NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
Visit:NCEI U.S. Tornadoes
June 2024 Tornado Occurrences
Source: SPC
According to preliminary data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, during June, there were 131 tornadoes reported. This was below the 1991-2020 average of 212.6 tornadoes for the month of June. Twenty-seven of the thirty days in June had at least one reported tornado, but there were no large outbreaks, as only one day (June 5) had more than 20 tornadoes. The 2024 year-to-date U.S. preliminary tornado count is 1,250, which is third place behind 2011's 1,398 tornadoes and 2008's 1,303 tornadoes, for the same January-June period. The following summary details the main tornado events that occurred during June.
On June 2, eleven tornadoes were reported across Texas, North Dakota and South Dakota. These were scattered but included an EF-3 tornado that caused significant damage to homes, vehicles and vegetation. There was also an EF-2 tornado, in Maurine, South Dakota that destroyed electric power poles and knocked down numerous trees and other vegetation. In total, these tornadoes caused more than a dozen injuries and no fatalities.
On June 5-6, numerous tornadoes formed across Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan. There were also a few isolated tornadoes in Illinois, Mississippi and Alabama. In total, these included nine EF-0, twelve EF-1, one EF-2 and several EF-U (unknown or unranked) tornadoes. One of the EF-1 tornadoes passed through Gaithersburg, Maryland damaging numerous homes and injuring five people. Additional EF-1 tornadoes also caused damage in Columbia, Arbutus and Halethorpe, Maryland. These tornadoes caused notable damage to homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure. The tornadoes also caused at least 13 injuries and one fatality.
On June 25-26, several states were impacted by tornadoes including Nebraska, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. There were at least 20 tornadoes across these states, which included four EF-0, five EF-1, one EF-2, one EF-3 and numerous EF-U (unknown or unranked) tornadoes. On June 25, an EF-3 tornado hit Whitman, Nebraska and the surrounding area. It was the first strong tornado to impact Grant County, Nebraska in more than 70 years. On June 26, the tornado that impacted Providence County, Rhode Island was the first June tornado reported in the state since records began in 1950. Meanwhile, Bristol County, Massachusetts saw two tornadoes, tying its record for most tornadoes in a day and year. The tornadoes damaged roofs and snapped and uprooted trees, with thousands of trees likely damaged by one of the tornadoes in southwestern Pennsylvania. There were at least seven injuries and four 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.