YearFinal SPC data

1985

684 tornadoes in 1985, with 3,379 hail and 3,827 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 308 F1 259 F2 79 F3 29 F4 8 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

1985 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19851991 to 2020 average1980 to 1990 (other years)

684 tornadoes in 1985, 44% 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	08/16/85	31	0	1	F3	AL, GA, MS, ND, NE, SD, TN
2	05/31/85	30	7	76	F5	NY, OH, PA
3	05/11/85	24	0	0	F1	IA, MN, NE, SD, TX, WI
4	04/21/85	23	0	3	F3	IA, MN, ND, NE, OK, TX
5	04/28/85	21	0	1	F2	SC, TX
6	04/05/85	18	0	0	F3	AL, GA, IN, LA, TN
7	05/30/85	17	0	2	F3	IA, MN, MO, MT, ND, SD, WI
8	05/10/85	16	2	0	F4	KS, ND, NE, WY
9	04/20/85	14	0	0	F3	MN, NE, OK, SD
10	04/23/85	13	0	0	F3	AR, LA, MO, TX
11	05/13/85	12	0	0	F2	AR, MO, OK, TX
12	05/20/85	11	0	0	F0	OK, TX
13	04/22/85	10	0	0	F2	NE, OK, TX
14	08/17/85	10	0	0	F3	GA, KS, NC, SC, WI
15	04/19/85	8	0	0	F1	NE, OK, SD

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	04/05/85	335	18	45	272	1.75 in	80 kt (92 mph)
2	06/07/85	182	2	89	91	3 in	87 kt (100 mph)
3	07/04/85	161	3	80	78	4.5 in	65 kt (75 mph)
4	06/02/85	150	5	105	40	2.75 in	69 kt (79 mph)
5	07/10/85	149	0	63	86	2.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
6	06/24/85	142	5	84	53	2.75 in	62 kt (71 mph)
7	06/05/85	130	2	54	74	4.5 in	65 kt (75 mph)
8	04/23/85	126	13	68	45	3 in	55 kt (63 mph)
9	05/26/85	125	6	81	38	3.25 in	61 kt (70 mph)
10	04/30/85	123	7	80	36	2 in	68 kt (78 mph)
11	05/31/85	123	30	56	37	2.75 in	52 kt (60 mph)
12	05/13/85	120	12	31	77	4.5 in	87 kt (100 mph)
13	04/21/85	118	23	47	48	2 in	69 kt (79 mph)
14	04/19/85	116	8	12	96	1.75 in	87 kt (100 mph)
15	04/20/85	115	14	71	30	4 in	80 kt (92 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	03/29/85	4.5 in	Howell County, MO
2	04/10/85	4.5 in	Crosby County, TX
3	04/10/85	4.5 in	Crosby County, TX
4	04/27/85	4.5 in	Tom Green County, TX
5	04/27/85	4.5 in	Glasscock County, TX
6	05/12/85	4.5 in	Wichita County, TX
7	05/13/85	4.5 in	Creek County, OK
8	05/27/85	4.5 in	Beaver County, OK
9	06/04/85	4.5 in	Davidson County, TN
10	06/05/85	4.5 in	Cabarrus County, NC
11	07/04/85	4.5 in	Monroe County, MO
12	07/14/85	4.5 in	Logan County, NE
13	08/15/85	4.5 in	Cherry County, NE
14	09/22/85	4.5 in	Alfalfa County, OK
15	04/10/85	4 in	Garza County, TX

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	07/09/85	109 kt	125	Not given	La Crosse County, WI
2	08/05/85	90 kt	104	Not given	Kewaunee County, WI
3	04/03/85	87 kt	100	Not given	Lincoln County, NE
4	04/16/85	87 kt	100	Not given	Lincoln County, NE
5	04/19/85	87 kt	100	Not given	Potter County, SD
6	04/19/85	87 kt	100	Not given	Pierce County, NE
7	04/19/85	87 kt	100	Not given	Saunders County, NE
8	05/13/85	87 kt	100	Not given	McCurtain County, OK
9	05/14/85	87 kt	100	Not given	Marshall County, IL
10	06/04/85	87 kt	100	Not given	Chowan County, NC
11	06/07/85	87 kt	100	Not given	McDowell County, NC
12	07/14/85	87 kt	100	Not given	Furnas County, NE
13	08/02/85	85 kt	98	Not given	Dawson County, MT
14	06/17/85	84 kt	97	Not given	Union County, MS
15	07/14/85	83 kt	96	Not given	Johnson County, IA

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/10/85	F4	Stockton to Alma, Kansas	KS	33.0 mi	1,000 yd	0	0
05/10/85	F4	Kensington, KS to Blue Hill, NE	KS, NE	56.0 mi	1,000 yd	0	2
05/31/85	F4	Conneaut, OH to Platea, PA	OH, PA	14.0 mi	400 yd	12	82
05/31/85	F4	Kinsman Center, OH to Oil City, PA	PA, OH	56.2 mi	350 yd	16	125
05/31/85	F4	Union City, PA to Lakewood, NY	PA, NY	28.0 mi	440 yd	0	0
05/31/85	F5	Ravenna, OH to Mercer, PA	OH, PA	47.0 mi	450 yd	18	310
05/31/85	F4	Pleasantville to Ridgway, Pennsylvania	PA	29.0 mi	800 yd	7	30
05/31/85	F4	DuBois to Avis, Pennsylvania	PA	69.0 mi	3,330 yd	0	0
05/31/85	F4	Kane to St. Marys, Pennsylvania	PA	29.0 mi	1,000 yd	4	40

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/31/85	F5	Ravenna, OH to Mercer, PA	OH, PA	47.0 mi	450 yd	18	310
05/31/85	F4	Kinsman Center, OH to Oil City, PA	PA, OH	56.2 mi	350 yd	16	125
05/31/85	F4	Conneaut, OH to Platea, PA	OH, PA	14.0 mi	400 yd	12	82
05/31/85	F3	East Palestine to Freeport, Pennsylvania	PA	39.0 mi	243 yd	9	120
05/31/85	F4	Pleasantville to Ridgway, Pennsylvania	PA	29.0 mi	800 yd	7	30
05/31/85	F3	Jersey Shore to Watsontown, Pennsylvania	PA	19.0 mi	910 yd	6	60
05/31/85	F4	Kane to St. Marys, Pennsylvania	PA	29.0 mi	1,000 yd	4	40
04/21/85	F3	Throckmorton to Olney, Texas	TX	4.5 mi	400 yd	3	0
11/18/85	F3	Yellville to Mountain Home, Arkansas	AR	34.0 mi	440 yd	3	16
03/17/85	F3	Venice, Florida	FL	3.0 mi	400 yd	2	45
05/30/85	F3	Elkader, IA to Bloomington, WI	IA, WI	34.0 mi	1,500 yd	2	27
05/31/85	F3	Saegertown to Hydetown, Pennsylvania	PA	23.0 mi	277 yd	2	0
06/08/85	F3	Park Falls to Crandon, Wisconsin	WI	68.0 mi	2,640 yd	2	42
08/12/85	F2	Elroy to Necedah, Wisconsin	WI	22.0 mi	880 yd	2	22
04/05/85	F2	Tilden, Illinois	IL	1.8 mi	50 yd	1	3

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