What States Have Experienced the Most Tornadoes This Year?

The United States has already experience a very active tornado season with 1,016 preliminary tornado reports as of May 26, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Storm Prediction Center. This preliminary number is remarkably higher than NOAA’s three-year average for tornados. Additionally, of the tornados recorded this year, NOAA said 55 were possible EF2 or higher.

This year so far, the top five states for reported tornados are Iowa (98), Texas (96), Nebraska (81), Missouri (78), and Oklahoma (72). Closely following are Kansas (71), Ohio (67), and Illinois (62). Historically, the costliest tornadoes in inflation-adjusted expenses to hit the U.S. were in Joplin, Missouri, in 2011; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2011; and Moore, Oklahoma, in 2013, reported PropertyCasualty360.

May 26 was the busiest severe weather day of the year so far, with NOAA recording 745 storms that produced either tornados (33), high winds (584) or hail (128) and caused destruction across more than 20 states. These storms produced wind gusts more than 75 mph and hail the size of softballs, CNN reports. Thunderstorms and tornadoes were responsible for at least 23 deaths during the weekend in Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama, CNN reported.

Still, this year, the busiest day for tornados alone was April 26 which spawned 108, NOAA reported.

April also marked the 11th month in a row of record global temperatures and the warmest April on record, according to NOAA. In turn, this week will experience extreme heat waves across portions of Texas and the South, CNN reported. Heat indices already reached triple digits in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida during the long Memorial Holiday weekend. Extreme heat is the deadliest form of natural disaster in the U.S., CNN reported, overtaking tornados and flooding. In line with this, earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) together with NOAA released a new Heat and Health Initiative to protect Americans from heat exposure, particularly during heat events.

As CMM previously reported initial 2024 forecasters at Colorado State University also projected a well above-average hurricane season in the Atlantic due to warmer-than-normal tropical temperatures.