NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
Visit:NCEI U.S. Tornadoes
According to preliminary data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, during November, there were 117 preliminary tornado reports. This was more than twice the 1991-2010 average of 58 tornadoes for the month of November. The vast majority of the tornadoes that formed during November occurred on November 4 and 29. These two very active tornado days are summarized below.
On November 4, there were 62 preliminary tornadoes reported across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. The tornadoes that have been surveyed and confirmed so far include: four EF-0, fifteen EF-1, seven EF-2, two EF-3 and two EF-4 tornadoes. One of the EF-3 tornadoes produced damage near Daingerfield, Texas including eight injuries and one fatality. An EF-2 tornado near Pickens, Oklahoma caused one injury and one fatality while an EF-4 tornado near Clarksville, Texas resulted in 13 injuries. Many of these tornadoes caused considerable damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, farms, vegetation and other infrastructure. In total, there were two fatalities and more than two dozen injuries reported across Texas and Oklahoma on November 4.
On November 29, there were 45 preliminary tornadoes that clustered across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The tornadoes that have been confirmed to date include seven EF-0, nine EF-1, five EF-2 and two EF-3 tornadoes. One of the EF-3 tornadoes touched down in Greene County, Mississippi and continued to move into Washington County, Alabama impacting Fruitdale. This tornado caused significant damage to a local high school, numerous residences, vehicles and other infrastructure. There were also two EF-2 tornadoes confirmed in Elmore and Montgomery counties in Alabama, which produced scattered damage to residences, vehicles and vegetation. There were two fatalities and at least three injuries reported across Alabama.
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.