YearFinal SPC data

1960

616 tornadoes in 1960, with 570 hail and 716 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 128 F1 262 F2 175 F3 44 F4 6 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

1960 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19601991 to 2020 average1955 to 1965 (other years)

616 tornadoes in 1960, 50% 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	05/05/60	37	3	33	F5	AL, AR, IA, MO, NE, OK, TX
2	05/19/60	33	2	1	F4	IN, KS, MN, MO, NE, OK, TX
3	05/04/60	27	2	0	F4	AR, KS, OK, TX
4	04/16/60	24	0	1	F3	IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, OH, OK
5	05/18/60	18	0	0	F2	AR, CO, KS, MO, NE, OK, SD, TX
6	04/28/60	13	0	3	F3	KS, OK
7	11/15/60	12	0	0	F2	AR, IA, MO, OK, TX, WI
8	03/29/60	11	0	0	F2	AL, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, MO, TN
9	05/24/60	10	0	0	F3	KS, NE, SD, TX, WY
10	06/15/60	10	0	1	F2	AL, MI, MT, NE, TX
11	05/06/60	9	0	0	F2	AL, AR, IL, MS
12	06/20/60	9	0	0	F3	CO, NE
13	06/29/60	9	0	0	F2	GA, IL, MO, MT, NE, NY
14	11/27/60	9	0	0	F3	IA, KS
15	02/09/60	8	0	0	F3	AR, IL, MO, OK

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/05/60	68	37	18	13	3 in	85 kt (98 mph)
2	04/16/60	64	24	18	22	2.75 in	65 kt (75 mph)
3	05/19/60	52	33	7	12	4 in	91 kt (105 mph)
4	05/04/60	45	27	9	9	3 in	100 kt (115 mph)
5	05/18/60	36	18	9	9	3.5 in	80 kt (92 mph)
6	06/29/60	36	9	19	8	3.5 in	80 kt (92 mph)
7	03/29/60	32	11	13	8	3 in	–
8	06/22/60	32	7	19	6	3.5 in	89 kt (102 mph)
9	04/28/60	30	13	14	3	3 in	74 kt (85 mph)
10	05/24/60	30	10	7	13	1.75 in	62 kt (71 mph)
11	05/16/60	29	8	17	4	6 in	–
12	06/28/60	29	4	12	13	2.75 in	100 kt (115 mph)
13	05/28/60	28	5	13	10	2.75 in	72 kt (83 mph)
14	08/03/60	27	2	6	19	2 in	65 kt (75 mph)
15	06/20/60	24	9	10	5	3 in	69 kt (79 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	05/16/60	6 in	Montgomery County, KS
2	04/26/60	5 in	Schleicher County, TX
3	05/16/60	5 in	Oklahoma County, OK
4	05/31/60	5 in	Winkler County, TX
5	10/13/60	5 in	Brown County, TX
6	05/16/60	4.5 in	McClain County, OK
7	05/03/60	4 in	Woodward County, OK
8	05/19/60	4 in	Shawnee County, KS
9	06/23/60	4 in	WI
10	07/02/60	4 in	Dane County, WI
11	07/09/60	4 in	York County, NE
12	07/11/60	4 in	Frontier County, NE
13	05/18/60	3.5 in	Graham County, KS
14	06/22/60	3.5 in	Macon County, IL
15	06/23/60	3.5 in	Macon County, IL

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	02/09/60	100 kt	115	Not given	Oklahoma County, OK
2	05/04/60	100 kt	115	Not given	Tarrant County, TX
3	06/28/60	100 kt	115	Not given	Wapello County, IA
4	06/28/60	100 kt	115	Not given	IL
5	05/19/60	91 kt	105	Not given	Kay County, OK
6	07/11/60	91 kt	105	Not given	Merrick County, NE
7	07/22/60	90 kt	104	Not given	Wayne County, MI
8	08/24/60	90 kt	104	Not given	Childress County, TX
9	06/22/60	89 kt	102	Not given	Hillsborough County, FL
10	07/25/60	88 kt	101	Not given	Grayson County, TX
11	06/19/60	87 kt	100	Not given	Sheridan County, NE
12	07/22/60	87 kt	100	Not given	Macomb County, MI
13	07/28/60	87 kt	100	Not given	Decatur County, KS
14	07/29/60	86 kt	99	Not given	Oklahoma County, OK
15	05/05/60	85 kt	98	Not given	Stephens County, OK

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/04/60	F4	Konawa to Maud, Oklahoma	OK	8.0 mi	10 yd	0	0
05/04/60	F4	Boswell to Clayton, Oklahoma	OK	30.8 mi	150 yd	0	3
05/05/60	F5	Tecumseh to Sapulpa, Oklahoma	OK	71.8 mi	800 yd	5	81
05/05/60	F4	Wilburton to Sallisaw, Oklahoma	OK	62.4 mi	200 yd	16	106
05/05/60	F4	Roland, Oklahoma	OK	5.4 mi	10 yd	5	13
05/19/60	F4	Wamego to Rossville, Kansas	KS	20.6 mi	10 yd	0	12
05/19/60	F4	Rossville to Ozawkie, Kansas	KS	27.5 mi	880 yd	1	92

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/05/60	F4	Wilburton to Sallisaw, Oklahoma	OK	62.4 mi	200 yd	16	106
05/05/60	F5	Tecumseh to Sapulpa, Oklahoma	OK	71.8 mi	800 yd	5	81
05/05/60	F4	Roland, Oklahoma	OK	5.4 mi	10 yd	5	13
04/12/60	F3	Earth to Hart, Texas	TX	5.2 mi	100 yd	3	32
04/29/60	F2	Boley, Oklahoma	OK	6.1 mi	800 yd	3	1
05/05/60	F3	Dewar, Oklahoma	OK	0.8 mi	150 yd	2	15
05/05/60	F2	Eufaula to Warner, Oklahoma	OK	11.7 mi	200 yd	2	6
06/27/60	F3	Julesburg to Holyoke, Colorado	CO	6.5 mi	10 yd	2	3
04/16/60	F3	Reinbeck to Jesup, Iowa	IA	29.8 mi	800 yd	1	5
05/05/60	F3	Roland to Van Buren, Oklahoma	OK	4.5 mi	10 yd	1	0
05/05/60	F3	Panama to Sallisaw, Oklahoma	OK	23.7 mi	10 yd	1	0
05/06/60	F3	Plumerville to Quitman, Arkansas	AR	26.7 mi	300 yd	1	30
05/19/60	F4	Rossville to Ozawkie, Kansas	KS	27.5 mi	880 yd	1	92
06/15/60	F1	Axtell, Nebraska	NE	1.5 mi	10 yd	1	3
08/05/60	F3	Burwell to Ord, Nebraska	NE	10.3 mi	150 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