YearFinal SPC data

1957

858 tornadoes in 1957, with 467 hail and 770 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

192

Tornado deaths

F0 216 F1 306 F2 236 F3 74 F4 23 F5 3

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

1957 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19571991 to 2020 average1952 to 1962 (other years)

858 tornadoes in 1957, 30% 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	05/20/57	35	2	44	F5	CO, KS, MO, NE, OK, SD
2	05/24/57	35	1	4	F4	CO, KS, NE, OK, TX, WY
3	04/22/57	30	0	0	F3	AR, CO, KS, ND, NE, OK, TX
4	04/02/57	29	2	18	F4	OK, TX
5	12/18/57	25	3	17	F5	IL, MO
6	11/18/57	22	1	4	F4	AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, TN
7	04/03/57	21	0	1	F3	AR, IL, KY, LA, MO, MS, TN, TX
8	05/13/57	20	0	1	F3	AR, FL, IA, IL, KS, MO, NE, TX
9	05/21/57	19	2	15	F4	IA, IL, IN, KY, MN, MO
10	11/07/57	18	1	14	F4	AL, LA, MS, TN, TX
11	04/05/57	18	0	0	F2	GA, IN, NC, SC, VA
12	05/22/57	17	0	0	F3	MO, OK, SC, TX
13	04/08/57	16	2	7	F4	AL, GA, MS, NC, NE, SC, TN, VA
14	04/19/57	16	1	1	F4	IA, NE, OK, TX, WI
15	04/25/57	16	1	1	F4	AR, IA, MI, NE, NY, OK, TX

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/21/57	55	19	10	26	2.5 in	67 kt (77 mph)
2	05/20/57	50	35	11	4	4 in	–
3	06/11/57	50	11	9	30	3 in	75 kt (86 mph)
4	04/02/57	49	29	15	5	2.5 in	60 kt (69 mph)
5	05/24/57	49	35	7	7	2.5 in	65 kt (75 mph)
6	04/22/57	45	30	5	10	2 in	75 kt (86 mph)
7	06/13/57	42	14	1	27	1 in	81 kt (93 mph)
8	11/18/57	38	22	1	15	1.75 in	–
9	05/22/57	37	17	8	12	2 in	73 kt (84 mph)
10	05/13/57	35	20	3	12	1.75 in	63 kt (72 mph)
11	04/03/57	34	21	0	13	–	70 kt (81 mph)
12	04/25/57	33	16	11	6	2 in	63 kt (72 mph)
13	04/05/57	31	18	0	13	–	83 kt (96 mph)
14	12/18/57	31	25	4	2	1.25 in	53 kt (61 mph)
15	04/18/57	30	13	8	9	2.75 in	53 kt (61 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	05/10/57	5 in	Val Verde County, TX
2	07/02/57	5 in	Butte County, SD
3	06/23/57	4.5 in	Pecos County, TX
4	04/08/57	4 in	Anderson County, SC
5	05/02/57	4 in	Spartanburg County, SC
6	05/20/57	4 in	Washington County, KS
7	05/29/57	3.75 in	Lea County, NM
8	05/20/57	3.5 in	Jefferson County, NE
9	05/29/57	3.5 in	Rawlins County, KS
10	07/06/57	3.5 in	Polk County, MN
11	11/17/57	3.5 in	Montgomery County, AR
12	03/20/57	3 in	Travis County, TX
13	05/15/57	3 in	Alfalfa County, OK
14	05/17/57	3 in	Jefferson County, OK
15	05/28/57	3 in	Lincoln County, KS

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	07/30/57	122 kt	140	Not given	Hill County, MT
2	06/22/57	100 kt	115	Not given	Jackson County, MO
3	06/28/57	100 kt	115	Not given	Chautauqua County, NY
4	04/11/57	95 kt	109	Not given	Broward County, FL
5	06/14/57	95 kt	109	Not given	Sangamon County, IL
6	04/30/57	88 kt	101	Not given	Pushmataha County, OK
7	08/10/57	87 kt	100	Not given	Blaine County, MT
8	05/30/57	86 kt	99	Not given	Winkler County, TX
9	04/24/57	85 kt	98	Not given	Robertson County, TX
10	06/21/57	85 kt	98	Not given	Reno County, KS
11	07/17/57	85 kt	98	Not given	Stark County, ND
12	07/03/57	84 kt	97	Not given	Beadle County, SD
13	04/05/57	83 kt	96	Not given	Lucas County, OH
14	05/14/57	83 kt	96	Not given	Cuyahoga County, OH
15	05/31/57	83 kt	96	Not given	Hale County, TX

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
01/22/57	F4	Muldrow, Oklahoma	OK	0.1 mi	880 yd	10	20
04/02/57	F4	Kingston to Silo, Oklahoma	OK	5.2 mi	200 yd	2	6
04/02/57	F4	Calera to Durant, Oklahoma	OK	7.9 mi	200 yd	3	3
04/08/57	F4	Kershaw, SC to Roseboro, NC	SC, NC	121 mi	150 yd	4	70
04/08/57	F4	Pembroke, North Carolina	NC	0.8 mi	150 yd	0	21
04/19/57	F4	New Lisbon to Necedah, Wisconsin	WI	21.1 mi	300 yd	1	0
04/21/57	F4	Levelland to Amherst, Texas	TX	29.2 mi	880 yd	0	7
04/21/57	F4	Slaton to Lubbock, Texas	TX	15.5 mi	100 yd	0	6
04/25/57	F4	Geneva to Ralston, Nebraska	NE	89.8 mi	333 yd	1	8
05/15/57	F4	Lockney to Clarendon, Texas	TX	17.0 mi	300 yd	21	80
05/20/57	F4	Concordia to Washington, Kansas	KS	44.6 mi	400 yd	0	0
05/20/57	F5	Waverly, KS to Raytown, MO	KS, MO	69.4 mi	440 yd	44	207
05/21/57	F4	Harris to Rock Creek, Minnesota	MN	9.2 mi	100 yd	0	2
05/21/57	F4	Winona to Van Buren, Missouri	MO	9.1 mi	500 yd	7	75
05/24/57	F4	Walters to Lawton, Oklahoma	OK	21.6 mi	880 yd	4	5
06/14/57	F4	Jerome to Springfield, Illinois	IL	4.3 mi	220 yd	2	50
06/20/57	F5	Casselton, ND to Hawley, MN	ND, MN	52.4 mi	500 yd	10	103
07/04/57	F4	Brighton to Madison Heights, Michigan	MI	29.9 mi	50 yd	0	6
09/14/57	F4	Wayne to Weleetka, Oklahoma	OK	67.5 mi	440 yd	2	6
11/07/57	F4	West Orange to Groves, Texas	TX	12.9 mi	200 yd	1	81
11/17/57	F4	Jasper, Alabama	AL	7.2 mi	200 yd	4	15
11/18/57	F4	Rosa to Albertville, Alabama	AL	26.1 mi	100 yd	3	12
12/18/57	F4	Woodlawn to Mount Vernon, Illinois	IL	16.8 mi	250 yd	1	45
12/18/57	F5	Tamaroa, Illinois	IL	5.4 mi	200 yd	1	6
12/18/57	F4	Grand Tower to Zeigler, Illinois	IL	28.3 mi	300 yd	11	200
12/19/57	F4	Waldo to Stephens, Arkansas	AR	17.7 mi	10 yd	2	9

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/20/57	F5	Waverly, KS to Raytown, MO	KS, MO	69.4 mi	440 yd	44	207
05/15/57	F4	Lockney to Clarendon, Texas	TX	17.0 mi	300 yd	21	80
12/18/57	F4	Grand Tower to Zeigler, Illinois	IL	28.3 mi	300 yd	11	200
01/22/57	F4	Muldrow, Oklahoma	OK	0.1 mi	880 yd	10	20
04/02/57	F3	University Park to Frisco, Texas	TX	17.2 mi	100 yd	10	200
06/20/57	F5	Casselton, ND to Hawley, MN	ND, MN	52.4 mi	500 yd	10	103
05/21/57	F3	Viburnum to Desloge, Missouri	MO	22.2 mi	400 yd	8	50
05/21/57	F4	Winona to Van Buren, Missouri	MO	9.1 mi	500 yd	7	75
04/08/57	F4	Kershaw, SC to Roseboro, NC	SC, NC	121 mi	150 yd	4	70
05/24/57	F4	Walters to Lawton, Oklahoma	OK	21.6 mi	880 yd	4	5
11/07/57	F3	Church Point to Sunset, Louisiana	LA	9.2 mi	200 yd	4	10
11/17/57	F4	Jasper, Alabama	AL	7.2 mi	200 yd	4	15
01/22/57	F3	Haughton, Louisiana	LA	1.7 mi	167 yd	3	9
04/02/57	F4	Calera to Durant, Oklahoma	OK	7.9 mi	200 yd	3	3
11/07/57	F3	Boyce to Alexandria, Louisiana	LA	13.3 mi	67 yd	3	16

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