YearFinal SPC data

1972

741 tornadoes in 1972, with 671 hail and 712 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 174 F1 345 F2 181 F3 37 F4 4

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

1972 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19721991 to 2020 average1967 to 1977 (other years)

741 tornadoes in 1972, 40% 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	05/22/72	23	0	0	F3	KS, NE, OK, SD
2	04/21/72	21	0	3	F3	AL, IL, KY, LA, MO, MS, TN
3	06/18/72	15	0	0	F3	FL, NE, SD
4	05/07/72	14	0	0	F2	LA, MS, NM, TX
5	04/30/72	13	1	0	F4	KS, MO, OK
6	10/27/72	13	0	0	F2	AL, FL, GA
7	03/20/72	12	0	0	F2	LA, TX
8	03/28/72	11	0	0	F3	AR, FL, TX
9	06/21/72	11	0	0	F2	AZ, CO, TX
10	05/10/72	10	0	0	F2	CO, NM, TX
11	05/23/72	10	0	0	F0	NE
12	06/27/72	10	0	0	F2	AL, GA, ND, OK
13	07/01/72	10	0	0	F1	AR, IA, ND, NE, OK, TX
14	07/17/72	10	0	0	F3	IA, IL, IN, NM, OK, TX
15	07/27/72	10	0	0	F3	ID, KS, MN, MO, NE, VA, WY

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/27/72	71	10	34	27	2.75 in	72 kt (83 mph)
2	04/30/72	54	13	29	12	2.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
3	07/01/72	41	10	17	14	2 in	87 kt (100 mph)
4	06/25/72	35	6	5	24	2 in	69 kt (79 mph)
5	04/21/72	33	21	4	8	2 in	71 kt (82 mph)
6	05/22/72	33	23	8	2	2.75 in	66 kt (76 mph)
7	03/28/72	32	11	15	6	2.75 in	50 kt (58 mph)
8	03/01/72	31	5	10	16	1.75 in	76 kt (87 mph)
9	07/02/72	31	8	12	11	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
10	06/18/72	28	15	7	6	2.75 in	59 kt (68 mph)
11	04/13/72	27	3	17	7	2.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
12	05/23/72	26	10	10	6	2.75 in	52 kt (60 mph)
13	07/25/72	25	5	13	7	2 in	60 kt (69 mph)
14	04/07/72	24	7	11	6	2 in	72 kt (83 mph)
15	05/10/72	24	10	12	2	1.75 in	52 kt (60 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	07/16/72	4 in	La Crosse County, WI
2	03/29/72	3.5 in	Walton County, FL
3	03/12/72	3 in	Logan County, OK
4	04/19/72	3 in	Major County, OK
5	04/20/72	3 in	Montague County, TX
6	05/20/72	3 in	Reeves County, TX
7	06/14/72	3 in	Lubbock County, TX
8	03/12/72	2.75 in	Oklahoma County, OK
9	03/24/72	2.75 in	Red River County, TX
10	03/28/72	2.75 in	Panola County, TX
11	03/28/72	2.75 in	Columbia County, AR
12	03/28/72	2.75 in	Lafayette County, AR
13	03/28/72	2.75 in	Union County, AR
14	04/13/72	2.75 in	Jasper County, MO
15	04/19/72	2.75 in	Garvin County, OK

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	08/02/72	100 kt	115	Not given	Kiowa County, CO
2	04/06/72	87 kt	100	Not given	Ogle County, IL
3	04/13/72	87 kt	100	Not given	Taney County, MO
4	06/21/72	87 kt	100	Not given	Potter County, TX
5	07/01/72	87 kt	100	Not given	Hockley County, TX
6	08/12/72	80 kt	92	Not given	Scott County, MO
7	08/02/72	78 kt	90	Not given	Clay County, MO
8	04/21/72	77 kt	89	Not given	McLennan County, TX
9	07/09/72	77 kt	89	Not given	Hughes County, SD
10	03/01/72	76 kt	87	Not given	Pemiscot County, MO
11	03/16/72	75 kt	86	Not given	St. Charles Parish, LA
12	03/16/72	75 kt	86	Not given	Richmond County, GA
13	04/13/72	75 kt	86	Not given	IN
14	04/30/72	75 kt	86	Not given	Miami County, KS
15	09/28/72	75 kt	86	Not given	Lake County, IL

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/19/72	F4	Velma to Davis, Oklahoma	OK	28.2 mi	10 yd	5	6
04/30/72	F4	Jetmore to Ness City, Kansas	KS	26.6 mi	77 yd	0	1
05/14/72	F4	Warren Park to Markleville, Indiana	IN	30.0 mi	200 yd	0	20
09/28/72	F4	Lake Bluff to Waukegan, Illinois	IL	5.2 mi	220 yd	0	20

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/05/72	F3	Vancouver, WA to Camas, WA	OR, WA	8.7 mi	440 yd	6	300
04/19/72	F4	Velma to Davis, Oklahoma	OK	28.2 mi	10 yd	5	6
01/13/72	F2	Level Plains, Alabama	AL	6.3 mi	100 yd	4	88
04/21/72	F3	Carrier Mills, Illinois	IL	0.3 mi	60 yd	3	0
11/13/72	F2	Zavalla, Texas	TX	3.3 mi	100 yd	2	0
01/10/72	F3	Hapeville to Candler-McAfee, Georgia	GA	6.3 mi	200 yd	1	9
04/06/72	F2	Polo to Amboy, Illinois	IL	17.5 mi	50 yd	1	9
04/06/72	F2	Shorewood to Crest Hill, Illinois	IL	6.8 mi	50 yd	1	22
06/20/72	F0	Wauseon, Ohio	OH	0.1 mi	20 yd	1	0
06/25/72	F2	Graceville, Florida	FL	0.5 mi	27 yd	1	2
08/07/72	F1	Savona, New York	NY	0.1 mi	10 yd	1	2
08/09/72	F1	Newton, Massachusetts	MA	4.9 mi	30 yd	1	6

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