Portal:Tornadoes

The Tornadoes Portal

An F5 tornado near Tracy, Minnesota, in 1968

Tornadoes are violently rotating columns of air that are in contact with the Earth and either a cumulonimbus or a cumulus cloud. Tornadoes are often called twisters, whirlwinds, or cyclones. While most tornadoes contain winds of less than 110 miles per hour (180 km/h), are about 250 feet (80 m) across, and travel a few miles (several kilometers), the wind speeds in the most intense tornadoes can reach 300 miles per hour (480 km/h), are more than two miles (3 km) in diameter, and stay on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 km). Various types of tornadoes include the multiple vortex tornado, landspout, and waterspout. Other tornado-like phenomenons that exist in nature include the gustnado, dust devil, fire whirl, and steam devil. Most tornadoes occur in North America (in the United States and Canada), concentrated in a region nicknamed Tornado Alley. Tornadoes also occur in South America, South Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

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The 1899 New Richmond tornado was an estimated F5 tornado that formed in the early evening of Monday, June 12, 1899, leaving a 45-mile-long (72 km) path of destruction through St. Croix, Polk, and Barron counties in west-central Wisconsin. There were a total of 117 fatalities and 150 injuries, with hundreds more reported as displaced. The worst devastation occurred in the city of New Richmond, which took a direct hit from the storm. Over half of New Richmond was left in ruins due to the tornado, which also caused minor damage to surrounding communities. The damage was reported to be over $300,000 (USD) ($11,610,000 in 2025). As of 2019, it is ranked as the ninth deadliest tornado in United States history, as well as the deadliest tornado ever recorded in Wisconsin. (Full article...)

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Canada's only confirmed F5 tornado occurred in Elie, Manitoba on June 22, 2007

This is a list of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks that have occurred in Canada since the year 2000. Due to increasing detection, particularly in the US and southern Canada, numbers of counted tornadoes have increased markedly in recent decades although number of actual tornadoes and counted significant tornadoes has not. In older events, the number of tornadoes officially counted is likely underestimated.

On average, there are around 80 confirmed and unconfirmed tornadoes that touch down in Canada each year, with most occurring in the southern Canadian Prairies, Southern Ontario and southern Quebec. Canada ranks second in the world for the most tornadoes per year, after the United States. The most common types are F0 to F2 in damage intensity level and usually result in minor structural damage to barns, wood fences, roof shingles, chimneys, uprooted or snapped tree limbs and downed power lines. Fewer than 5% of tornadoes in Canada are rated F3 or higher in intensity, where wind speeds are in excess of 225 km/h (140 mph). Prior to April 1, 2013, Canada used a slightly modified Fujita scale, and as of that date the Enhanced Fujita scale, again slightly modified, was put into use to rate tornado intensity, based on the damage to buildings and vegetation. (Full article...)

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An EF4 tornado near Katie, Oklahoma in May 2016.

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This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1951, primarily in the United States. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due to fewer reports or confirmed tornadoes.

The total count of tornadoes and ratings differs from various agencies accordingly. The article, therefore, documents information from the most contemporary official sources alongside assessments from tornado historian Thomas P. Grazulis. (Full article...)

2026 tornado activity

In the evening hours of January 7, a strong tornado tracked through Kalpaki, Greece, significantly damaging numerous structures. A large poultry farm was destroyed, killing 30,000–40,000 chickens inside. A church and a military camp were also damaged. The tornado was rated IF2 on the International Fujita Scale.

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Tornado anniversaries

August 29

  • 1910 – An F2 (possibly F3) tornado destroyed a large portion of Heaton, North Dakota, killing two people. A house was reported carried 300 feet (90 m) while ten people inside were uninjured.
  • 1992 – An F3 tornado struck Wautoma, Wisconsin, destroying 48 homes and damaging about 400. with damage costing $10 million. One person was killed when here trailer home was thrown several hundred feet, and 30 others were injured.
  • 2005 – Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the United States Gulf Coast, resulting in the most active phase of its associated tornado outbreak as 39 tornadoes touched down. An F2 tornado killed one person and approximately one million chickens, along with other livestock, near Glenloch, Georgia.

August 30

  • 1971 – An F2 tornado hit Tempe and Mesa, Arizona in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, destroying several homes and causing significant damage to others. Forty-one people were injured, mostly from flying glass.
  • 1974 – A series of tornadoes touched down in the vicinity of Great Bend, Kansas, which mostly remained over open country. One large tornado was captured on film near Ash Valley in some of the best-known tornado footage of the twentieth century. While this tornado only produced F1 damage, analysis of the film indicated winds in the F2 range near the ground and in the F3 range aloft.

August 31

Did you know…

General images -

The following are images from various tornado-related articles on Wikipedia.

Featured Article or List -

This is either a featured article or featured list, which represents some of the best articles on English Wikipedia.
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