An F4 tornado came through Moore, Oklahoma and destroyed most of the areas affected by the 1999 Bridge Creek-Moore tornado.

From May 3 to May 11, 2003, a prolonged and destructive series of tornado outbreaks affected much of the Great Plains and Eastern United States. Most of the severe activity was concentrated between May 4 and May 10, which saw more tornadoes than any other week-long span in recorded history; 335 tornadoes occurred during this period, concentrated in the Ozarks and central Mississippi River Valley. Additional tornadoes were produced by the same storm systems from May 3 to May 11, producing 363 tornadoes overall, of which 62 were significant. Six of the tornadoes were rated F4, and of these four occurred on May 4, the most prolific day of the tornado outbreak sequence; these were the outbreak's strongest tornadoes. Damage caused by the severe weather and associated flooding amounted to US$4.1 billion (US$5.8 billion in 2016), making it the costliest U.S. tornado outbreak of the 2000s. A total of 50 deaths and 713 injuries were caused by the severe weather, with a majority caused by tornadoes; the deadliest tornado was an F4 that struck Madison and Henderson counties in Tennessee, killing 11. In 2023, tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis created the outbreak intensity score (OIS) as a way to rank various tornado outbreaks. The tornado outbreak sequence of May 2003 received an OIS of 232, making it the fourth worst tornado outbreak in recorded history. (Full article...)

This page documents all tornadoes confirmed by various weather forecast offices of the National Weather Service in the United States in May 2018. Tornado counts are considered preliminary until final publication in the database of the National Centers for Environmental Information. (Full article...)

(Full article...)

Map of tornado warnings and confirmed tornadoes from the outbreak sequence

A multi-day period of significant tornado activity along with significant derechos occurred across the Midwestern United States and the Mississippi Valley as well as an additional tornado in the Canadian province of Quebec. From May 19–27, 2024, two derechos occurred and tornadoes were reported across large portions of the Central United States, with multiple Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) watches issued across the sequence. On May 19, strong tornadoes occurred with isolated supercells in Colorado and Oklahoma while a derecho produced widespread wind damage and weak tornadoes across Kansas into the early morning hours of May 20. Limited tornadic activity took place on May 20, but another outbreak along with widespread damage struck mainly Iowa and Wisconsin on May 21. Five fatalities were confirmed with a large, violent, long-tracked EF4 tornado that went through Greenfield, Iowa. Scattered to widespread severe weather and tornadoes occurred over the next two days, including an EF2 tornado that injured 30 people on the west side of Temple, Texas. Another derecho formed in southwestern Nebraska late on May 23 and moved eastward, producing widespread wind damage and weak tornadoes through Nebraska and Iowa and northwestern Illinois before withering away in the northern part of the state during the morning hours of May 24.

A nocturnal outbreak occurred during the overnight hours of May 25 into May 26. An isolated supercell in northern Texas produced multiple tornadoes, including a low-end EF3 tornado that passed near Valley View, Texas, killing seven people. Another longer-lived supercell moved through northeastern Oklahoma and across northern Arkansas, producing several tornadoes along with straight-line winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). Two fatalities were confirmed from an EF3 tornado that struck Claremore, Oklahoma along with areas near Pryor. Later, it produced a very large EF3 tornado near Decatur, Arkansas, which became the largest tornado ever recorded in Arkansas. Another EF3 tornado killed four people near Olvey and Pyatt while an additional tornadic death occurred with yet another EF3 tornado that passed near Yellville and through Briarcliff. Another supercell in southern Missouri produced a low-end EF3 tornado that passed near Morehouse and through Sikeston, killing two people indirectly. May 26 would be the most active day of severe weather; several rounds of squall lines and tornadic supercells moved through the Mid-Mississippi and the Ohio Valleys, producing widespread wind damage, large hail, and tornadoes. This included a very destructive, intense high-end EF3 tornado that prompted the issuance of four tornado emergencies across areas that had been previously impacted by the 2021 Western Kentucky tornado. One person was killed by this tornado. Severe weather activity became more isolated and scattered on May 27, marking the end of the outbreak sequence.

In all, 248 tornadoes occurred during the outbreak sequence; 20 (+1 indirect) people were killed by tornadoes while 10 other people died due to non-tornadic events as well. Over 240 people were injured. (Full article...)

March 12

• 2006 – Fifty-five tornadoes touched down across the Midwestern United States as part of a larger outbreak sequence, killing eight people. An F3 tornado killed four people and injured 26 near Renick, Missouri, including 13 people on a bus that it overturned. An F2 tornado injured 13 people near Fordland, Missouri, including one man who was carried 1,307 ft (398 m), the greatest distance that a person has been carried by a tornado and survived.

March 13

• 1913 – A tornado outbreak resulted in at least 76 deaths across much of the Southern United States. A mile-wide F4 tornado destroyed farms across Floyd and Gordon counties, Georgia, killing 15 people. Another F4 tornado killed 10 people near Middleton and Henderson, Tennessee.
• 1990 – A tornado outbreak affected parts of the Great Plains and Midwestern United States. A single supercell in Kansas produced two F5 tornadoes in succession, which killed one person each. The first caused major damage in Hesston while the second swept away farms near Goessel, producing "extreme F5" damage. Amateur video captured the dissipating Hesston tornado and newly-formed Goessel tornado as they merged, the first time such an event had been filmed.

March 14

• 1933 – A major tornado outbreak killed 44 people in Tennessee. An F3 tornado moved through downtown Nashville, damaging the State Capitol and killing 15 people, including 11 in the city. An F4 tornado devastated Pruden, killing 12 people and injuring 162. Another F3 tornado or tornado family killed 16 people and injured 235 as it moved through several rural communities and the city of Kingsport.

• ...that the 2013 Moore tornado that struck Moore and Newcastle, Oklahoma, is the most recent EF5 tornado as of March 2025?
• ...that the 2021 South Moravia tornado, an IF4 tornado with winds between 207–260 mph (333–418 km/h), was the strongest tornado to hit the Czech Republic in modern history?
• ...that five of the six people killed in the 2011 Cullman–Arab tornado were members of the same family?
• ...that Picher, Oklahoma, was hit so hard by a tornado in 2008 that it would become a ghost town in 2015?
• ...that the 2022 Andover tornado injured only three people, despite damaging more than 1,000 buildings?