This Friday will mark nine years since the last catastrophic EF5 tornado struck the United States, continuing the longest streak without a tornado having this maximum damage rating since records began in 1950.
The last tornado to have an EF5 damage rating occurred in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013. Prior to that devastating twister, the U.S. had a half-dozen EF5-rated tornadoes in spring 2011.
This ongoing nearly nine-year stretch without an EF5 twister is a year longer than the previous record streak without such an intense tornado. That was an eight-year period from May 3, 1999 (Moore/Bridge Creek, Oklahoma), to May 4, 2007 (Greensburg, Kansas).
The current record streak was nearly snapped in western Kentucky on Dec. 10, 2021, when a long-track tornado produced high-end EF4 damage with maximum estimated winds of up to 190 mph. That was just short of the wind threshold for a tornado to be rated EF5, which is maximum winds greater than 200 mph.
Another recent EF4 tornado that had maximum estimated winds up to 190 mph struck Bassfield, Mississippi, on April 12, 2020.
Tornadoes assigned an EF5/F5 rating have historically been rare, but when they do strike, the damage in the affected communities is devastating.
Since 1950, 59 tornadoes have been rated EF5/F5, an average of less than one per year, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center. The frequency has ranged from several tornadoes rated this magnitude in a single year to multi-year periods with none.
Nineteen states have experienced an EF5/F5 tornado since 1950, as far east as Ohio and as far north as North Dakota. Alabama and Oklahoma lead the way with seven "5-rated" tornadoes, followed closely by Texas, Iowa and Kansas with six such tornadoes each.
The most EF5/F5 tornadoes in a single year occurred in 1974, when the April 3 super outbreak spawned seven in a 24-hour period.
2011 had the second-most EF5/F5 tornadoes of any year, with six. Four of those were in the April 27 Super Outbreak in Alabama and Mississippi. The other two touched down during May in Joplin, Missouri, and El Reno/Piedmont, Oklahoma.
Although tornadoes of any intensity can be deadly, higher-end twisters have historically killed a larger percentage of people. About half of the deaths from 2000 through 2019 were from tornadoes rated EF4/F4 or EF5/F5.
How Tornadoes Are Rated
Since 2007, tornadoes have been rated on the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF0-EF5) based on the damage they cause.
This scale is an upgraded version of the original Fujita Scale developed in 1971 by Dr. Ted Fujita, a University of Chicago severe storms research scientist.
Tornado intensity cannot be determined while they are in progress or by their appearance.
Meteorologists from the National Weather Service survey areas where tornado damage has occurred. They then use the Enhanced Fujita Scale to estimate the maximum winds in the tornado.
(MORE: How Tornadoes Are Rated)
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