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Visit:NCEI U.S. Tornadoes
On August 5-8 there were 53 preliminary tornadoes that were scattered across numerous states, with two or more tornadoes impacting Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. These tornadoes included two EF-3, three EF-2, eighteen EF-1 and one dozen EF-0 tornadoes with many more as EF-U (unknown rating) due to lack of visible damage. Within this outbreak, a regional severe weather event unfolded, with 14 tornadoes – six in New York (including one that traveled into New York from Pennsylvania), five in Pennsylvania, two in Massachusetts, and one each in New Jersey and West Virginia. All tornadoes were rated EF-0 or EF-1 except one. An EF-3 caused significant damage to buildings, trees, and a ski resort along a 16-mile path in Lewis County, New York, the county’s strongest tornado since records began in 1950. These tornadoes caused scattered damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. Overall, there were no fatalities or injuries reported during the August 5-8 outbreak.
On August 12 and 13 there were 20 preliminary tornadoes that impacted several Ohio River Valley and Northeast states. The Northeast had seven weak (EF-0 or EF-1) tornadoes - five in Pennsylvania and one each in New York and Connecticut. There were several additional tornadoes across Ohio, and a few isolated tornadoes in Kentucky and Tennessee that were either EF-1 or EF-0. Overall, these tornadoes caused scattered damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. There were no fatalities or injuries reported.
On August 24, there were 25 preliminary tornadoes focused across southern Michigan and northern Ohio. These tornadoes included two EF-3 tornadoes, one of which resulted in loss of life and considerable damage in Ingham and Livingstone counties of Michigan. This tornado's path was estimated at 12.0 miles in length. Overall, there were four EF-2, twelve EF-1s, four EF-0s and a few EF-U tornadoes. These tornadoes caused scattered damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. There was one reported fatality and multiple injuries reported.
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.