YearFinal SPC data

1982

1,047 tornadoes in 1982, with 2,380 hail and 3,570 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 374 F1 421 F2 187 F3 58 F4 6 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

1982 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19821991 to 2020 average1977 to 1987 (other years)

1,047 tornadoes in 1982, 15% 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	04/02/82	61	4	30	F5	AR, IA, IL, KS, KY, LA, MO, MS, OH, OK +2
2	05/11/82	38	0	2	F3	KS, NE, OK, TX
3	05/12/82	32	0	0	F3	TX
4	12/24/82	26	1	3	F4	AR, MO, MS, OK, TN
5	06/14/82	26	0	0	F2	CO, IA, KS, NE, SD, TX, WY
6	12/02/82	25	0	4	F3	AR, IL, MO
7	03/15/82	24	0	5	F3	AL, KS, MO, OK
8	05/19/82	22	0	0	F3	CO, KS, MI, OK, SD, TX, VT
9	05/27/82	22	0	1	F2	AR, FL, NM, OK, TX
10	04/25/82	19	0	0	F3	AR, FL, GA, LA, TX
11	05/15/82	19	0	0	F2	IA, IL, KS, MO, ND, OK, WI
12	05/30/82	17	0	0	F2	IL, KS, MD, OK, TX
13	12/23/82	17	0	0	F3	AR, MO, OK, TX
14	05/20/82	16	0	0	F2	IA, KS, MO, NE, OK, PA
15	04/16/82	15	0	0	F2	AL, KY, MO, MS, OK, TN, TX

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	04/02/82	272	61	55	156	3 in	78 kt (90 mph)
2	06/15/82	254	13	44	197	1.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
3	06/08/82	183	6	72	105	4 in	87 kt (100 mph)
4	05/30/82	137	17	46	74	2.75 in	90 kt (104 mph)
5	06/14/82	137	26	48	63	3 in	87 kt (100 mph)
6	05/27/82	112	22	42	48	2.75 in	65 kt (75 mph)
7	07/04/82	111	10	45	56	3 in	80 kt (92 mph)
8	04/16/82	109	15	48	46	1.75 in	76 kt (87 mph)
9	05/11/82	107	38	34	35	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
10	04/19/82	91	13	56	22	4 in	65 kt (75 mph)
11	07/06/82	83	3	21	59	1.75 in	87 kt (100 mph)
12	07/17/82	82	4	17	61	2.5 in	54 kt (62 mph)
13	04/26/82	81	8	55	18	2.75 in	56 kt (64 mph)
14	05/12/82	80	32	17	31	4 in	56 kt (64 mph)
15	06/11/82	79	8	38	33	2 in	61 kt (70 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	07/09/82	4.75 in	Cimarron County, OK
2	03/15/82	4.5 in	Logan County, OK
3	03/15/82	4.5 in	Sedgwick County, KS
4	06/18/82	4.5 in	Howard County, TX
5	06/26/82	4.5 in	San Miguel County, NM
6	08/06/82	4.5 in	McLean County, ND
7	04/19/82	4 in	Lampasas County, TX
8	04/19/82	4 in	Lampasas County, TX
9	04/19/82	4 in	Grayson County, TX
10	04/20/82	4 in	Marion County, MS
11	05/12/82	4 in	Mills County, TX
12	06/08/82	4 in	Callaway County, MO
13	06/22/82	4 in	Scott County, KS
14	06/22/82	4 in	Cherry County, NE
15	07/20/82	4 in	Walsh County, ND

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	09/02/82	105 kt	121	Not given	Chautauqua County, NY
2	04/17/82	100 kt	115	Not given	Snyder County, PA
3	05/31/82	90 kt	104	Not given	Grayson County, TX
4	05/31/82	90 kt	104	Not given	Hopkins County, TX
5	06/26/82	90 kt	104	Not given	Williamson County, TX
6	05/20/82	88 kt	101	Not given	Montgomery County, KS
7	06/08/82	87 kt	100	Not given	Randolph County, MO
8	06/14/82	87 kt	100	Not given	Phillips County, KS
9	07/06/82	87 kt	100	Not given	Minnehaha County, SD
10	07/09/82	87 kt	100	Not given	Greeley County, KS
11	08/09/82	87 kt	100	Not given	Umatilla County, OR
12	09/02/82	87 kt	100	Not given	Delta County, TX
13	12/03/82	86 kt	99	Not given	Fulton County, KY
14	07/13/82	83 kt	96	Not given	Grant County, OR
15	07/13/82	83 kt	96	Not given	Grant County, OR

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
03/18/82	F4	Sunray, TX to Beaver, OK	TX, OK	88.0 mi	880 yd	0	12
04/02/82	F5	Antlers to Broken Bow, Oklahoma	OK	53.0 mi	500 yd	0	29
04/02/82	F4	Paris to Detroit, Texas	TX	23.0 mi	250 yd	10	170
04/02/82	F4	Horatio to Prescott, Arkansas	AR	45.0 mi	200 yd	3	23
04/02/82	F4	Gainesville to West Plains, Missouri	MO	20.0 mi	500 yd	2	28
05/29/82	F4	Cambria to Pittsburg, Illinois	IL	17.0 mi	400 yd	10	181
12/24/82	F4	Ash Flat, AR to Van Buren, MO	AR, MO	63.0 mi	440 yd	0	11

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/02/82	F4	Paris to Detroit, Texas	TX	23.0 mi	250 yd	10	170
05/29/82	F4	Cambria to Pittsburg, Illinois	IL	17.0 mi	400 yd	10	181
04/02/82	F3	Hope, Arkansas	AR	18.0 mi	200 yd	5	4
04/02/82	F4	Horatio to Prescott, Arkansas	AR	45.0 mi	200 yd	3	23
04/02/82	F3	Carthage to De Kalb, Mississippi	MS	42.0 mi	400 yd	3	40
03/15/82	F3	Girard, KS to Osceola, MO	KS, MO	70.0 mi	600 yd	2	8
04/02/82	F4	Gainesville to West Plains, Missouri	MO	20.0 mi	500 yd	2	28
04/02/82	F3	Salesville, Arkansas	AR	1.5 mi	880 yd	2	2
04/02/82	F3	Conway, Arkansas	AR	3.5 mi	440 yd	2	37
05/11/82	F3	Altus to Blair, Oklahoma	OK	10.0 mi	700 yd	2	18
12/02/82	F3	Bauxite to Sherwood, Arkansas	AR	18.0 mi	233 yd	2	53
12/02/82	F3	New Baden to Albers, Illinois	IL	10.5 mi	100 yd	2	0
01/03/82	F3	Newton to Decatur, Mississippi	MS	11.0 mi	300 yd	1	17
03/15/82	F3	Ada to Byng, Oklahoma	OK	6.0 mi	60 yd	1	36
03/15/82	F3	Caney to Coffeyville, Kansas	KS	6.0 mi	300 yd	1	1

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