YearFinal SPC data

1963

463 tornadoes in 1963, with 647 hail and 820 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 98 F1 179 F2 148 F3 33 F4 5

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

1963 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19631991 to 2020 average1958 to 1968 (other years)

463 tornadoes in 1963, 62% 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	04/29/63	22	1	12	F4	AL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, TN
2	04/19/63	17	0	0	F3	IL, IN, KY, OH
3	03/11/63	14	2	6	F4	AL, MS, TN
4	04/28/63	12	0	1	F3	KS, NE, TX
5	05/26/63	11	0	1	F3	KS, OK
6	06/08/63	10	0	0	F2	FL, KY, NE, NM, TX, WI
7	01/20/63	9	0	1	F2	AL, GA, NC
8	06/04/63	9	0	0	F2	TX
9	06/05/63	9	0	0	F2	FL, KS, MT, NE, OH
10	03/16/63	8	0	0	F3	AR, IA, IL, IN
11	03/19/63	8	0	2	F2	IN, KY, TN
12	05/20/63	8	0	0	F3	GA, MA, NC, NH
13	06/06/63	8	0	0	F3	FL, KS, SD
14	06/09/63	8	0	0	F2	IA, MI, MN, ND, NE, NH
15	06/10/63	8	0	0	F2	IL, IN, MO, OK

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/10/63	66	8	22	36	2.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
2	04/29/63	59	22	14	23	2 in	80 kt (92 mph)
3	06/08/63	44	10	7	27	2.5 in	88 kt (101 mph)
4	05/04/63	40	5	25	10	4.5 in	68 kt (78 mph)
5	04/28/63	37	12	15	10	3 in	85 kt (98 mph)
6	05/26/63	37	11	16	10	4 in	70 kt (81 mph)
7	04/17/63	36	6	25	5	4 in	70 kt (81 mph)
8	05/27/63	35	6	17	12	3.5 in	62 kt (71 mph)
9	03/19/63	33	8	10	15	2 in	85 kt (98 mph)
10	07/18/63	32	5	12	15	3.5 in	65 kt (75 mph)
11	04/19/63	31	17	2	12	0.75 in	65 kt (75 mph)
12	07/19/63	29	7	4	18	3 in	75 kt (86 mph)
13	05/25/63	27	4	14	9	5 in	77 kt (89 mph)
14	05/14/63	24	5	10	9	2.75 in	80 kt (92 mph)
15	06/28/63	24	2	7	15	3.5 in	87 kt (100 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	05/25/63	5 in	Sedgwick County, KS
2	06/03/63	5 in	Garza County, TX
3	05/04/63	4.5 in	Coffey County, KS
4	05/10/63	4.5 in	Tulsa County, OK
5	05/21/63	4.5 in	Parmer County, TX
6	03/24/63	4 in	Johnston County, OK
7	03/29/63	4 in	Dade County, FL
8	04/17/63	4 in	Wichita County, TX
9	05/25/63	4 in	Kiowa County, OK
10	05/26/63	4 in	Oklahoma County, OK
11	06/02/63	4 in	Hockley County, TX
12	07/14/63	4 in	Ness County, KS
13	08/11/63	4 in	MN
14	04/17/63	3.5 in	St. Joseph County, IN
15	05/27/63	3.5 in	Collin County, TX

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	08/11/63	100 kt	115	Not given	Palm Beach County, FL
2	07/06/63	95 kt	109	Not given	Codington County, SD
3	06/08/63	88 kt	101	Not given	Winona County, MN
4	06/28/63	87 kt	100	Not given	Freeborn County, MN
5	07/06/63	87 kt	100	Not given	Custer County, SD
6	07/10/63	87 kt	100	Not given	Comanche County, OK
7	07/24/63	86 kt	99	Not given	Victoria County, TX
8	10/29/63	86 kt	99	Not given	ME
9	03/19/63	85 kt	98	Not given	Madison County, AL
10	04/28/63	85 kt	98	Not given	Tarrant County, TX
11	05/30/63	85 kt	98	Not given	Reeves County, TX
12	06/20/63	85 kt	98	Not given	Chambers County, TX
13	08/02/63	85 kt	98	Not given	La Crosse County, WI
14	08/28/63	85 kt	98	Not given	Morton County, KS
15	09/11/63	85 kt	98	Not given	Creek County, OK

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
03/05/63	F4	Bessemer to Mountain Brook, Alabama	AL	14.9 mi	667 yd	0	35
03/11/63	F4	Hayden to Holly Pond, Alabama	AL	28.0 mi	880 yd	2	6
03/11/63	F4	Kosciusko to Maben, Mississippi	MS	45.2 mi	440 yd	2	7
04/17/63	F4	Essex, IL to Medaryville, IN	IL, IN	57.3 mi	130 yd	1	70
04/29/63	F4	Shannon, Mississippi	MS	4.7 mi	1,000 yd	3	20

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/29/63	F3	Friars Point to Jonestown, Mississippi	MS	5.7 mi	440 yd	5	10
04/29/63	F3	Maury City to Alamo, Tennessee	TN	9.3 mi	300 yd	3	6
04/29/63	F4	Shannon, Mississippi	MS	4.7 mi	1,000 yd	3	20
09/29/63	F2	Dillon, SC to Four Oaks, NC	NC, SC	85.8 mi	100 yd	3	12
03/11/63	F4	Hayden to Holly Pond, Alabama	AL	28.0 mi	880 yd	2	6
03/11/63	F4	Kosciusko to Maben, Mississippi	MS	45.2 mi	440 yd	2	7
03/19/63	F1	Salem, Indiana	IN	0.1 mi	10 yd	2	0
08/03/63	F3	Glassport, Pennsylvania	PA	0.1 mi	10 yd	2	70
01/20/63	F1	Fort Gaines to Warwick, Georgia	GA	70.2 mi	500 yd	1	4
03/11/63	F2	Rogersville to Huntland, Alabama	AL	47.2 mi	10 yd	1	3
03/11/63	F2	Newport, Tennessee	TN	6.2 mi	200 yd	1	1
04/17/63	F4	Essex, IL to Medaryville, IN	IL, IN	57.3 mi	130 yd	1	70
04/17/63	F1	Coldwater, Michigan	MI	1.0 mi	10 yd	1	0
04/22/63	F3	Pleasant Plains to Harristown, Illinois	IL	42.9 mi	10 yd	1	5
04/28/63	F3	Auburn, Nebraska	NE	4.9 mi	300 yd	1	8

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