Clockwise from top: A view of a neighborhood in Joplin, Missouri after being hit by a catastrophic EF5 tornado; Damage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama caused by a strong EF4 tornado on April 27; A destroyed house in Smithville, Mississippi after a fast-moving EF5 tornado; An EF4 tornado seen by a CCTV camera in Cullman, Alabama; Damage to a 2 million pound oil rig by a powerful EF5 tornado on May 24; A powerful tornado at EF5 intensity after exiting the town of Rainsville, Alabama. | |
| Timespan | January 1 – December 22, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Maximum rated tornado | EF5 tornado
|
| Tornadoes in U.S. | 1,713[1] |
| Damage (U.S.) | ~$26.54 billion (Record costliest)[2] |
| Fatalities (U.S.) | 553[3] (>5,370 injuries) |
| Fatalities (worldwide) | 571 |
This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 2011. Extremely destructive tornadoes form most frequently in the United States, Bangladesh, Brazil and Eastern India, but they can occur almost anywhere under the right conditions. Tornadoes also appear regularly in neighboring southern Canada during the Northern Hemisphere's summer season, and somewhat regularly in Europe, Asia, and Australia.
There were 1,713 tornadoes confirmed in the United States in 2011. It was the third most active year on record, with only 2024 and 2004 having more confirmed tornadoes. 2011 was an extremely devastating and deadly year for tornadoes; worldwide, at least 571 people perished due to tornadoes: 12 in Bangladesh, two in South Africa, one each in New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia and Canada, and 553 in the United States (compared to 564 deaths in the prior ten years combined). Due mostly to several extremely large tornado outbreaks in the middle and end of April and in late May, the year finished well above average in almost every category, with six EF5 tornadoes and nearly enough total tornado reports to eclipse the mark of 1,817 tornadoes recorded in 2004, the current record year for total number of tornadoes.
The 553 confirmed fatalities marks the second-most tornadic deaths in a single year in U.S. history, behind only 1925 in terms of fatalities attributed to tornadic activity. Most of the damage and over two-thirds of the total fatalities in 2011 were caused by a late-April Super Outbreak and an EF5 tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, in late May, becoming the costliest tornado on record.[4]
- ^ "U.S. Annual Tornado Maps (1952–2011)". Storm Prediction Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
- ^ "United States Tornadoes of 2012" (PDF). Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
- ^ "Annual U.S. Killer Tornado Statistics". Storm Prediction Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
- ^ "US Annual Tornado Death Tolls, 1875–present". Norman.noaa.gov. March 1, 2009. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.