NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
Visit:NCEI U.S. Tornadoes
According to preliminary data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, during October, there were 45 preliminary tornado reports. This was 73.7 percent of the 1991-2010 average of 61 tornadoes for the month of October. Of the tornadoes that did form during October, more than half (30) formed in southeastern Wisconsin and along the Gulf coast on October 12 and 29, respectively. Given the relatively quiet month, these two most active days are summarized below.
On October 12, there were 13 tornadoes across southeastern Wisconsin including isolated tornadoes in both Texas and Georgia. These were all weaker EF-0 or EF-U tornadoes that produced scattered damage to crops, trees, outbuildings and other infrastructure. There were no reported injuries or fatalities.
On October 29, there were 15 preliminary tornadoes that clustered across coastal Alabama and Mississippi. These were all either EF-1 or EF-0 tornadoes that impacted Mobile and Baldwin Counties in Alabama and Jackson County, Mississippi. These tornadoes caused damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, farms and other infrastructure. There were 3 reported injuries in Baldwin County, Alabama from a manufactured home that was rolled by the high wind and destroyed. There were no reported 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.