Tornado Central

Record-Long Streak With No EF3 or Stronger Tornadoes in the U.S. Ends in Jacksonville, Alabama

At a Glance

An EF3-rated tornado struck Jacksonville, Alabama, on Monday evening.
That ends a record-long stretch without a tornado rated that intensity or stronger in the U.S.
It had been 306 days since the last EF3 or stronger.

Monday's severe weather outbreak in northern Alabama ended a record-long streak with no EF3 or stronger rated tornadoes in the United States.

Damage from a tornado near Alabama's Jacksonville State University has been given a preliminary EF3 rating based on a field survey by the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

(MORE: Tornado Central)

Two cars are turned over in front of a storm damaged apartment complex, Tuesday, March 20, 2018, after a violent storm went through Jacksonville, Ala., Monday night. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) — Two cars are turned over in front of a storm-damaged apartment complex, Tuesday, March 20, 2018, after a tornado went through Jacksonville, Alabama. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

The last tornado of that intensity occurred on May 16, 2017, when separate EF3 tornadoes touched down in Kansas and Wisconsin.

A total of 306 days then went by with no tornadoes rated EF3 or stronger, besting the previous record of 249 days, based on data back to 1953 from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center. That previous streak was set July 21, 2003-March 27, 2004, according to Steve Bowen, meteorologist at Aon Benfield.

For the years spanning 1953-2014, the average gap in time between EF3 or higher rated tornadoes in the U.S. has been 97 days.

Tornadoes are rated on the Enhanced Fujita Scale from EF0 to EF5 based on the damage they cause. EF2-EF3 tornadoes are considered strong while rare EF4-EF5 twisters are classified as violent.

(MORE: How Tornadoes Are Rated)

Tornadoes rated EF2-EF3 are not very common, making up about 9.5 percent of all twisters for the years 2000-2010. Less than one percent of all tornadoes were assigned an EF4 or EF5 rating for that same period of time.

Tornadoes rated EF2 or stronger make up about 10 percent of all tornadoes.

The lack of EF3 or stronger tornadoes may have played a partial role in another severe weather streak that ended about a month ago.

A record 283 days went by with no tornado deaths in the U.S. until Feb. 24, 2018. Separate EF2 tornadoes in Kentucky and Arkansas were responsible for ending that streak.

(MORE: Record-Long Tornado Fatality Streak Ends)