Tornadoes of 1950

This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1950, primarily in the United States. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally.

Tornadoes of 1950
Timespan1950
Maximum rated tornadoF4 tornado
  • 7 different locations
    on 6 different days
Tornadoes in U.S.201[1]
Damage (U.S.)$34.428 million (1950 USD) $358.7 million (2018 USD)
Fatalities (U.S.)70
Fatalities (worldwide)>74

This was the first year where tornadoes were documented by the U.S. Weather Bureau, which would later become the National Weather Service. It was the least active tornado season ever recorded. However, tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due to fewer reports or confirmed tornadoes. In subsequent years, the documentation of tornadoes became much more widespread and efficient, with the average annual tornado count being around 1,253.[2]

Events
Main article: List of United States tornadoes in 1950

A major milestone in weather history, 1950 marks the first public tornado warning and use of radar to track storms. With this, tornado records began to be kept and a database was started.

1950 had an early and violent start to the year with the first tornadoes touching down on January 3. Two F3 tornadoes and one F1 tornado touching down. One of the F3 tornadoes struck the northern suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri and caused almost $3 million in damage.

The first killer tornado of 1950 was a lone F3 tornado on January 13 which struck Polk County, Arkansas killing one and injuring another.

A rare F2 tornado touched down in Northeastern Illinois on January 26. This is one of only two tornadoes to hit that area in the month of January. The other being an EF3 tornado on January 7, 2008.

A deadly tornado outbreak occurred between February 11 and 13 across the Southern United States. 19 tornadoes touched down, including an F4 tornado which left at least 18 people dead along an 82.6-mile-long track in Louisiana on February 12. There were eight killer tornadoes, six of which were on February 12, which left at least 45 people dead. Two other long track tornadoes touched down in Louisiana, and F3 tornado which tracked 74.5 miles leaving five dead, and an F2 which traveled 58.4 miles and left another five dead.[1]

United States yearly total
Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 Total
0 16 86 68 24 7 0 201

January

There were 7 tornadoes confirmed in the US in January.[1]

January 3
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 1 0 2 0 0

Three damaging tornadoes touched down in Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio, injuring seven people. The most damaging tornado struck the northern suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri and was rated F3 causing almost $3 million in damage and injuring three people. These were the first tornadoes to be put in the database.[1]

January 13
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 0 0 1 0 0

The first killer tornado in the database struck north of Vandervort in Polk County, Arkansas. The brief, but strong F3 tornado killed one and injured another.[1]

February

There were 20 tornadoes confirmed in the US in February.[1]

February 11–13
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 5 10 3 1 0
Main article: February 1950 tornado outbreak

The first tornado outbreak to be documented in the new tornado database, this deadly series of intense tornadoes struck areas from the Gulf Coast into the Ohio Valley. The strongest tornado was an F4 twister that tore an 82.6 mile path near Shreveport, Louisiana, although further analysis concluded that this was likely a tornado family. Regardless, at least 18 people were killed, while 77 others were injured. Overall, at least 19 tornadoes touched down, killing at least 45 and injuring at least 201 others.[1]

March

There were 21 tornadoes confirmed in the US in March.[1]

March 26–27
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 4 10 2 0 0

An outbreak of 16 tornadoes struck the Mississippi Valley. On March 26, an F3 tornado in Izard County, Arkansas injured one. Later, a large F2 tornado moved directly through Downtown Little Rock, injuring seven. After that, a massive, mile wide F3 tornado moved through Prairie County, Arkansas, injuring 20. The next day, a brief, but fatal F2 tornado struck areas south-southwest of Belzoni, Mississippi, killing one and injuring two. Overall, the tornadoes injured 52 and killed one.[1]

April

There were 15 tornadoes confirmed in the US in April.[1]

April 2–3
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 2 1 1 0 0

An F3 tornado northwest of Tuckerman, Arkansas killed one and injured eight. Three additional tornadoes touched down in Arkansas and Oklahoma with no additional casualties.[1]

April 18
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 0 1 1 0 0

An F3 tornado moved through the Northwestern suburbs of Mobile, Alabama, injuring 15. An additional F2 tornado struck near Cedar Point and Cypress Point, Alabama with no causalties.[1]

April 28–29
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 2 2 1 2 0

An intense outbreak of seven tornadoes struck Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Mississippi. The three strongest tornadoes all occurred on April 28 and caused all the casualties. A long-tracked F3 tornado touched down in the Quartz Mountain National Park on the shore of Lake Altus-Lugert in Oklahoma. It then moved north-northeast through Lugert and the east side of Lone Wolf, before turning due-north and striking Sentinel, causing major damage, injuring one and killing another. Later, a short-lived, but violent F4 tornado hit the north side of Clyde, Texas, killing five and injuring another five. The worst event was another violent F4 tornado that touched down right over Downtown Holdenville, Oklahoma before devastating areas on the northeast side of town. Five people were killed and 32 others were injured. Overall, the outbreak killed 11 and injured 38.[1]

May

There were 61 tornadoes confirmed in the US in May.[1]

May 1–2
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 1 6 2 0 0 0

An outbreak of nine tornadoes hit Louisiana and Mississippi. On May 1, an F2 tornado moved through Natchitoches Parish, injuring seven. On May 2, another F2 tornado near Archie, Louisiana killed one and injured five. Overall, the tornadoes killed one and injured 15.[1]

May 4–5
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 3 3 1 1 0

An outbreak of eight tornadoes impacted Kansas, Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. On May 4, a fatal F2 tornado touched down in Downtown Perryton, Texas before striking the northeast side of town, killing one and injuring 13. That night, a long-tracked, violent F4 tornado struck Zook, Kansas before tracking over open country and hitting Dundee and the Great Bend Municipal Airport outside of Great Bend, injuring one. Overnight, a large, .25 mile wide F3 tornado moved through rural Jackson and Brown Counties before striking Hiawatha, injuring 12. Overall, the eight hour outbreak killed one and injured 26.[1]

May 21 (U.K.)
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 3 1 0 0 0

An outbreak of four tornadoes struck the United Kingdom, killing four people.

June

There were 28 tornadoes confirmed in the US in June.[1]

June 3
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 0 0 1 0 0

An isolated, but strong F3 tornado struck areas north of Kosciusko, Mississippi, killing two and injuring one.[1]

June 8–9
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 2 0 0 1 0

On June 8, an isolated, but large, violent F4 tornado hit the south side of McPherson, Kansas, killing one and injuring five. Two F1 tornadoes touched down in Missouri and Oklahoma the next day, causing no additional casualties.[1]

June 13–16
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 4 2 3 0 0

Over the course of four days, nine tornadoes struck eight states. On June 13, an F2 tornado near Center, Nebraska injured 101 people. Overall, 110 people were injured in this tornado outbreak sequence, although there were no fatalities.[1]

June 25
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 2 1 2 1 1 0

An outbreak of five tornadoes struck Wisconsin. An F2 tornado struck Colby and Abbotsford, killing one. At the same time, a violent, half-mile wide F4 tornado moved through Rhinelander, killing two and injuring 12. Two additional non-fatal F0 tornadoes also touched down in Kansas. Overall, the tornadoes killed three and injured 12.[1]

July

There were 23 tornadoes confirmed in the US in July.[1]

July 15–16
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 1 0 0 1 0

On July 15, an isolated, but large, violent F4 tornado struck areas north of Uehling, Nebraska, injuring 33. The next day, an F1 tornado damaged residential areas on the south side of Dwight, Illinois, although no casualties occurred.[1]

July 18–19
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 3 2 1 0 0

A cluster of six tornadoes struck areas from the Midwest to the Ohio Valley. The only tornado to cause casualties occurred on July 19, when an F3 tornado hit Southeastern Lima, Ohio as well as Beaverdam. A total of 30 people were injured.[1]

August

There were 13 tornadoes confirmed in the US in August.[1]

August 23 (Netherlands)
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 0 0 1 0 0

An F3 tornado tracked 50 km from the Veluwe, Gelderland through Veluwe Forest to Haulerwijk, Friesland in the Netherlands. Four people were killed.

September

There were 3 tornadoes confirmed in the US in September.[1]

September 1 (Canada)
Main article: List of tornadoes by province (Canada) § 1950
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
1 0 0 0 0 0 0

A tornado tracked 50 miles through Alberta, damaging crops and farm buildings.

October

There were 2 tornadoes confirmed in the US in October.[1]

November

There were 4 tornadoes confirmed in the US in November.[1]

November (Canada)
Main article: List of tornadoes by province (Canada) § 1950 2
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
1 0 0 0 0 0 0

A tornado was recorded in Regina, Saskatchewan. The exact date of the tornado is unknown.

November 2 (Singapore)
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
1 0 0 0 0 0 0

A tornado struck Serangoon, Singapore, injuring seven people.

December

There were 4 tornadoes confirmed in the US in December.[1]

December 2
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
0 0 1 1 2 0 0

All four December tornadoes touched down on this day in the form of a deadly tornado outbreak that struck Illinois and Arkansas. The first tornado was a long-tracked F2 twister that struck Dorsey, White City, and Mt. Olive, Illinois, killing one and injuring three. The second tornado was the deadliest; a long-tracked F3 tornado moved through Highland, Pocahontas, Stubblefield, and Greenville, Illinois, killing two and injuring 25. An additional F3 tornado passed east of Franklin, Arkansas, while an F1 tornado passed north of Sparta, Illinois near Tilden, both of which caused no additional casualties. Overall, the four tornadoes killed three people and injured 28 others.[1]

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See also

References
  1. "Tornado History Project: 1950". www.tornadohistoryproject.com. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  2. "U.S. Tornado Climatology | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) formerly known as National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
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