YearFinal SPC data

1962

657 tornadoes in 1962, with 870 hail and 830 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 191 F1 265 F2 162 F3 33 F4 6

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

1962 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19621991 to 2020 average1957 to 1967 (other years)

657 tornadoes in 1962, 47% 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	05/28/62	27	0	0	F2	CO, IA, IL, KS, MO, NE, OK, TX, WY
2	06/14/62	19	0	0	F2	MT, ND, PA, SD, TX, WY
3	05/26/62	17	2	0	F4	IN, KS, KY, MO, OH, OK, TX
4	04/30/62	17	0	0	F3	AR, IL, IN, LA, MI, OK, TX
5	05/24/62	17	0	1	F3	CT, KS, NE, NJ, OK, PA, WY
6	05/17/62	15	0	0	F2	CO, KS, MT, NE, NM, OK, SD, TX
7	05/31/62	15	0	0	F3	KS, MO, TX, VA
8	06/05/62	15	0	0	F2	OK, TX
9	05/27/62	14	0	0	F3	CO, KS, OK, TX
10	06/08/62	14	0	0	F2	GA, IL, MO, OK, TX
11	05/18/62	13	0	0	F2	CO, IA, KS, MN, NE
12	05/25/62	12	1	1	F4	IL, KS, OK, TX
13	05/14/62	12	0	0	F3	CA, NE, SD
14	05/20/62	12	0	0	F2	KS, NE, OK, TX, VT
15	06/12/62	12	0	0	F2	CO, MD, NC, NM, SD, TX, WY

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/24/62	86	17	49	20	4 in	90 kt (104 mph)
2	04/30/62	74	17	21	36	2.75 in	90 kt (104 mph)
3	05/28/62	59	27	16	16	4.5 in	78 kt (90 mph)
4	05/26/62	55	17	26	12	4.5 in	73 kt (84 mph)
5	05/20/62	46	12	17	17	2 in	88 kt (101 mph)
6	05/31/62	44	15	18	11	4.5 in	55 kt (63 mph)
7	05/25/62	37	12	18	7	3 in	75 kt (86 mph)
8	06/14/62	37	19	16	2	3.5 in	64 kt (74 mph)
9	05/27/62	36	14	15	7	6 in	55 kt (63 mph)
10	05/18/62	34	13	11	10	3 in	60 kt (69 mph)
11	06/06/62	33	7	18	8	2.5 in	62 kt (71 mph)
12	06/08/62	33	14	13	6	4.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
13	07/21/62	33	5	13	15	4.5 in	82 kt (94 mph)
14	07/22/62	33	2	15	16	3 in	70 kt (81 mph)
15	05/17/62	32	15	12	5	3 in	75 kt (86 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	05/27/62	6 in	Rooks County, KS
2	04/10/62	5 in	Lafayette County, MS
3	09/16/62	5 in	Woodward County, OK
4	05/26/62	4.5 in	Haskell County, TX
5	05/28/62	4.5 in	Edwards County, TX
6	05/31/62	4.5 in	Schleicher County, TX
7	06/07/62	4.5 in	Briscoe County, TX
8	06/08/62	4.5 in	Deaf Smith County, TX
9	07/21/62	4.5 in	Antelope County, NE
10	05/14/62	4 in	Davison County, SD
11	05/24/62	4 in	Jackson County, OK
12	05/24/62	4 in	Reno County, KS
13	05/24/62	4 in	Scotts Bluff County, NE
14	05/31/62	4 in	Reagan County, TX
15	06/17/62	4 in	Carson County, TX

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	06/11/62	100 kt	115	Not given	Essex County, MA
2	07/16/62	100 kt	115	Not given	Forsyth County, NC
3	04/30/62	90 kt	104	Not given	Will County, IL
4	05/24/62	90 kt	104	Not given	Oklahoma County, OK
5	08/20/62	90 kt	104	Not given	Cuyahoga County, OH
6	05/20/62	88 kt	101	Not given	Seward County, KS
7	05/16/62	87 kt	100	Not given	Mobile County, AL
8	06/16/62	87 kt	100	Not given	Nobles County, MN
9	06/18/62	87 kt	100	Not given	Hardeman County, TX
10	05/10/62	85 kt	98	Not given	Coles County, IL
11	08/29/62	85 kt	98	Not given	Platte County, NE
12	06/18/62	84 kt	97	Not given	Childress County, TX
13	07/11/62	84 kt	97	Not given	Hutchinson County, TX
14	08/10/62	84 kt	97	Not given	Furnas County, NE
15	08/06/62	83 kt	96	Not given	Douglas County, MN

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Injuries
05/25/62	F4	Burns Flat to New Cordell, Oklahoma	OK	7.2 mi	250 yd	9
05/26/62	F4	Burkburnett to Walters, Oklahoma	OK	10.1 mi	400 yd	1
05/26/62	F4	Haskell, Texas	TX	10.7 mi	133 yd	1
05/29/62	F4	O'Neill to Lake Andes, Nebraska	NE	24.2 mi	300 yd	0
08/06/62	F4	Holton, Kansas	KS	11.0 mi	667 yd	3
09/16/62	F4	Rochester, Minnesota	MN	0.5 mi	33 yd	34

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
03/31/62	F3	Pea Ridge to Milton, Florida	FL	6.9 mi	440 yd	17	100
08/20/62	F2	Brook Park, Ohio	OH	0.5 mi	500 yd	4	20
08/28/62	F1	Lake Charles, Louisiana	LA	0.5 mi	50 yd	2	30
01/05/62	F2	Crestview, Florida	FL	2.5 mi	100 yd	1	30
04/08/62	F1	Chesapeake to Virginia Beach, Virginia	VA	11.5 mi	10 yd	1	0
04/28/62	F2	Jonestown to Walls, Mississippi	MS	34.6 mi	1,760 yd	1	6
05/08/62	F2	Innsbrook, Virginia	VA	0.1 mi	10 yd	1	2
05/22/62	F2	Iowa City, Iowa	IA	4.1 mi	800 yd	1	0
05/24/62	F3	Waterbury to Meriden, Connecticut	CT	11.6 mi	120 yd	1	50
05/25/62	F3	Anson to Hamlin, Texas	TX	4.1 mi	67 yd	1	1

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