YearFinal SPC data

1973

1,102 tornadoes in 1973, with 1,097 hail and 2,164 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 219 F1 497 F2 301 F3 71 F4 13 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

1973 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19731991 to 2020 average1968 to 1978 (other years)

1,102 tornadoes in 1973, 11% 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	05/27/73	41	1	9	F4	AL, GA, HI, IN, MI, MS, NC, SC, TN
2	05/26/73	34	2	12	F4	AR, FL, KS, MO, MS, NE, OK, TN
3	04/19/73	34	1	0	F4	AR, IA, IL, KS, KY, MO, ND, OK, SD, TN
4	06/26/73	28	0	0	F2	IN, MI, OH, TX, WI
5	06/16/73	27	0	0	F3	IA, IL, IN, MD, MI, MN, MO, ND, OK, VA
6	05/07/73	25	0	2	F3	AL, AR, IA, IL, IN, MO, MS
7	06/04/73	24	0	0	F2	IA, IL, IN, KS, MO, OK
8	05/28/73	23	0	1	F3	GA, IN, NC, NJ, PA, SC, VA
9	04/20/73	22	1	2	F4	AR, AZ, IA, MO
10	11/24/73	22	0	3	F3	AR, KY, LA, MO, MS, OK, TX
11	06/03/73	20	0	0	F3	IN, MI, MO, OH, OK, TX, WI
12	09/25/73	19	0	3	F3	CO, IA, KS, MN, NE
13	05/06/73	18	1	0	F5	AR, CO, KS, LA, OK, TX
14	06/02/73	18	0	0	F2	AR, FL, IL, KY, MN, MO, NE, OK, SD, WI
15	03/13/73	16	0	0	F2	KS, MO, OK, TX

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/16/73	138	27	29	82	4.5 in	92 kt (106 mph)
2	06/04/73	101	24	16	61	2.75 in	100 kt (115 mph)
3	04/19/73	92	34	12	46	2 in	70 kt (81 mph)
4	07/01/73	91	15	14	62	1.75 in	87 kt (100 mph)
5	05/11/73	73	11	20	42	2.75 in	83 kt (96 mph)
6	05/27/73	72	41	6	25	3 in	52 kt (60 mph)
7	05/23/73	70	9	22	39	2 in	70 kt (81 mph)
8	05/26/73	67	34	8	25	2.75 in	72 kt (83 mph)
9	11/24/73	64	22	8	34	2 in	65 kt (75 mph)
10	06/02/73	63	18	21	24	4.5 in	65 kt (75 mph)
11	06/26/73	62	28	11	23	2.75 in	82 kt (94 mph)
12	07/03/73	62	5	14	43	4 in	68 kt (78 mph)
13	05/28/73	59	23	10	26	2 in	70 kt (81 mph)
14	06/12/73	57	14	11	32	1.75 in	60 kt (69 mph)
15	04/25/73	56	6	32	18	3 in	87 kt (100 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	05/22/73	5 in	Gaines County, TX
2	06/02/73	4.5 in	Runnels County, TX
3	06/16/73	4.5 in	Archer County, TX
4	09/08/73	4.5 in	Albany County, WY
5	04/21/73	4 in	Henry County, IA
6	05/22/73	4 in	Lynn County, TX
7	06/01/73	4 in	Freestone County, TX
8	06/29/73	4 in	Ector County, TX
9	07/03/73	4 in	Buffalo County, WI
10	03/01/73	3 in	McLennan County, TX
11	03/23/73	3 in	Motley County, TX
12	04/21/73	3 in	Des Moines County, IA
13	04/22/73	3 in	Fisher County, TX
14	04/25/73	3 in	Frio County, TX
15	05/10/73	3 in	Stoddard County, MO

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	06/04/73	100 kt	115	Not given	St. Charles County, MO
2	07/15/73	95 kt	109	Not given	Barnstable County, MA
3	09/04/73	94 kt	108	Not given	Howard County, TX
4	06/16/73	92 kt	106	Not given	Jefferson County, KS
5	06/16/73	92 kt	106	Not given	Platte County, MO
6	05/11/73	90 kt	104	Not given	Jasper County, MO
7	06/16/73	90 kt	104	Not given	Douglas County, KS
8	06/16/73	90 kt	104	Not given	Putnam County, MO
9	11/04/73	90 kt	104	Not given	Rankin County, MS
10	07/12/73	88 kt	101	Not given	WI
11	08/03/73	88 kt	101	Not given	Riverside County, CA
12	04/26/73	87 kt	100	Not given	Jefferson County, TX
13	07/01/73	87 kt	100	Not given	Platte County, NE
14	07/11/73	87 kt	100	Not given	Monmouth County, NJ
15	08/03/73	87 kt	100	Not given	Clark County, NV

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
03/10/73	F4	Mart to Hubbard, Texas	TX	23.3 mi	150 yd	6	77
03/31/73	F4	Calhoun Falls to Greenwood, South Carolina	SC	22.6 mi	200 yd	7	30
04/15/73	F4	Pearsall to Charlotte, Texas	TX	23.3 mi	440 yd	5	12
04/19/73	F4	Windsor, Missouri	MO	10.0 mi	880 yd	0	5
04/20/73	F4	La Plata, Missouri	MO	3.8 mi	440 yd	1	3
04/21/73	F4	Princeton, Missouri	MO	14.6 mi	440 yd	0	1
05/06/73	F5	Valley Mills to China Spring, Texas	TX	10.6 mi	100 yd	0	0
05/19/73	F4	Pine Ridge to Fort Payne, Alabama	AL	5.4 mi	400 yd	0	19
05/24/73	F4	Union City to Tuttle, Oklahoma	OK	13.3 mi	300 yd	2	4
05/26/73	F4	Warner, Oklahoma	OK	3.6 mi	500 yd	5	25
05/26/73	F4	Augusta to Jonesboro, Arkansas	AR	54.8 mi	300 yd	3	289
05/27/73	F4	Demopolis to Oxford, Alabama	AL	139 mi	800 yd	7	199
08/28/73	F4	Pittsfield, MA to Philmont, NY	NY, MA	9.8 mi	313 yd	4	36
12/13/73	F4	Ninety Six, South Carolina	SC	1.0 mi	50 yd	2	0

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
03/31/73	F4	Calhoun Falls to Greenwood, South Carolina	SC	22.6 mi	200 yd	7	30
05/27/73	F4	Demopolis to Oxford, Alabama	AL	139 mi	800 yd	7	199
03/10/73	F4	Mart to Hubbard, Texas	TX	23.3 mi	150 yd	6	77
05/10/73	F3	Risingsun to Greenwich, Ohio	OH	50.1 mi	27 yd	6	100
04/15/73	F4	Pearsall to Charlotte, Texas	TX	23.3 mi	440 yd	5	12
05/26/73	F4	Warner, Oklahoma	OK	3.6 mi	500 yd	5	25
11/19/73	F3	Blanchard to Del City, Oklahoma	OK	24.2 mi	500 yd	5	36
08/28/73	F4	Pittsfield, MA to Philmont, NY	NY, MA	9.8 mi	313 yd	4	36
05/26/73	F1	Pretty Prairie to Haven, Kansas	KS	3.8 mi	100 yd	3	0
05/26/73	F4	Augusta to Jonesboro, Arkansas	AR	54.8 mi	300 yd	3	289
09/25/73	F3	Lyons, KS to Adams, NE	KS, NE	170 mi	100 yd	3	42
11/24/73	F2	Winona, Missouri	MO	1.0 mi	60 yd	3	1
03/31/73	F2	Jonesboro to Colbert, Georgia	GA	72.4 mi	500 yd	2	100
04/15/73	F3	Plainview, Texas	TX	7.6 mi	200 yd	2	26
05/01/73	F3	Kahoka, Missouri	MO	3.6 mi	440 yd	2	20

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