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Visit:NCEI U.S. Tornadoes
This analysis is based on preliminary data available from the Storm Prediction Center. Final tornado counts published by the Storm Prediction Center and NCEI's Storm Events Database might differ from this report. For a more detailed climatology, please visit our tornado climatology page.
According to data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, during November, there were 18 preliminary tornado reports. This was well below the 1991-2010 U.S. average of 58 tornadoes for the month of November. The majority (15) of the November tornadoes occurred during a three-day period from November 26-28.
On November 26th, there were at least nine confirmed tornadoes that impacted northern Louisiana and southern Mississippi. The impacts included downed trees and damage to numerous buildings and vehicles. There were no fatalities. On November 27th there were three tornadoes that impacted southern Alabama. There were no fatalities and these tornadoes caused minor damage.
On November 28th, three tornadoes were reported in the Phoenix metropolitan area with sporadic damage across Maricopa county. This was the third time since 1950 that three tornadoes were observed on the same day in Maricopa County. According to the National Weather Service, November 28th is the latest occurrence in the year that multiple tornadoes have impacted Maricopa County. These three tornadoes were relatively weak (EF-0) and caused relatively minor damage and no fatalities.
Did You Know?
Tornado Count
Final monthly tornado counts are typically less than the preliminary count. This can be due to some phenomena being inaccurately reported as tornadic activity or a single tornado being reported multiple times. Tornado accounts are reported to the local National Weather Service forecast offices who are responsible for going into the field and verifying each tornado reported. This process often takes several months to complete. Once all reports have been investigated, the final count is published by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC).
The Tornado Monthly Climate Reports are written using the preliminary numbers because the final data is not available at the time of production. Historically, for every 100 preliminary tornado reports, at least 65 tornadoes are confirmed. An error bar is depicted on the tornado count graphic representing this uncertainty in the preliminary tornado count.
The following U.S. studies performed by SPC meteorologists offer deeper context and discussion regarding the frequency and distribution of tornado intensity climatologies:
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Edwards, R., H. E. Brooks, and H. Cohn, 2021: Changes in tornado climatology accompanying the Enhanced
Fujita scale. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 60, 1465-1482
DOI: 10.1175/JAMC-D-21-0058.1. - Mccarthy, Daniel & Schaefer, Joseph. (2004). Tornado trends over the past thirty years. paper presented at 14th Conference on Applied Meteorology.