Tornadoes

1,280+ Tornadoes so far for the 2025 Tornado Season

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As of October 2025, the confirmed U.S. tornado count for the year is 1,283. This matches the latest breakdown by the Enhanced Fujita rating:​ This preliminary count slightly varies in real-time across different databases, but 1,283 is the latest confirmed total according to the main NOAA/SPC and referenced sources. Tornadoes are a powerful and destructive force of nature, … Read more

Storm Chasers Broadcasting Live – Watch Now!

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Live stream video from storm chasers

● Future Radar ● Storm Reports ● Rainfall Totals ● Live Lightning ● Today’s Severe Weather Risk Nationwide During periods of severe weather, storm chasers tend to converge on the predicted region, devise their strategy, and hit the road in pursuit of convective development unmatched in variety and intensity anywhere in the world. The United … Read more

Did You Know There Are Three Types of Supercells?

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Determining the type of supercells that may occur within a given severe weather environment is important for a multitude of reasons. A supercell is a thunderstorm that rotates. There are three types of supercells: low-precipitation (LP), classic, and high-precipitation (HP). The configuration of the wind shear profiles within a severe weather environment is critical in diagnosing … Read more

Rowlett fundraising for Christmas Tornado Relief

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The City of Rowlett, Texas, continues their efforts to raise money for those affected by the EF-4 tornado that impacted the area on December 26th, 2015. Rowlett Strong, the non-profit organization involved, has earned a Gold Participant status from the GuideStar non-profit organization. GuideStar is one of the world’s largest source of non-profit information. Rowlett … Read more

Remembering the November 17th, 2013, Tornado Outbreak

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On Sunday, November 17th, 2013, an outbreak of deadly tornadoes occurred across the upper midwest region of the United States. 73 tornadoes were confirmed across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio. Two of the seventy-three tornadoes were violent, of which both earned damage ratings on the Enhanced Fujita Scale of EF-4 (166-200mph winds). Both … Read more

Long Track Supercells in the Western Plains on May 16th, 2017

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Long-track supercells formed across the western Great Plains on Tuesday, May 16th, 2017. Accompanied with these supercells were multiple tornadoes, damaging winds, and giant hail upwards of 4.00″ in diameter. Widespread flash flooding also occurred across the Oklahoma Panhandle and southwestern Kansas.  The morning data analysis, including the 1200z / 7:00am CDT observed weather balloon … Read more

The Influence of Wind Shear on Thunderstorms

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Strong vertical wind shear is important for the development of severe convective storms including the type of thunderstorm, its orientation, and its life span. Wind shear can influence storms in several ways, including speed shear and directional shear. Speed shear is a change in the wind speed with respect to height, while directional shear is the … Read more

Remembering the Greensburg, Kansas, EF-5 Tornado

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Ten years ago today on the evening of May 4, 2007, the small town of Greensburg, Kansas, was nearly destroyed by a 1.7 mile wide EF-5 tornado, with a maximum wind speed of 205mph. Damage surveys concluded that about 95% of the city was destroyed, with EF-5 damage observed through the heart of Greensburg. The tornado tracked for … Read more

January 21-23rd Tornado Outbreak Second Largest on Record in Southeast U.S.

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On January 21-23rd, 2017, a rare, multifaceted severe weather outbreak occurred across the Deep South and southeastern United States. 80 tornadoes occurred over the three day span of the outbreak, of which several were strong (EF-2 to EF-3 strength), long-track tornadoes. This tornado outbreak was the second largest outbreak on record in the southeastern United States. … Read more

U.S. Tornado Count in 2016 Slightly Below the Annual Average

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The year of 2016, there were a total of 1,059 tornadoes across the U.S. (with the month of May, 2016 having some of the more photogenic tornadoes). How does this compare to other years? According to the 2005-2015 tornado climatology, there was an average of 1,402 tornadoes across the nation. Tornado activity for 2016 was below the 2005-2015 average.  Each … Read more

May 24th, 2016, Western Kansas Tornado Outbreak

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On Tuesday, May 24th, 2016, an outbreak of tornadoes occurred across western Kansas. There were 13 observed total tornadoes a cyclic supercell near Dodge City, Kansas including four sets of twin tornadoes, a set of triplets, and a large multi-vortex tornado and wedge tornado. So far, the National Weather Service in Dodge City, Kansas, surveyed 9 … Read more

Remembering the May 21-26, 2011 Tornado Outbreak

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From May 21st to May 26th, 2011, destructive tornadoes tore through the Great Plains, impacting thousands of people and leaving billions of dollars in damage in its wake. During this time period, there were 241 total tornadoes, including two EF-5, three EF-4, eight EF-3, thirty-one EF-2, eighty-six EF-1, and one hundred [and] ten EF-0 tornadoes. … Read more

Atlanta: Thunderstorms and Heavy Rain Tomorrow (Sun 11/23)

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For the past week, the global numerical prediction models, including the GFS and ECMWF, have hinted at the potential of a negatively tilted trough digging into the Southeast. They have consistently indicated a strong area of low pressure across the Arklatex propagating off to the northeast into Missouri and Kentucky.  Ahead of the low, an … Read more