NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
For the month of July, one tornado-related fatality was reported in the U.S. This brings the January-July fatality total to 120, the ninth highest since records began in 1953.
Important: The graph above-left represents the final number of tornadoes from January-May and preliminary tornado reports from June-July 2008. Final numbers from June and July are not yet available and may reflect a significant change, as represented by the error-bar above. Data current as of August 7, 2008.
As expected, July brought more stable and hot weather to much of the country, reducing the frequency of severe weather and tornado reports. One hundred twenty-one preliminary reports of tornadoes were received during July, a large decrease from the very active spring. One woman was killed near the town of Deerfield, New Hampshire on July 24 by an EF2 tornado that destroyed several homes and damaged more than 200 others. This was the first reported tornado fatality in New Hampshire since 1946, and the first tornado-related fatality in New England since a tornado hit Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1995. Numerous tornadoes were reported at the end of the month as the rainbands of Hurricane Dolly moved ashore in far southern Texas. Tornado counts for July 2008 have not yet been finalized.
More information on severe weather can also be found on NCDC's Hazards page.