Over 1,500 Tornadoes Were Reported in the U.S. Last Year, One of the Busiest Years on Record

2019 was one of the most active years on record for tornadoes in the U.S., but there was a small silver lining to the news.

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center estimated 1,520 tornadoes occurred in the U.S. in 2019.

This was the fourth highest yearly total on record, behind 2008 and 2011 (1,691 tornadoes each), and the record from 2004 (1,819 tornadoes). 2019 also had 300-plus tornadoes above the 2010s annual tornado average of 1,200.

Luckily, the death toll didn't follow suit. Forty-one people died in tornadoes in 2019, but that was below the 30-year average and relatively low compared to the total number of tornadoes.

NOAA's 2019 tornado count was preliminary because the September through December tallies have yet to be finalized as of the time of publication.

May's 506 tornadoes was third highest of any May in records dating to 1950. The tally is due to a siege of severe weather that began in late April.

Seventy-seven tornadoes were confirmed on May 27 alone, including an EF4 tornado near Dayton, Ohio. The following day, another EF4 tornado tore through areas near Linwood, Kansas, just south of Lawrence.

State Records Set

Two states, Oklahoma (147 tornadoes) and Mississippi (114 tornadoes), set annual tornado records.

1999 (145 tornadoes) was the previous record year in the Sooner State and included the destructive May 3, 1999 outbreak including the F5 Oklahoma City metro tornado. One-hundred and five of 2019's tornadoes occurred in May alone, also topping the state's May record from 1999 of 90 tornadoes.

Mississippi's record year came largely from a record-tying April (67 tornadoes) and record-setting December (23 tornadoes).

And it wasn't just the typical tornado hot spots that were active in 2019.

Seven tornadoes touched down in the Phoenix valley last year, the most in any year, there, since 1972, the National Weather Service told KTAR News. A number of those touched down the morning after Thanksgiving.

Many Tornadoes, But Lower Death Toll

That's higher than the past three years, but below the 30-year average annual death toll of 69, according to NOAA statistics.

One reason for the lower death toll was the lack of violent tornadoes.

Despite accounting for less than 1% of all tornadoes in the U.S., these tornadoes of at least EF4 intensity accounted for half the tornado deaths in the U.S. over the last 20 years.

Only three EF4, and no EF5 tornadoes were documented in 2019.

One of those EF4 tornadoes was the deadliest of 2019; it killed 23 people in Lee County, Alabama, south of Auburn, on March 3.

Despite the state record tallies, only four were killed by tornadoes in Oklahoma and only two were killed in Mississippi last year. There were no violent - EF4 or stronger - tornadoes in Oklahoma last year.

Two of the three years with higher tornado counts than 2019 had major tornado outbreaks with a number of violent, deadly tornadoes.

In 2011, 553 were killed, largely in the April Super Outbreak and the Joplin, Missouri, EF5 tornado in May.

In 2008, 57 of the year's 126 tornado fatalities were from the Feb. 5-6 Super Tuesday outbreak.

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