YearFinal SPC data

1980

866 tornadoes in 1980, with 1,992 hail and 3,180 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 267 F1 400 F2 162 F3 32 F4 5

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

1980 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19801991 to 2020 average1975 to 1985 (other years)

866 tornadoes in 1980, 30% 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	05/29/80	40	0	0	F2	CO, IA, KS, MN, NE, OK, SD, TX, WY
2	06/04/80	34	0	0	F1	ND, SD, TX
3	04/07/80	33	0	1	F3	AR, FL, IL, MO, MS, OK, TX, WI
4	04/08/80	27	0	2	F2	GA, IN, KY, MI, NC, OH, TN
5	06/07/80	23	0	1	F3	IL, IN, MI, OH, PA, TX
6	08/10/80	22	0	0	F2	NE, TX
7	05/25/80	18	0	0	F1	FL, GA, MT, TX
8	06/05/80	17	0	0	F3	IN, MI, MN, NE, SD, WI
9	06/02/80	15	1	1	F4	IA, IN, MI, OH
10	05/28/80	15	0	0	F3	KS, ND, OK, TX
11	07/15/80	14	0	3	F3	FL, IL, MN, SD, WI
12	10/17/80	14	0	1	F2	AR, LA, MS, TN
13	06/03/80	13	2	5	F4	MD, ND, NE, NJ, PA, VA, WV
14	04/13/80	13	0	0	F3	AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, SC
15	06/14/80	13	0	0	F1	IA, MT, NE, WI, WY

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/07/80	152	23	37	92	3 in	69 kt (79 mph)
2	05/29/80	151	40	55	56	2.75 in	78 kt (90 mph)
3	07/15/80	148	14	34	100	2.75 in	97 kt (112 mph)
4	04/07/80	147	33	80	34	4 in	62 kt (71 mph)
5	07/04/80	136	10	19	107	3 in	78 kt (90 mph)
6	08/10/80	133	22	36	75	4 in	95 kt (109 mph)
7	06/14/80	117	13	72	32	4.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
8	06/02/80	108	15	39	54	3 in	78 kt (90 mph)
9	04/08/80	93	27	19	47	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
10	06/03/80	93	13	35	45	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
11	07/05/80	92	5	9	78	1.75 in	87 kt (100 mph)
12	05/26/80	89	7	54	28	2.75 in	78 kt (90 mph)
13	06/06/80	89	9	55	25	3 in	85 kt (98 mph)
14	06/18/80	85	5	47	33	4.5 in	86 kt (99 mph)
15	06/01/80	77	10	35	32	3 in	74 kt (85 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	05/01/80	5.5 in	McClain County, OK
2	05/28/80	5 in	Castro County, TX
3	04/02/80	4.5 in	Parker County, TX
4	04/02/80	4.5 in	Tarrant County, TX
5	05/16/80	4.5 in	Gonzales County, TX
6	05/25/80	4.5 in	Knox County, TX
7	05/27/80	4.5 in	Hartley County, TX
8	05/28/80	4.5 in	Roberts County, TX
9	05/31/80	4.5 in	Shawnee County, KS
10	05/31/80	4.5 in	Harlan County, NE
11	05/31/80	4.5 in	Phillips County, KS
12	06/10/80	4.5 in	Hansford County, TX
13	06/14/80	4.5 in	Custer County, NE
14	06/16/80	4.5 in	Kiowa County, OK
15	06/19/80	4.5 in	Grant County, OK

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	09/08/80	110 kt	127	Not given	Chatham County, GA
2	08/10/80	100 kt	115	Not given	Jim Wells County, TX
3	07/15/80	97 kt	112	Not given	Eau Claire County, WI
4	08/10/80	95 kt	109	Not given	San Patricio County, TX
5	06/11/80	91 kt	105	Not given	Stark County, ND
6	07/09/80	91 kt	105	Not given	Black Hawk County, IA
7	07/15/80	90 kt	104	Not given	Scott County, MN
8	07/15/80	90 kt	104	Not given	Hennepin County, MN
9	07/15/80	90 kt	104	Not given	Dakota County, MN
10	08/10/80	90 kt	104	Not given	Kenedy County, TX
11	08/10/80	90 kt	104	Not given	Brooks County, TX
12	08/10/80	90 kt	104	Not given	Jim Hogg County, TX
13	07/16/80	88 kt	101	Not given	Bucks County, PA
14	01/18/80	87 kt	100	Not given	Maricopa County, AZ
15	05/01/80	87 kt	100	Not given	Llano County, TX

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/02/80	F4	Seymour, Texas	TX	8.4 mi	250 yd	0	0
06/02/80	F4	Lamoni to Corydon, Iowa	IA	31.2 mi	140 yd	0	0
06/03/80	F4	Brackenridge to North Apollo, Pennsylvania	PA	11.8 mi	10 yd	0	140
06/03/80	F4	Grand Island, Nebraska	NE	1.1 mi	1,700 yd	3	110
07/09/80	F4	Rushville, Indiana	IN	11.0 mi	267 yd	2	25

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/13/80	F3	Mattawan to Comstock Northwest, Michigan	MI	10.6 mi	450 yd	5	79
06/03/80	F4	Grand Island, Nebraska	NE	1.1 mi	1,700 yd	3	110
04/08/80	F2	Winfield to Oneida, Kentucky	KY	11.2 mi	200 yd	2	9
07/09/80	F4	Rushville, Indiana	IN	11.0 mi	267 yd	2	25
03/01/80	F3	Oakland Park to Lighthouse Point, Florida	FL	7.8 mi	500 yd	1	33
03/20/80	F1	Columbus, Mississippi	MS	0.1 mi	17 yd	1	0
04/07/80	F3	Round Rock to Elgin, Texas	TX	31.7 mi	100 yd	1	5
04/25/80	F2	New Hebron to Bay Springs, Mississippi	MS	46.1 mi	900 yd	1	8
05/15/80	F1	Winnsboro, Louisiana	LA	0.5 mi	10 yd	1	2
05/16/80	F1	New Roads, Louisiana	LA	1.0 mi	10 yd	1	1
05/30/80	F1	Salt Creek Commons, Indiana	IN	0.1 mi	10 yd	1	0
06/02/80	F3	Waynetown to Ladoga, Indiana	IN	18.1 mi	10 yd	1	16
06/03/80	F3	Grand Island, Nebraska	NE	6.4 mi	700 yd	1	25
06/03/80	F3	Grand Island, Nebraska	NE	2.3 mi	500 yd	1	40
06/07/80	F2	Windfall City, Indiana	IN	0.1 mi	10 yd	1	5

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