YearFinal SPC data

1986

765 tornadoes in 1986, with 3,509 hail and 4,365 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 354 F1 271 F2 116 F3 21 F4 3

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

1986 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19861991 to 2020 average1981 to 1991 (other years)

765 tornadoes in 1986, 38% 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	05/16/86	33	0	0	F1	IL, KS, OK, TX
2	05/15/86	25	0	1	F3	CO, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, OH
3	03/10/86	20	0	4	F3	CA, IN, KY, OH
4	05/14/86	20	0	0	F3	CO, FL, KS, OK, TX
5	04/07/86	14	0	0	F2	KS, MO, OK
6	07/28/86	13	1	0	F4	AL, IA, NE, SD
7	03/11/86	13	0	0	F2	KY, MS, OK, TN, TX
8	03/18/86	13	0	0	F2	AL, GA, IA, LA, MS
9	04/19/86	13	0	1	F3	LA, TX
10	05/08/86	13	0	0	F3	IA, KS, OK, SD, TX
11	06/10/86	13	0	0	F1	IA, KS, NE, OH, SD
12	09/29/86	13	0	0	F2	IL, MI, NY, OK
13	02/05/86	12	0	2	F3	AR, TX
14	04/26/86	12	0	1	F2	IA, KS, MN, NE, OK, SD
15	06/29/86	12	0	0	F2	IA, IL, MT, ND, NE, SD

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/14/86	237	20	152	65	4.5 in	87 kt (100 mph)
2	05/06/86	216	2	137	77	3 in	69 kt (79 mph)
3	05/16/86	188	33	80	75	3.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
4	06/16/86	188	6	31	151	2 in	62 kt (71 mph)
5	03/11/86	160	13	81	66	2.75 in	74 kt (85 mph)
6	04/26/86	152	12	101	39	3 in	69 kt (79 mph)
7	07/28/86	151	13	28	110	6 in	87 kt (100 mph)
8	08/02/86	139	6	67	66	2.75 in	60 kt (69 mph)
9	08/01/86	138	4	42	92	3.5 in	87 kt (100 mph)
10	04/07/86	121	14	80	27	4 in	70 kt (81 mph)
11	05/07/86	121	9	67	45	4 in	70 kt (81 mph)
12	08/07/86	119	8	37	74	2.5 in	87 kt (100 mph)
13	09/26/86	118	7	54	57	2 in	70 kt (81 mph)
14	05/08/86	114	13	57	44	2.75 in	65 kt (75 mph)
15	07/20/86	111	0	15	96	1.75 in	57 kt (66 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	07/28/86	6 in	Nobles County, MN
2	04/05/86	4.5 in	Scurry County, TX
3	04/12/86	4.5 in	Dallas County, TX
4	04/25/86	4.5 in	Fisher County, TX
5	05/05/86	4.5 in	Sumner County, KS
6	05/14/86	4.5 in	Washington County, OK
7	05/14/86	4.5 in	Washington County, OK
8	07/28/86	4.5 in	Brookings County, SD
9	07/28/86	4.5 in	Murray County, MN
10	07/28/86	4.5 in	Lincoln County, MN
11	07/28/86	4.5 in	Pipestone County, MN
12	07/29/86	4.5 in	Morton County, ND
13	08/06/86	4.5 in	Tripp County, SD
14	08/06/86	4.5 in	Tripp County, SD
15	04/07/86	4 in	Mayes County, OK

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	09/22/86	92 kt	106	Not given	Calumet County, WI
2	05/14/86	87 kt	100	Not given	Le Flore County, OK
3	07/09/86	87 kt	100	Not given	Buffalo County, NE
4	07/26/86	87 kt	100	Not given	Davidson County, TN
5	07/29/86	87 kt	100	Not given	Clark County, MO
6	07/29/86	87 kt	100	Not given	Marion County, MO
7	08/01/86	87 kt	100	Not given	Woodson County, KS
8	08/07/86	87 kt	100	Not given	Jackson County, AR
9	08/16/86	87 kt	100	Not given	Hanson County, SD
10	10/09/86	87 kt	100	Not given	Maricopa County, AZ
11	06/21/86	83 kt	96	Not given	Yankton County, SD
12	06/21/86	81 kt	93	Not given	Clay County, SD
13	05/17/86	80 kt	92	Not given	Polk County, TX
14	06/27/86	80 kt	92	Not given	Kankakee County, IL
15	07/14/86	79 kt	91	Not given	Brookings County, SD

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Injuries
03/12/86	F4	Meridian to De Kalb, Mississippi	MS	23.0 mi	440 yd	8
07/28/86	F4	Vermillion, SD to Whiting, IA	NE, IA	52.5 mi	73 yd	2
09/28/86	F4	Ankeny to Newton, Iowa	IA	20.0 mi	250 yd	0

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
07/02/86	F2	Jacksonville, North Carolina	NC	1.5 mi	33 yd	3	10
02/05/86	F3	Tomball to Jersey Village, Texas	TX	5.0 mi	70 yd	2	0
03/12/86	F3	Aliceville to Carrollton, Alabama	AL	16.0 mi	700 yd	2	0
03/10/86	F2	Fairland to Greenfield, Indiana	IN	17.8 mi	150 yd	1	1
03/10/86	F2	Sabina to Mount Sterling, Ohio	OH	28.0 mi	100 yd	1	10
03/10/86	F2	Willard to North Fairfield, Ohio	OH	8.0 mi	200 yd	1	10
03/10/86	F2	New Concord, Ohio	OH	5.0 mi	100 yd	1	3
04/19/86	F3	Sweetwater, Texas	TX	4.5 mi	600 yd	1	100
04/26/86	F2	George, IA to Adrian, MN	IA, MN	18.5 mi	120 yd	1	4
05/15/86	F2	Morley, Missouri	MO	4.0 mi	400 yd	1	15
08/15/86	F2	Alexandria Bay, New York	NY	0.2 mi	10 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