Categories: Tornado ClimatologyTornado History

Halloween tornadoes: The spooky historical facts

Tornado data courtesy of the Storm Prediction Center. Map by Kathryn Prociv.

Halloween tornado data via the Storm Prediction Center. Click for larger. (Map by Kathryn Prociv)

From 1950-2012 there have been 54 confirmed tornadoes on Halloween Day.

Below are some quick facts about these extra-spooky tornadoes….

Halloween tornadoes by Fujita/Enhanced Fujita Scale:

F/EF0: 22
F/EF1: 17
F/EF2: 11
F/EF3: 3
Unknown: 1

The top-5 states that have seen the most tornadoes on Halloween:

Florida: 11
Kansas: 11
Texas: 10
Oklahoma: 8
Nebraska: 8

The year of the “greatest” Halloween tornado outbreak? 2000:

17 tornadoes across Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. (Check out that classic trough!)
30% of all Halloween tornadoes from 1950-2012 occurred on the 31st in 2000, including several strong tornadoes.
This was the last time there have been tornadoes on Halloween.

Is the Tampa, Florida area haunted by tornadoes on Halloween? Eight have occurred there on October 31 since 1950.

Bio
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Kathryn Prociv

B.A. and M.S. at Virginia Tech in geography with an emphasis in geospatial technology and meteorology. Meteorologist and contributor for the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang. See full bio.

Latest posts by Kathryn Prociv (see all)

Halloween tornadoes: The spooky historical facts - October 28, 2013
From domestic to international: Tornadoes around the world - July 25, 2013
U.S. tornadoes that occur outside the U.S. … the continental U.S. that is! - June 26, 2013

Kathryn Prociv

B.A. and M.S. at Virginia Tech in geography with an emphasis in geospatial technology and meteorology. Meteorologist and contributor for the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang. See full bio.