Five Deadliest December Tornadoes

Year-Round Tornado Season

Most of us associate tornadoes with the spring months. But tornadoes can occur whenever warm, moist, unstable air combines with a favorable arrangement of winds in the vicinity of a storm system. And that combination can happen any time of year.

In December, there is an area of the country far more prone to this kind of environment than any other, and that’s the Deep South – and in particular, the western Gulf Coast region and lower Mississippi Valley.

Through 2013, there have been 119 documented killer tornadoes in December in U.S. history. Of those, 66 – more than half the total – have been concentrated in Louisiana and its three neighboring states: Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

And 86 percent of all December killer tornadoes have occurred in the Central time zone, in a region stretching from central Texas to Alabama and northward to southern Illinois. (The rest have been in a stripe from Florida to the Carolinas, except for one rare exception in Pennsylvania.)

The next five pages have the stories behind the five deadliest December tornadoes in U.S. history. They are a reminder that for millions of Americans, tornado season is year-round.

NEXT: The Tuscaloosa tornado you may not remember

Dec. 16, 2000: Tuscaloosa, Ala. (11 dead)

Over a decade before the historic Superoutbreak of 2011 devastated Tuscaloosa and many other Alabama communities, Tuscaloosa was struck by a violent tornado on Dec. 16, 2000.

This F4 tornado was broadcast on live television when the local ABC affiliate spotted the twister approaching on its tower camera on the city’s south side.

Unfortunately, despite the dramatic visuals and ample warning, 11 people lost their lives in the tornado, and 750 were injured. It was part of a modest outbreak of two dozen tornadoes that day. One of those other tornadoes killed one person in Geneva, Ala.

The Tuscaloosa tornado tied for the deadliest of the year 2000; the other deadliest twister also struck in the colder months, smashing into a mobile home park near Camilla, Ga., on Feb. 13.

NEXT: Deja vu in Tri-State Tornado territory

Dec. 18, 1957: Gorham/Murphysboro, Ill. (11 dead)

Photos used with permission of the Jackson County Historical Society, Murphysboro, Ill.

Gorham and Murphysboro, Ill., are infamous as two of the many towns devastated by the March 1925 Tri-State Tornado, the nation’s deadliest in history. In that event, Murphysboro alone lost 234 citizens, among the worst tornado death tolls ever seen in a single U.S. city.

Disaster visited these southern Illinois communities again on Dec. 18, 1957. The tornado first touched down just southwest of Gorham, destroying 40 homes in Gorham before taking its first victim in tiny Sand Ridge, just before leaving the Mississippi River bottoms and crossing into the hilly terrain that characterizes much of southern Illinois.

The tornado, rushing northeast at 60 mph, then struck the older southeastern section of Murphysboro and reached its maximum intensity there. Damage reached F4 on the old Fujita scale, and 10 people died in the area of the most intense damage.

In addition to the 11 fatalities, 200 people were injured by this tornado, one of the northernmost and strongest U.S. tornadoes ever seen so late in the calendar year.

NEXT: Close call for a capital city

Dec. 26, 1916: Central Arkansas (12 dead)

Tornado historian Tom Grazulis believes this tornado may have in fact been a family of tornadoes along an 80-mile path across the Arkansas counties of Grant, Jefferson, Pulaski, Lonoke and Prairie.

Lacking the benefit of modern survey techniques and scientific knowledge, many historical tornado events are classified as single long-track tornadoes when in fact they may have been a series of tornadoes from the same parent supercell. Unfortunately, given the limitations in past documentation, we often can only speculate about the true nature of these storms.

In this particular case, homes were destroyed at over 15 different locations, and the 12 deaths were scattered along the storm’s path as well. Though the tornado did clip a small part of Pulaski County – home of the state capital, Little Rock – it stayed well south and east of the city, hitting mostly rural areas.

NEXT: Devastation in Louisiana

Dec. 31, 1947: Cotton Valley/Haynesville, La. (18 dead)

New Year's Eve was a balmy day in northwest Louisiana as a powerful low pressure center and sharply colder air lurked to the west and northwest. After a mild morning low of 62, Shreveport warmed up to a high of 73 degrees. Meanwhile, just 300 miles away, Oklahoma City was below freezing all day as snow fell. The stage was set for severe thunderstorms to break out.

This long-track tornado – also possibly a family of tornadoes – began its deadly swath in northwest Louisiana about 10 miles north of Shreveport around 4 p.m. After passing over a mix of forest and farmland, the F4 twister slammed into Cotton Valley, killing 14 people in the town of just over 1,000 people.

The tornado went on to take another four lives – three in rural areas of northwest Louisiana and one in the town of Haynesville. The tornado crossed into south-central Arkansas, lifting southwest of the city of El Dorado without taking any lives in the Natural State.

NEXT: The deadliest December tornado in U.S. history

Dec. 5, 1953: Vicksburg, Miss. (38 dead)

Photos used with permission of the Old Court House Museum, Vicksburg, Miss.

A devastating year of tornadoes was capped by the deadliest December tornado in U.S. history.

The spring of 1953 had already brought horrific destruction and death to Waco, Texas; Flint, Mich.; and Worcester, Mass. Nearly 500 people had perished in twisters that year before a ferocious tornado struck Vicksburg, Miss.

(WATCH: Jim Cantore looks back on 1953 Waco tornado)

Touching down first across the Mississippi River in Madison Parish, La., the tornado moved into Mississippi and almost immediately was in downtown Vicksburg. Businesses were leveled, killing some and trapping others for hours.

The Saenger Theatre, where a girl was celebrating her 10th birthday with friends and family watching the movie Botany Bay, was destroyed; tragically, five of the children died as the ceiling and one of the walls collapsed.

The tornado’s north-northeasterly track took it along the length of the town, tearing up residential areas as it exited the downtown business district. Had the tornado struck a mile farther west, it would have stayed over virtually empty Mississippi River bottomland.

In all, 38 people died and 270 were injured in this, America’s deadliest December tornado.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Tornado Risk by Month