Chapter 4:Property Insurance
National Tornado Facts
 
Tornadoes in the US

Sources: WeatherData, KRT, reprinted from Kansas City Star, 4/10/98

Facts and Figures

  • Tornadoes are most common from April to July
  • The typical path of a tornado is two miles long, 49 yards wide; 87% move from southwest to northeast
  • Wind speeds of tornadoes range from 100 to 300 mph
  • Deaths from tornadoes, 1953-1995:

    Texas 458
    Mississippi 369
    Alabama 273
    Michigan 236
    Indiana 221
The National Weather Service's 12-year, $4.5 billion modernization enables accurate 2-4 day forecasting that was as accurate as the two-day forecast was 15 years ago. The average warning time for the tornadoes in Kansas and Oklahoma in 1999 was 18 minutes, which topped the current Weather Service average of 11 minutes.
(Columbus Dispatch, 7/29/99)