YearFinal SPC data

1955

591 tornadoes in 1955, with 344 hail and 418 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

129

Tornado deaths

F0 170 F1 217 F2 164 F3 30 F4 8 F5 2

Hail and wind show significant reports only (2 in or larger, 65 kt or stronger). Click a legend item to show or hide it, or "only" to see just that. Select anything on the map to open its record.

Tornadoes by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Hail reports by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Wind reports by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Storm days

Every day with a tornado, hail or wind report. Warmer colors mean more tornadoes; gray days had hail or wind only; a white ring marks a day with an F4/EF4 or stronger tornado.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Running count

1955 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19551991 to 2020 average1950 to 1960 (other years)

591 tornadoes in 1955, 52% below the 1991 to 2020 average of 1,231.

Counts by storm day (12Z to 12Z). Reporting changed a great deal over the decades, so years far from 1991 to 2020 are not a like-for-like comparison with the average.

Busiest tornado days

#	Day	Tornadoes	F/EF4+	Deaths	Strongest	States
1	06/04/55	41	2	0	F4	CO, KS, NE, OK, TX
2	05/27/55	27	0	0	F2	KS, MI, MO, OK
3	05/25/55	24	3	102	F5	KS, OK, TX
4	05/26/55	21	0	0	F3	AR, IL, KS, MO, NE, OK, TX
5	11/15/55	18	0	1	F3	AR, IL, IN, MO, OH
6	06/17/55	16	0	0	F3	KS, NE, OK, TX
7	06/16/55	13	0	0	F2	OK, TX, UT
8	04/23/55	12	1	5	F4	AL, IA, IL, MO, OK, TN
9	04/19/55	12	0	0	F2	IA, MN, SD
10	04/22/55	11	0	0	F3	AR, IL, MO, OK, TX
11	04/27/55	10	0	0	F2	KS, MN, NE, OK
12	06/18/55	10	0	0	F2	CO, MN, OK, TX
13	03/20/55	9	0	0	F3	AR, MO, TN, TX
14	05/11/55	9	0	0	F2	KS, OK, TX
15	04/05/55	8	0	1	F3	TX

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/04/55	50	41	4	5	4 in	64 kt (74 mph)
2	05/26/55	37	21	3	13	2 in	59 kt (68 mph)
3	05/27/55	36	27	4	5	2 in	88 kt (101 mph)
4	05/25/55	35	24	5	6	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
5	11/15/55	35	18	12	5	2.75 in	79 kt (91 mph)
6	04/05/55	31	8	13	10	2 in	–
7	04/23/55	27	12	6	9	2.75 in	50 kt (58 mph)
8	06/15/55	25	2	15	8	2.75 in	93 kt (107 mph)
9	03/20/55	22	9	2	11	1.75 in	57 kt (66 mph)
10	06/17/55	21	16	1	4	1 in	52 kt (60 mph)
11	05/23/55	20	2	6	12	2.25 in	80 kt (92 mph)
12	06/16/55	20	13	6	1	1.75 in	–
13	04/22/55	19	11	5	3	2 in	–
14	04/06/55	17	3	10	4	2.75 in	–
15	04/27/55	17	10	6	1	2 in	–

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	06/22/55	5 in	Kaufman County, TX
2	06/28/55	5 in	Faulk County, SD
3	06/01/55	4.5 in	Kiowa County, KS
4	04/24/55	4 in	York County, SC
5	06/04/55	4 in	Edwards County, KS
6	06/20/55	4 in	Henderson County, TX
7	10/23/55	4 in	Allegan County, MI
8	11/13/55	4 in	Wayne County, MI
9	03/05/55	3 in	Franklin County, IL
10	03/14/55	3 in	Clay County, MO
11	04/18/55	3 in	Dubuque County, IA
12	06/07/55	3 in	Henry County, VA
13	06/13/55	3 in	Gila County, AZ
14	06/26/55	3 in	Weld County, CO
15	07/06/55	3 in	Yellowstone County, MT

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	04/29/55	113 kt	130	Not given	Broward County, FL
2	06/16/55	93 kt	107	Not given	Oklahoma County, OK
3	03/22/55	92 kt	106	Not given	Indiana County, PA
4	05/27/55	88 kt	101	Not given	Comanche County, KS
5	06/19/55	88 kt	101	Not given	Alpena County, MI
6	03/22/55	85 kt	98	Not given	Allegheny County, PA
7	06/03/55	85 kt	98	Not given	Wichita County, TX
8	06/16/55	85 kt	98	Not given	Oklahoma County, OK
9	04/11/55	80 kt	92	Not given	Oklahoma County, OK
10	05/02/55	80 kt	92	Not given	Lincoln County, NE
11	05/15/55	80 kt	92	Not given	Sherman County, KS
12	05/23/55	80 kt	92	Not given	Jackson County, MO
13	08/17/55	80 kt	92	Not given	Grand Forks County, ND
14	11/15/55	79 kt	91	Not given	Trumbull County, OH
15	03/11/55	78 kt	90	Not given	Allegheny County, PA

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/24/55	F4	Falkville, Alabama	AL	8.6 mi	200 yd	5	20
05/25/55	F4	Wellington, TX to Cheyenne, OK	TX, OK	45.1 mi	1,100 yd	2	18
05/25/55	F5	Tonkawa, OK to Caldwell, KS	OK, KS	28.4 mi	500 yd	20	280
05/25/55	F5	Newkirk, OK to Burden, KS	OK, KS	56.4 mi	1,320 yd	80	273
06/04/55	F4	Downs, KS to Hebron, NE	KS, NE	61.9 mi	500 yd	0	0
06/04/55	F4	Minneola to Larned, Kansas	KS	72.2 mi	100 yd	0	0
06/27/55	F4	Mitchell to Bayard, Nebraska	NE	26.0 mi	10 yd	2	29
07/02/55	F4	Kindred, North Dakota	ND	9.1 mi	150 yd	2	19
07/05/55	F4	Stanley to Kenmare, North Dakota	ND	28.0 mi	100 yd	0	0
07/07/55	F4	Ivanhoe, Minnesota	MN	30.0 mi	10 yd	1	13

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/25/55	F5	Newkirk, OK to Burden, KS	OK, KS	56.4 mi	1,320 yd	80	273
05/25/55	F5	Tonkawa, OK to Caldwell, KS	OK, KS	28.4 mi	500 yd	20	280
04/24/55	F4	Falkville, Alabama	AL	8.6 mi	200 yd	5	20
05/24/55	F0	Thomson, Georgia	GA	1.0 mi	50 yd	3	0
03/13/55	F2	Ridge Spring to Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina	SC	9.9 mi	133 yd	2	10
05/25/55	F4	Wellington, TX to Cheyenne, OK	TX, OK	45.1 mi	1,100 yd	2	18
06/27/55	F4	Mitchell to Bayard, Nebraska	NE	26.0 mi	10 yd	2	29
07/02/55	F4	Kindred, North Dakota	ND	9.1 mi	150 yd	2	19
03/01/55	F3	Vienna Center, Ohio	OH	2.5 mi	40 yd	1	6
03/16/55	F2	Black Creek, North Carolina	NC	6.6 mi	500 yd	1	1
03/22/55	F3	West Chester to Malvern, Pennsylvania	PA	9.6 mi	600 yd	1	0
04/06/55	F3	Sherman to Dodd City, Texas	TX	30.2 mi	67 yd	1	27
04/21/55	F2	White Hall, Arkansas	AR	0.5 mi	83 yd	1	2
05/06/55	F2	Temple to Rogers, Texas	TX	10.1 mi	33 yd	1	1
07/07/55	F4	Ivanhoe, Minnesota	MN	30.0 mi	10 yd	1	13

Storm days. A day here runs from 12Z to 12Z (6 a.m. CST to 6 a.m. CST the next morning), the way SPC counts storm days, so an overnight tornado counts with the afternoon and evening before it.
Reporting changed over time. Tornado counts rose from the 1990s on as Doppler radar, spotter networks and cameras caught more weak tornadoes. Counts from different decades are not directly comparable, especially for the weakest ratings.
F and EF ratings. The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale replaced the Fujita (F) Scale on 02/01/07. Both estimate wind speed from damage, but they use different damage indicators, so each rating is shown with its own scale.
Ratings before the mid 1970s. The F Scale came into use in the early 1970s. Tornadoes from 1950 until then were rated afterward from newspaper accounts, photos and records, which tends to make those ratings less certain.

Titan Archive · a Tornado Titans project Data: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database · updated 10/03/26