YearFinal SPC data

1959

604 tornadoes in 1959, with 527 hail and 651 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 145 F1 262 F2 155 F3 35 F4 7

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

1959 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19591991 to 2020 average1954 to 1964 (other years)

604 tornadoes in 1959, 51% 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	05/04/59	47	0	0	F2	IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, OK, SD, WI
2	05/10/59	25	1	0	F4	IA, IL, KS, MO, OK, TX, WI
3	09/26/59	23	1	1	F4	AR, ID, IL, IN, MO, TN, WI
4	05/09/59	22	1	7	F4	IA, IL, KS, MO, NM, OK
5	05/28/59	18	0	0	F2	GA, IA, KS, MN, NE, WI
6	05/26/59	15	0	0	F3	IA, IL, IN, KS, NE, OK, WI
7	05/20/59	13	1	0	F4	AL, IA, KS, MO, NE, TX
8	01/21/59	13	0	3	F3	KY, LA, MS, NC, TN
9	02/09/59	12	1	21	F4	IL, IN, KS, MO, OK
10	03/31/59	11	1	6	F4	AR, OK, TX
11	03/25/59	11	0	0	F2	IL, KS, OK, TX
12	07/10/59	11	0	0	F2	GA, IL, KS, NC, TX, VA
13	05/29/59	10	0	0	F2	CO, KS
14	03/14/59	8	0	3	F3	AR, IL, MO
15	05/30/59	8	0	1	F3	CT, IA, IN, NE, SD

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/04/59	69	47	7	15	1.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
2	05/10/59	55	25	17	13	3 in	63 kt (72 mph)
3	09/26/59	48	23	8	17	2.75 in	80 kt (92 mph)
4	01/21/59	42	13	1	28	1 in	80 kt (92 mph)
5	07/10/59	41	11	18	12	2.75 in	60 kt (69 mph)
6	03/31/59	40	11	20	9	2.75 in	80 kt (92 mph)
7	06/11/59	39	7	11	21	2 in	72 kt (83 mph)
8	05/09/59	36	22	13	1	2.75 in	–
9	02/09/59	31	12	7	12	1.75 in	65 kt (75 mph)
10	04/19/59	31	4	21	6	3.5 in	50 kt (58 mph)
11	05/20/59	28	13	4	11	2 in	75 kt (86 mph)
12	05/28/59	28	18	6	4	2.75 in	55 kt (63 mph)
13	03/25/59	23	11	7	5	1.5 in	–
14	05/26/59	23	15	3	5	1.75 in	65 kt (75 mph)
15	08/30/59	23	3	8	12	2.75 in	72 kt (83 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	09/27/59	7 in	Scott County, IA
2	05/17/59	6 in	Butler County, KS
3	04/18/59	5 in	La Salle County, TX
4	07/05/59	4.5 in	Rooks County, KS
5	04/18/59	4 in	Frio County, TX
6	04/28/59	4 in	Loudon County, TN
7	05/17/59	4 in	Harper County, KS
8	05/25/59	4 in	Armstrong County, TX
9	06/05/59	4 in	Harper County, OK
10	06/24/59	4 in	Crook County, WY
11	04/19/59	3.5 in	Webster County, MO
12	04/28/59	3.5 in	Whitley County, KY
13	04/28/59	3.5 in	Hamblen County, TN
14	05/03/59	3.5 in	Lac qui Parle County, MN
15	05/19/59	3.5 in	Wilbarger County, TX

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	05/29/59	100 kt	115	Not given	Ellis County, KS
2	06/09/59	95 kt	109	Not given	ND
3	09/07/59	90 kt	104	Not given	MI
4	05/27/59	86 kt	99	Not given	Midland County, TX
5	07/05/59	86 kt	99	Not given	Ellis County, KS
6	06/21/59	85 kt	98	Not given	Jackson County, OK
7	09/14/59	82 kt	94	Not given	Elko County, NV
8	01/21/59	80 kt	92	Not given	Cumberland County, TN
9	04/01/59	80 kt	92	Not given	Smith County, TX
10	04/20/59	80 kt	92	Not given	Baldwin County, AL
11	06/18/59	80 kt	92	Not given	Lyon County, KS
12	06/26/59	80 kt	92	Not given	Ward County, ND
13	07/01/59	80 kt	92	Not given	IN
14	08/10/59	80 kt	92	Not given	Yuma County, AZ
15	08/10/59	80 kt	92	Not given	Yuma County, AZ

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/10/59	F4	Eureka, MO to Venice, IL	MO, IL	23.9 mi	200 yd	21	345
03/31/59	F4	West to Hillsboro, Texas	TX	10.4 mi	1,760 yd	6	31
05/09/59	F4	Ada, Oklahoma	OK	6.2 mi	900 yd	7	12
05/10/59	F4	Adair to Perry, Iowa	IA	41.1 mi	400 yd	0	1
05/20/59	F4	Seymour to Moravia, Iowa	IA	17.2 mi	440 yd	0	5
09/26/59	F4	Niangua to Hartville, Missouri	MO	7.8 mi	100 yd	0	0
09/27/59	F4	Welch, OK to Oswego, KS	KS, OK	20.4 mi	440 yd	1	1

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/10/59	F4	Eureka, MO to Venice, IL	MO, IL	23.9 mi	200 yd	21	345
09/30/59	F3	Charlottesville, Virginia	VA	0.8 mi	200 yd	11	4
05/09/59	F4	Ada, Oklahoma	OK	6.2 mi	900 yd	7	12
03/31/59	F4	West to Hillsboro, Texas	TX	10.4 mi	1,760 yd	6	31
01/21/59	F3	Morgantown to Leitchfield, Kentucky	KY	6.6 mi	10 yd	3	0
03/14/59	F2	Fountain Lake, Arkansas	AR	11.9 mi	417 yd	1	7
03/14/59	F2	Mammoth Spring, AR to Thayer, MO	AR, MO	11.0 mi	417 yd	1	15
03/14/59	F3	Vilonia to Beebe, Arkansas	AR	18.0 mi	33 yd	1	3
04/02/59	F2	Rio Pinar, Florida	FL	0.1 mi	100 yd	1	9
05/30/59	F2	Crofton to Gayville, Nebraska	NE	26.8 mi	10 yd	1	2
06/11/59	F1	Clarksdale, Mississippi	MS	0.1 mi	10 yd	1	0
06/26/59	F2	Greybull to Dayton, Wyoming	WY	9.2 mi	333 yd	1	1
09/26/59	F2	Monmouth, Illinois	IL	4.9 mi	300 yd	1	0
09/27/59	F4	Welch, OK to Oswego, KS	KS, OK	20.4 mi	440 yd	1	1
09/30/59	F3	Stanardsville, Virginia	VA	2.0 mi	100 yd	1	9

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