the United States on March 21–22, 2022, before transitioning to the Eastern United States on March 23. The outbreak started with numerous supercell thunderstorms and severe squall lines developing in central Texas and southern Oklahoma, prompting the issuance of numerous tornado warnings, including multiple PDS tornado warnings. An EF3 tornado caused considerable damage in Jacksboro, Texas while an EF2 tornado from the same storm caused a fatality in Sherwood Shores. Other strong tornadoes caused damage near College Station and in the Austin and Houston metropolitan areas. Severe and tornadic activity continued into the next day as the system moved eastward with numerous tornadoes reported in Mississippi and Alabama. On the evening of March 22, a supercell moved through the New Orleans metropolitan area, with an EF3 tornado producing severe damage in Arabi, resulting in one death and at least two injuries. Widespread flooding also accompanied the decaying squall line in Alabama. Tornadoes occurred on March 23 over the Eastern United States, associated with the same system, including EF2 tornadoes near Pickens, South Carolina, and Gladesboro, Virginia. In all, 85 tornadoes were confirmed.
Between March 29–31, 2022, a line of strong to severe thunderstorms and multiple supercells swept through portions of the United States and brought widespread wind damage and several strong tornadoes across a large part of the Midwestern, Southern, and Eastern United States. An EF3 tornado was confirmed in Springdale, Arkansas, while an EF1 tornado passed close to downtown Jackson, Mississippi. Numerous tornadoes, some of which were strong occurred over Mississippi, Alabama the evening of March 30 and into the early morning of March 31. Multiple tornadoes also occurred in the Florida Panhandle, including an intense EF3 tornado that killed two people and injured three others near Alford, Florida, and in other states such as North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Producing a total of 90 tornadoes, this was the largest tornado outbreak of 2022.
A four-day tornado outbreak affected the Central and Southern United States in mid-December 2022. The outbreak produced strong tornadoes in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, resulting in severe damage and three fatalities. On December 13, a high-end EF1 tornado was caught on video from multiple angles as it caused considerable damage in Grapevine, Texas, where five people were injured, and multiple EF2 tornadoes caused significant damage in other parts of Texas and Oklahoma that morning. Two large EF2 tornadoes occurred near DeBerry, Texas and Keachi, Louisiana to the southwest of Shreveport, Louisiana, with the second one causing severe damage and two fatalities. An EF3 tornado struck the northern fringes of Farmerville, causing major structural damage and 14 injuries.
A significant early spring tornado outbreak occurred throughout the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, with the most significant impacts occurring in Indiana and Ohio. More than two dozen tornadoes occurred, eight of them strong to intense. National Weather Service offices issued multiple 'Particularly Dangerous Situation' tornado warnings. Strong tornadoes produced major damage in the communities of Selma and Winchester in Indiana, and Fryburg and Lakeview in Ohio. One person died in Winchester, and three people were killed in Lakeview. Other significant tornadoes caused damage in Kansas, Arkansas, and Kentucky, with scattered weak tornadoes confirmed in several other states.
