Tornado Safety and Preparedness

Here's How Many Tornadoes Your State Sees In A Typical Year

At a Glance

Texas and Kansas average the most tornadoes each year.
Other parts of the Plains, South and Midwest also have a high number of tornadoes annually.
The Northeast and West have the lowest number of annual tornadoes.

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Tornadoes can occur in any month of the year across the United States, and it should come as no surprise that the Plains states have the highest frequency of twisters in an average year.

The Storm Prediction Center has compiled a list of the total number of tornadoes per state per year, averaged over 20 years from 2003-2022. This data is shown in the map below.

The number in each state depicts the average annual number of tornadoes, with various colors representing higher and lower averages.

The number in each state depicts the average annual number of tornadoes based on the 20-year period from 2003 to 2022.
(Data: Storm Prediction Center)

The two most active states for tornadoes are Texas, with 124, and Kansas, with 87, in an average year. They are both located in the heart of Tornado Alley, a nickname given to an area in the Plains between Central Texas and South Dakota that has some of the most tornadic activity in the world.

As a whole, the U.S. averaged 1,248 tornadoes annually from 2003 to 2022, 54% of which occurred between April and June.

When And Where The Most Tornadoes Typically Occur

April kicks off what is typically the most active and dangerous three-month period of the year for tornadoes in the U.S.

Although strong tornadoes can occur in any month, weather history shows that April, May and June are the months with the highest potential of having both the highest number of tornadoes and the most violent tornadoes in a given year.

May typically has the most tornadoes each year, with an average of 278. This is followed by June and April, which average 188 and 203 per year, respectively.

(MORE: The Most Dangerous Three Months For Tornadoes In The US)

The three-month period from April through June averages the most number of tornadoes during the year.
(Data: NOAA/NWS/SPC)

Historically, the highest threat of tornadoes migrates from the South into parts of the Plains and Midwest as we advance through April, May and June.

For example, the potential for tornadoes in the South is much lower in June compared to April. Although moisture is abundant across the southern U.S. in late spring, the strong jet stream winds needed to make conditions favorable for tornadic thunderstorms move northward toward the Canadian border.

By summer, tornadoes can occur virtually anywhere nationwide because warmth and humidity are the most widespread of any time of the year.

A secondary peak in tornado activity occurs in the fall in the Gulf Coast states, some of which can be attributed to tropical storms and hurricanes. Tornadoes can sometimes spread northward to the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes in the fall.

From late fall through winter, the greatest chance of tornadoes moves back to the South with the warmest air and much of the moisture.

Click through the slideshow below to see where the average tornado risk area is located each month.