U.S. tornadoes remain ahead of pace as we cross summer’s midpoint
We’re just past the midpoint of summer and it remains an active year for tornadoes across the United States. The confirmed tornado count has hovered above normal since this past spring, even with some unusual weather patterns draped across the country.
The National Weather Service confirmed at least 978 tornadoes between January 1 and July 17, with the vast majority of those touchdowns concentrated in a few key areas.
Here’s a look at the breakdown:
- EF-4: 1
- EF-3: 15
- EF-2: 50
- EF-1: 453
- EF-0: 343
- EF-U: 116
EF-U stands for “unknown,” which is assigned to confirmed tornadoes that either didn’t produce damage or haven’t had formal damage surveys yet. The sole EF-4 tornado struck Enid, Oklahoma, on the evening of April 23.
Illinois far and away remains the national leader, with more than 200 tornado reports so far this year. Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Iowa round out the top five in terms of raw tornado reports since January 1.
The upper-level pattern has been favorable for low-pressure systems to continually track over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes since the early spring, essentially painting a bullseye smack dab over Illinois.
Such an unusual pattern is especially stark when we look at where the NWS has issued tornado warning polygons over the past six-and-a-half months. There have been hardly any warnings in central portions of Alabama or Mississippi, which are often regarded as the nation’s second tornado alley. A dearth of warnings across the Southeast also stands out, largely a byproduct of the ongoing drought throughout the region.
How does this year’s count compare to normal?
The Storm Prediction Center keeps tabs on tornado reports, which are different from confirmed tornadoes. Multiple reports can come in for the same tornado, and some reports turn out not to have been tornadoes at all. The SPC’s data adjusts for those factors by reducing the number of reports by 15%. Even so, 2026’s tornado activity is running solidly ahead of normal for the middle of July.
One of the only bright spots (if you can look at it that way) is that the number of tornado-related fatalities is at least far behind what we’d see in a typical year. The SPC’s data reflects just 15 tornado-related deaths this year. The ten-year annual average between 2016 and 2025 stood at 51.
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