YearFinal SPC data

1971

889 tornadoes in 1971, with 958 hail and 1,540 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

159

Tornado deaths

F0 188 F1 380 F2 239 F3 71 F4 10 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

1971 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19711991 to 2020 average1966 to 1976 (other years)

889 tornadoes in 1971, 28% 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	12/14/71	37	0	2	F3	AR, IL, KY, MO, OK, TN, TX
2	06/06/71	23	0	0	F3	IA, KS, MI, NE, SD, WI
3	10/17/71	23	0	0	F3	CO, FL, KS, NE, SD, TX
4	06/09/71	20	2	0	F4	KS, ND, NE, OK, SD, TX
5	05/31/71	20	0	0	F3	IA, KS, MN, MO, OK, TX
6	09/16/71	18	0	0	F3	AL, FL, LA, MS, NM, PA
7	05/05/71	17	0	1	F3	IA, KS, MO, MS, NE, OH, OK
8	05/30/71	17	0	0	F2	KS, NE, TX
9	06/04/71	17	0	0	F2	KS, MS, ND, NE, SD, WI
10	04/27/71	15	2	10	F4	AR, GA, IL, IN, KY, MO, TN
11	02/21/71	14	3	121	F5	AR, LA, MS, TN, TX
12	04/18/71	14	0	0	F3	CO, NM, OK, TX, WY
13	06/07/71	14	0	0	F3	MI, MN, MO, OK, SD, WI, WY
14	05/06/71	13	0	1	F2	IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, OK, TN, TX
15	05/08/71	13	0	0	F2	FL, GA, MS, TX

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/06/71	105	23	19	63	1.75 in	85 kt (98 mph)
2	12/14/71	84	37	0	47	–	70 kt (81 mph)
3	05/31/71	66	20	23	23	3 in	58 kt (67 mph)
4	05/08/71	65	13	27	25	4.5 in	65 kt (75 mph)
5	06/02/71	64	11	31	22	3.5 in	86 kt (99 mph)
6	06/08/71	63	9	16	38	5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
7	05/23/71	59	13	22	24	3.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
8	06/07/71	58	14	16	28	3 in	70 kt (81 mph)
9	05/06/71	56	13	28	15	4 in	66 kt (76 mph)
10	06/09/71	50	20	15	15	4.5 in	72 kt (83 mph)
11	04/27/71	48	15	28	5	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
12	05/05/71	48	17	25	6	4 in	–
13	06/19/71	47	10	9	28	3 in	75 kt (86 mph)
14	03/14/71	45	5	0	40	–	60 kt (69 mph)
15	05/10/71	45	8	28	9	3 in	75 kt (86 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	04/26/71	8 in	Garfield County, OK
2	06/03/71	6 in	Powder River County, MT
3	06/09/71	5 in	Hardeman County, TX
4	04/17/71	4.5 in	Bell County, TX
5	05/08/71	4.5 in	Coleman County, TX
6	06/09/71	4.5 in	Kit Carson County, CO
7	07/06/71	4.5 in	Mountrail County, ND
8	04/19/71	4.25 in	Zavala County, TX
9	05/05/71	4 in	Taylor County, IA
10	05/06/71	4 in	Moniteau County, MO
11	05/06/71	4 in	Garvin County, OK
12	05/08/71	4 in	Brown County, TX
13	05/11/71	4 in	Cameron County, TX
14	05/21/71	4 in	Beaver County, OK
15	05/22/71	4 in	Yuma County, CO

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	06/11/71	100 kt	115	Not given	Deaf Smith County, TX
2	03/09/71	88 kt	101	Not given	Beauregard Parish, LA
3	05/29/71	87 kt	100	Not given	Jones County, TX
4	06/11/71	87 kt	100	Not given	Deaf Smith County, TX
5	06/22/71	87 kt	100	Not given	Cass County, MO
6	08/10/71	87 kt	100	Not given	Lucas County, OH
7	04/29/71	86 kt	99	Not given	Monroe County, AL
8	06/02/71	86 kt	99	Not given	Payne County, OK
9	06/06/71	85 kt	98	Not given	Yankton County, SD
10	08/30/71	85 kt	98	Not given	Maricopa County, AZ
11	02/07/71	83 kt	96	Not given	Pinellas County, FL
12	08/10/71	83 kt	96	Not given	Winnebago County, WI
13	04/26/71	80 kt	92	Not given	Garfield County, OK
14	06/02/71	80 kt	92	Not given	Alfalfa County, OK
15	06/02/71	80 kt	92	Not given	Garfield County, OK

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/21/71	F5	Delhi, LA to Mississippi Valley State University, MS	LA, MS	109 mi	500 yd	47	510
02/21/71	F4	Lake Providence, LA to Middleton, TN	MS, TN	202 mi	100 yd	58	795
02/21/71	F4	Edwards to Lexington, Mississippi	MS	65.2 mi	10 yd	13	182
03/12/71	F4	New Boston, Texas	TX	5.1 mi	880 yd	1	5
04/23/71	F4	Monroeville to Georgiana, Alabama	AL	25.4 mi	300 yd	0	0
04/27/71	F4	Greensburg to Columbia, Kentucky	KY	14.1 mi	100 yd	6	58
04/27/71	F4	Russell Springs to Burnside, Kentucky	KY	13.0 mi	100 yd	2	72
05/07/71	F4	Bradford to New Johnsonville, Tennessee	TN	50.9 mi	100 yd	3	137
06/09/71	F4	Sunray, Texas	TX	5.9 mi	1,320 yd	0	0
06/09/71	F4	Gruver to Spearman, Texas	TX	15.9 mi	1,760 yd	0	0
07/12/71	F4	Elma to Fredericksburg, Iowa	IA	10.9 mi	1,320 yd	0	8

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/21/71	F4	Lake Providence, LA to Middleton, TN	MS, TN	202 mi	100 yd	58	795
02/21/71	F5	Delhi, LA to Mississippi Valley State University, MS	LA, MS	109 mi	500 yd	47	510
02/21/71	F4	Edwards to Lexington, Mississippi	MS	65.2 mi	10 yd	13	182
02/04/71	F2	Duck Hill to Calhoun City, Mississippi	MS	6.1 mi	10 yd	7	0
04/27/71	F4	Greensburg to Columbia, Kentucky	KY	14.1 mi	100 yd	6	58
02/21/71	F3	Drew to Tutwiler, Mississippi	MS	8.6 mi	10 yd	3	0
02/26/71	F1	Irondale, Alabama	AL	2.0 mi	50 yd	3	0
05/07/71	F4	Bradford to New Johnsonville, Tennessee	TN	50.9 mi	100 yd	3	137
02/22/71	F3	Fayetteville to Pinetops, North Carolina	NC	85.7 mi	500 yd	2	60
04/27/71	F4	Russell Springs to Burnside, Kentucky	KY	13.0 mi	100 yd	2	72
01/15/71	F2	Leslie, Georgia	GA	2.0 mi	100 yd	1	1
02/04/71	F3	Guin to Phil Campbell, Alabama	AL	34.1 mi	750 yd	1	13
03/10/71	F2	Kenner to Gretna, Louisiana	LA	7.5 mi	300 yd	1	7
03/12/71	F4	New Boston, Texas	TX	5.1 mi	880 yd	1	5
04/23/71	F2	Ideal, Georgia	GA	3.8 mi	100 yd	1	10

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