YearFinal SPC data

1978

789 tornadoes in 1978, with 1,024 hail and 1,758 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 338 F1 312 F2 106 F3 26 F4 7

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

1978 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19781991 to 2020 average1973 to 1983 (other years)

789 tornadoes in 1978, 36% 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	05/12/78	26	0	0	F3	AL, AR, FL, IL, IN, KY, MO, MS, TX
2	05/11/78	25	0	0	F3	KS, LA, OK, TX
3	05/26/78	19	0	1	F2	FL, ND, NE, TX
4	04/17/78	18	2	4	F4	AL, AR, LA, MS, OK, TN
5	04/30/78	17	1	0	F4	AL, AR, OK, TX
6	07/04/78	17	1	9	F4	AR, MN, MT, ND, SD, TX, WY
7	06/25/78	17	0	1	F3	FL, IA, IL, IN, MN, NE, SC, SD
8	07/05/78	15	0	0	F3	FL, IA, KS, NM, OH, SD, TX, WI
9	05/28/78	14	0	0	F1	FL, MN, MO, NE, TX
10	06/07/78	14	0	0	F2	IA, OH, PA, TX, WI
11	04/18/78	13	0	0	F3	AL, FL, GA, IL, MD
12	05/04/78	13	0	3	F3	FL, SC, SD, TX
13	08/15/78	12	0	0	F3	IL, MI, TX, WA, WI
14	12/02/78	11	1	5	F4	AR, LA
15	05/25/78	11	0	0	F3	KS, ND, TX

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/12/78	104	26	17	61	1.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
2	05/11/78	97	25	25	47	3.5 in	85 kt (98 mph)
3	06/25/78	77	17	14	46	2.75 in	87 kt (100 mph)
4	04/18/78	63	13	25	25	4 in	70 kt (81 mph)
5	07/05/78	63	15	17	31	2.75 in	62 kt (71 mph)
6	04/30/78	62	17	34	11	2.75 in	55 kt (63 mph)
7	07/04/78	58	17	8	33	4 in	65 kt (75 mph)
8	04/17/78	56	18	7	31	2.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
9	07/06/78	54	6	12	36	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
10	07/26/78	53	5	21	27	4.5 in	67 kt (77 mph)
11	06/15/78	50	9	20	21	2.75 in	78 kt (90 mph)
12	06/27/78	50	11	9	30	1.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
13	05/27/78	46	7	15	24	2 in	78 kt (90 mph)
14	07/14/78	45	4	6	35	2.75 in	69 kt (79 mph)
15	05/26/78	44	19	8	17	2.75 in	86 kt (99 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	04/07/78	5 in	Hall County, NE
2	05/24/78	4.5 in	Hansford County, TX
3	06/17/78	4.5 in	Ida County, IA
4	06/19/78	4.5 in	Trego County, KS
5	07/26/78	4.5 in	Livingston County, MI
6	07/26/78	4.5 in	Macomb County, MI
7	01/07/78	4 in	Saline County, AR
8	04/18/78	4 in	Marengo County, AL
9	07/05/78	4 in	Cass County, ND
10	05/11/78	3.5 in	Pettis County, MO
11	07/19/78	3.5 in	Alger County, MI
12	04/19/78	3.25 in	Fulton County, GA
13	04/07/78	3 in	Hall County, NE
14	04/07/78	3 in	Merrick County, NE
15	04/09/78	3 in	Kiowa County, OK

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	07/07/78	90 kt	104	Not given	Hinds County, MS
2	06/03/78	87 kt	100	Not given	Pasquotank County, NC
3	06/03/78	87 kt	100	Not given	Dundy County, NE
4	06/06/78	87 kt	100	Not given	Pulaski County, AR
5	06/24/78	87 kt	100	Not given	Randolph County, NC
6	06/25/78	87 kt	100	Not given	Marion County, IN
7	06/25/78	87 kt	100	Not given	Knox County, NE
8	08/01/78	87 kt	100	Not given	Cherry County, NE
9	08/07/78	87 kt	100	Not given	Apache County, AZ
10	05/26/78	86 kt	99	Not given	Roosevelt County, NM
11	05/11/78	85 kt	98	Not given	Van Zandt County, TX
12	05/11/78	85 kt	98	Not given	Smith County, TX
13	05/11/78	85 kt	98	Not given	Gregg County, TX
14	06/02/78	85 kt	98	Not given	Ward County, TX
15	08/26/78	85 kt	98	Not given	Johnson County, KS

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/07/78	F4	Grand Island to Stromsburg, Nebraska	NE	31.2 mi	77 yd	0	1
04/07/78	F4	Shelby, Nebraska	NE	8.0 mi	50 yd	0	0
04/17/78	F4	Metcalfe, Mississippi	MS	3.6 mi	100 yd	0	3
04/18/78	F4	Monticello to Prentiss, Mississippi	MS	19.1 mi	100 yd	4	31
04/30/78	F4	Yukon to Piedmont, Oklahoma	OK	9.3 mi	1,760 yd	0	0
07/04/78	F4	Elgin, North Dakota	ND	26.0 mi	250 yd	5	35
12/03/78	F4	Shreveport to Bossier City, Louisiana	LA	6.2 mi	400 yd	2	266

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
06/17/78	F1	Lyndon to Pomona, Kansas	KS	7.3 mi	150 yd	16	3
09/16/78	F3	State Center to Grinnell, Iowa	IA	31.8 mi	200 yd	6	45
07/04/78	F4	Elgin, North Dakota	ND	26.0 mi	250 yd	5	35
04/18/78	F4	Monticello to Prentiss, Mississippi	MS	19.1 mi	100 yd	4	31
07/05/78	F2	Twin Valley to Clearbrook, Minnesota	MN	57.5 mi	400 yd	4	44
05/04/78	F3	Pinellas Park, Florida	FL	1.5 mi	200 yd	3	94
05/31/78	F3	Westmoreland to Holton, Kansas	KS	37.0 mi	1,300 yd	3	1
12/03/78	F4	Shreveport to Bossier City, Louisiana	LA	6.2 mi	400 yd	2	266
12/03/78	F3	Sibley, LA to Junction City, AR	LA, AR	60.0 mi	300 yd	2	4
01/07/78	F3	Brinkley to Parkin, Arkansas	AR	39.6 mi	150 yd	1	9
01/26/78	F3	Quantico, Virginia	VA	0.7 mi	250 yd	1	10
05/26/78	F0	Memphis, Texas	TX	4.5 mi	60 yd	1	0
06/25/78	F1	Wilmington to Bourbonnais, Illinois	IL	1.3 mi	17 yd	1	0
07/23/78	F1	East Brady, Pennsylvania	PA	0.1 mi	10 yd	1	24
07/31/78	F2	Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina	NC	0.2 mi	50 yd	1	4

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.

Titan Archive · a Tornado Titans project Data: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database · updated 10/03/26