YearFinal SPC data

1956

504 tornadoes in 1956, with 393 hail and 733 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 125 F1 181 F2 147 F3 38 F4 12 F5 1

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

1956 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19561991 to 2020 average1951 to 1961 (other years)

504 tornadoes in 1956, 59% 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	04/03/56	26	4	31	F5	AR, IL, IN, KY, MI, MS, OH, TN, WI
2	02/24/56	21	1	6	F4	IL, IN, MO, OH, OK
3	04/02/56	19	2	7	F4	KS, MO, NE, OK
4	05/12/56	17	2	4	F4	MI, NE, PA
5	10/29/56	15	1	0	F4	KS, MN, NE
6	03/06/56	14	1	1	F4	IL, IN, MI, MO, OH, WV
7	07/13/56	10	0	0	F2	CO, IN, KY, LA, NJ, TN
8	07/20/56	9	0	0	F3	IN, KS, OH, TX, VA
9	02/14/56	8	0	1	F3	AR, TX
10	04/28/56	8	0	2	F2	IL, KS, OK
11	07/01/56	8	0	0	F2	KS, MI, NY, OK, WI
12	05/10/56	7	0	0	F2	KS, MN, NE, SD
13	05/27/56	7	0	0	F1	KS, TX
14	05/29/56	7	0	0	F2	IA, KS, NE, NM, TX
15	05/30/56	7	0	0	F1	KS, NE, OK

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	04/02/56	42	19	10	13	3 in	70 kt (81 mph)
2	04/03/56	32	26	1	5	1 in	95 kt (109 mph)
3	07/01/56	31	8	5	18	3 in	78 kt (90 mph)
4	02/24/56	30	21	2	7	1.75 in	78 kt (90 mph)
5	04/28/56	29	8	14	7	3.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
6	08/30/56	28	5	7	16	2 in	78 kt (90 mph)
7	08/12/56	27	6	7	14	3 in	87 kt (100 mph)
8	05/12/56	26	17	6	3	4 in	62 kt (71 mph)
9	07/18/56	26	5	12	9	2 in	85 kt (98 mph)
10	08/28/56	25	0	9	16	2 in	63 kt (72 mph)
11	08/08/56	24	3	5	16	1.75 in	87 kt (100 mph)
12	04/14/56	23	3	14	6	2.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
13	10/29/56	23	15	4	4	3.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
14	03/06/56	22	14	5	3	2.5 in	78 kt (90 mph)
15	07/05/56	22	4	5	13	3 in	80 kt (92 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	06/13/56	5 in	Pine County, MN
2	07/26/56	4.5 in	Beaver County, PA
3	05/13/56	4 in	Muskegon County, MI
4	08/18/56	4 in	Ellis County, OK
5	04/28/56	3.75 in	Grady County, OK
6	08/07/56	3.5 in	Custer County, SD
7	08/11/56	3.5 in	Cheyenne County, KS
8	08/15/56	3.5 in	Polk County, MN
9	10/14/56	3.5 in	Custer County, OK
10	10/29/56	3.5 in	Lincoln County, NE
11	04/01/56	3 in	Polk County, IA
12	04/02/56	3 in	Dade County, MO
13	04/28/56	3 in	Cleveland County, OK
14	04/28/56	3 in	McClain County, OK
15	05/08/56	3 in	Greenwood County, KS

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	02/25/56	100 kt	115	Not given	Clinton County, OH
2	06/27/56	99 kt	114	Not given	Wyandotte County, KS
3	06/27/56	99 kt	114	Not given	Wyandotte County, KS
4	06/09/56	96 kt	110	Not given	Tensas Parish, LA
5	06/27/56	96 kt	110	Not given	MO
6	04/03/56	95 kt	109	Not given	Will County, IL
7	05/02/56	92 kt	106	Not given	TX
8	05/10/56	92 kt	106	Not given	IA
9	05/16/56	90 kt	104	Not given	Grand Forks County, ND
10	08/17/56	90 kt	104	Not given	Wyandotte County, KS
11	04/05/56	87 kt	100	Not given	Claiborne County, MS
12	04/10/56	87 kt	100	Not given	Broward County, FL
13	06/21/56	87 kt	100	Not given	Potter County, SD
14	08/08/56	87 kt	100	Not given	Putnam County, MO
15	08/13/56	87 kt	100	Not given	Cass County, IN

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/24/56	F4	Union, MO to Breese, IL	MO, IL	77.6 mi	500 yd	6	36
03/06/56	F4	Van Buren to Marion, Indiana	IN	1.9 mi	47 yd	1	31
04/02/56	F4	Newkirk, OK to Burlington, KS	OK, KS	108 mi	880 yd	2	29
04/03/56	F4	Afton, OK to Carterville, MO	OK, KS, MO	41.8 mi	400 yd	0	59
04/03/56	F4	Berlin to Omro, Wisconsin	WI	11.5 mi	440 yd	7	50
04/03/56	F5	Douglas to Lakeview, Michigan	MI	58.8 mi	400 yd	17	292
04/03/56	F4	Lexington, Tennessee	TN	11.6 mi	100 yd	3	60
04/03/56	F4	Manistee to Suttons Bay, Michigan	MI	50.3 mi	400 yd	1	25
04/15/56	F4	Pleasant Grove to Trussville, Alabama	AL	21.3 mi	200 yd	25	200
05/12/56	F4	Flint to Burton, Michigan	MI	6.6 mi	100 yd	3	116
05/12/56	F4	Allen Park to Ecorse, Michigan	MI	6.8 mi	400 yd	0	22
06/06/56	F4	Pleasanton, Nebraska	NE	2.0 mi	500 yd	0	0
10/29/56	F4	Wauneta to Bassett, Nebraska	NE	148 mi	440 yd	0	2

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/15/56	F4	Pleasant Grove to Trussville, Alabama	AL	21.3 mi	200 yd	25	200
04/03/56	F5	Douglas to Lakeview, Michigan	MI	58.8 mi	400 yd	17	292
04/03/56	F4	Berlin to Omro, Wisconsin	WI	11.5 mi	440 yd	7	50
02/24/56	F4	Union, MO to Breese, IL	MO, IL	77.6 mi	500 yd	6	36
04/02/56	F3	Meeker to Drumright, Oklahoma	OK	42.6 mi	300 yd	5	68
04/03/56	F4	Lexington, Tennessee	TN	11.6 mi	100 yd	3	60
05/12/56	F4	Flint to Burton, Michigan	MI	6.6 mi	100 yd	3	116
04/02/56	F4	Newkirk, OK to Burlington, KS	OK, KS	108 mi	880 yd	2	29
04/03/56	F2	Plainfield to Amherst, Wisconsin	WI	18.2 mi	100 yd	2	2
04/28/56	F1	Litchfield, Illinois	IL	4.7 mi	10 yd	2	0
08/05/56	F3	Girard to Youngstown, Ohio	OH	0.1 mi	10 yd	2	0
02/14/56	F3	Pottsville to Guy, Arkansas	AR	33.0 mi	300 yd	1	5
02/16/56	F3	Aberdeen, Mississippi	MS	8.0 mi	200 yd	1	55
03/06/56	F4	Van Buren to Marion, Indiana	IN	1.9 mi	47 yd	1	31
04/03/56	F3	Dixon to Henderson, Kentucky	KY	22.9 mi	223 yd	1	2

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