YearFinal SPC data

1979

855 tornadoes in 1979, with 1,303 hail and 2,042 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 359 F1 342 F2 116 F3 31 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

1979 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19791991 to 2020 average1974 to 1984 (other years)

855 tornadoes in 1979, 31% 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	06/28/79	38	1	5	F4	AR, CO, IA, MN, ND, WY
2	04/11/79	31	0	1	F3	AL, AR, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MO, MS, NE +3
3	04/10/79	29	2	57	F4	KS, OK, TX
4	05/03/79	26	0	0	F3	AR, MS, TN, TX
5	06/19/79	24	0	1	F2	IA, KS, ND, NE, SD, WI
6	09/05/79	20	0	2	F3	DE, IA, MD, NJ, PA, VA
7	08/09/79	17	0	1	F2	IL, MI, WI
8	05/08/79	16	0	1	F2	FL
9	08/21/79	16	0	0	F0	NC, ND, OK, TX
10	04/08/79	13	0	0	F3	AL, AR, LA
11	10/30/79	13	0	3	F3	MO, OK, TX
12	04/01/79	11	0	0	F3	AR, TX
13	08/28/79	11	0	2	F3	IA, KS, WY
14	09/03/79	11	0	0	F2	FL, TX
15	07/29/79	10	0	0	F1	CO, IA, MN, ND

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/19/79	185	24	24	137	3 in	78 kt (90 mph)
2	04/11/79	126	31	15	80	1.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
3	06/20/79	102	9	34	59	3 in	85 kt (98 mph)
4	05/03/79	99	26	31	42	2.75 in	90 kt (104 mph)
5	06/21/79	89	2	47	40	4 in	85 kt (98 mph)
6	08/21/79	78	16	23	39	2.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
7	04/10/79	69	29	20	20	3.5 in	63 kt (72 mph)
8	06/28/79	67	38	18	11	2 in	70 kt (81 mph)
9	05/02/79	64	9	32	23	3.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
10	07/09/79	54	7	18	29	4.5 in	80 kt (92 mph)
11	07/29/79	53	10	12	31	1.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
12	08/10/79	51	4	3	44	1.75 in	85 kt (98 mph)
13	07/14/79	50	5	16	29	2 in	70 kt (81 mph)
14	08/20/79	48	4	23	21	2 in	65 kt (75 mph)
15	06/16/79	46	7	11	28	3 in	70 kt (81 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	04/20/79	4.5 in	Tom Green County, TX
2	06/22/79	4.5 in	Morgan County, CO
3	07/09/79	4.5 in	Hale County, TX
4	07/24/79	4.5 in	Potter County, TX
5	07/30/79	4.5 in	Larimer County, CO
6	08/24/79	4.5 in	Lamb County, TX
7	06/21/79	4 in	Ellsworth County, KS
8	06/24/79	4 in	Sheridan County, NE
9	06/24/79	4 in	Cheyenne County, NE
10	07/19/79	4 in	Goshen County, WY
11	03/21/79	3.75 in	Mitchell County, TX
12	04/10/79	3.5 in	Brown County, TX
13	05/02/79	3.5 in	Major County, OK
14	06/18/79	3.5 in	Jewell County, KS
15	10/18/79	3.5 in	Reno County, KS

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	07/10/79	100 kt	115	Not given	Bastrop County, TX
2	05/03/79	90 kt	104	Not given	Lee County, AR
3	07/12/79	90 kt	104	Not given	Haakon County, SD
4	07/24/79	87 kt	100	Not given	Yates County, NY
5	07/24/79	87 kt	100	Not given	Chase County, KS
6	05/08/79	85 kt	98	Not given	Hillsborough County, FL
7	06/20/79	85 kt	98	Not given	Cleveland County, OK
8	06/21/79	85 kt	98	Not given	Oklahoma County, OK
9	08/10/79	85 kt	98	Not given	Dauphin County, PA
10	07/01/79	84 kt	97	Not given	Pearl River County, MS
11	07/03/79	80 kt	92	Not given	Russell County, KS
12	07/03/79	80 kt	92	Not given	Henry County, IL
13	07/03/79	80 kt	92	Not given	Henry County, IL
14	07/03/79	80 kt	92	Not given	Henry County, IL
15	07/03/79	80 kt	92	Not given	Henry County, IL

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
03/29/79	F4	Tarkio, MO to Clarinda, IA	MO, IA	18.8 mi	500 yd	0	20
04/10/79	F4	Vernon, TX to Frederick, OK	TX, OK	39.7 mi	880 yd	11	68
04/10/79	F4	Holliday, TX to Waurika, OK	TX, OK	46.9 mi	1,320 yd	42	1,740
05/02/79	F4	Ringwood to Waukomis, Oklahoma	OK	20.6 mi	880 yd	1	25
06/28/79	F4	Pomeroy to Manson, Iowa	IA	14.9 mi	33 yd	3	26
06/29/79	F4	Shorewood to Plainfield, Illinois	IL	5.4 mi	100 yd	0	1
10/03/79	F4	Simsbury Center to Westfield, Connecticut	CT	11.3 mi	1,400 yd	3	500

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/10/79	F4	Holliday, TX to Waurika, OK	TX, OK	46.9 mi	1,320 yd	42	1,740
04/10/79	F4	Vernon, TX to Frederick, OK	TX, OK	39.7 mi	880 yd	11	68
04/10/79	F3	Lawton, Oklahoma	OK	4.5 mi	170 yd	3	100
06/28/79	F4	Pomeroy to Manson, Iowa	IA	14.9 mi	33 yd	3	26
10/03/79	F4	Simsbury Center to Westfield, Connecticut	CT	11.3 mi	1,400 yd	3	500
10/30/79	F3	Lone Grove to Springer, Oklahoma	OK	8.4 mi	530 yd	3	2
06/28/79	F3	Bancroft to Algona, Iowa	IA	15.9 mi	300 yd	2	34
06/30/79	F1	Baxter, Tennessee	TN	2.0 mi	100 yd	2	1
08/10/79	F2	Worcester, Massachusetts	MA	9.7 mi	30 yd	2	2
08/28/79	F3	Tabor to Tarkio, Iowa	IA	38.3 mi	533 yd	2	14
03/31/79	F3	Park City to Glasgow, Kentucky	KY	12.7 mi	100 yd	1	19
04/10/79	F2	Electra, TX to Marlow, OK	TX, OK	74.1 mi	1,056 yd	1	3
04/11/79	F2	Newburgh to Boonville, Indiana	IN	10.0 mi	10 yd	1	2
05/02/79	F4	Ringwood to Waukomis, Oklahoma	OK	20.6 mi	880 yd	1	25
05/08/79	F2	Lake Hamilton, Florida	FL	4.0 mi	200 yd	1	40

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