YearFinal SPC data

1987

656 tornadoes in 1987, with 2,417 hail and 4,255 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 340 F1 239 F2 62 F3 12 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

1987 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19871991 to 2020 average1982 to 1992 (other years)

656 tornadoes in 1987, 47% 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	11/16/87	28	0	0	F2	FL, LA, MS, TX
2	07/06/87	26	0	0	F2	FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, NE, SD, WI
3	05/25/87	22	0	0	F3	IN, LA, NM, TX
4	11/15/87	22	0	11	F3	LA, OK, TX
5	07/21/87	19	1	0	F4	ID, MN, ND, NJ, VA, WI, WY
6	06/02/87	18	0	0	F2	IL, IN, KY, MI, MO, TX
7	07/07/87	16	0	0	F2	CO, KS, TX
8	05/26/87	14	0	0	F1	IA, NM, OK, SD, TX, WY
9	06/29/87	12	0	0	F1	FL, ID, IN, MI, NM, OH, PA, TX
10	02/15/87	11	0	0	F2	LA, MS
11	05/29/87	11	0	0	F2	NE, SD, TX, UT, WI
12	05/19/87	10	0	0	F1	IA, NE, OK, TX, WY
13	06/24/87	10	0	0	F1	CO, IA, NE, NM
14	07/14/87	10	0	0	F2	IA, MN, NJ, TX
15	08/05/87	10	0	0	F2	ND, NJ, SD

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	07/06/87	223	26	65	132	4.5 in	72 kt (83 mph)
2	07/05/87	162	4	4	154	1.75 in	72 kt (83 mph)
3	06/17/87	142	3	65	74	2.75 in	74 kt (85 mph)
4	05/21/87	141	2	104	35	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
5	08/19/87	130	1	42	87	3 in	69 kt (79 mph)
6	06/29/87	123	12	28	83	2.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
7	11/16/87	121	28	2	91	1.75 in	95 kt (109 mph)
8	07/11/87	115	7	14	94	1.75 in	85 kt (98 mph)
9	07/20/87	115	4	11	100	2 in	70 kt (81 mph)
10	08/02/87	107	2	11	94	2 in	69 kt (79 mph)
11	07/26/87	106	3	17	86	2 in	69 kt (79 mph)
12	06/02/87	104	18	32	54	1.75 in	61 kt (70 mph)
13	06/23/87	104	8	58	38	4.5 in	65 kt (75 mph)
14	06/24/87	99	10	31	58	2.75 in	80 kt (92 mph)
15	05/30/87	95	5	29	61	1.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	03/16/87	4.5 in	Val Verde County, TX
2	03/16/87	4.5 in	Kinney County, TX
3	03/16/87	4.5 in	Zavala County, TX
4	05/03/87	4.5 in	Kerr County, TX
5	06/12/87	4.5 in	Dodge County, NE
6	06/23/87	4.5 in	Otero County, CO
7	07/06/87	4.5 in	Hyde County, SD
8	07/07/87	4.5 in	Bailey County, TX
9	07/09/87	4.5 in	Sedgwick County, CO
10	08/05/87	4.5 in	Edmunds County, SD
11	08/15/87	4.5 in	Brown County, SD
12	05/20/87	4 in	Frio County, TX
13	08/16/87	3.75 in	Tama County, IA
14	07/06/87	3.5 in	St. Clair County, IL
15	07/06/87	3.5 in	St. Clair County, IL

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	06/22/87	101 kt	116	Not given	Maverick County, TX
2	11/16/87	95 kt	109	Not given	Matagorda County, TX
3	02/15/87	90 kt	104	Not given	Calcasieu Parish, LA
4	07/29/87	90 kt	104	Not given	Rock County, WI
5	07/29/87	90 kt	104	Not given	Rock County, WI
6	11/16/87	89 kt	102	Not given	Galveston County, TX
7	06/30/87	87 kt	100	Not given	Adams County, PA
8	07/01/87	87 kt	100	Not given	Hunterdon County, NJ
9	07/11/87	87 kt	100	Not given	Boyd County, NE
10	08/05/87	87 kt	100	Not given	Cocke County, TN
11	08/17/87	87 kt	100	Not given	Jefferson County, NE
12	04/13/87	85 kt	98	Not given	Bell County, TX
13	07/12/87	85 kt	98	Not given	Saline County, KS
14	08/03/87	83 kt	96	Not given	Larue County, KY
15	02/15/87	80 kt	92	Not given	Rapides Parish, LA

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/28/87	F4	Ellisville to Heidelberg, Mississippi	MS	35.0 mi	1,230 yd	6	350
05/22/87	F4	Alpine to Fort Stockton, Texas	TX	3.0 mi	1,000 yd	30	121
07/21/87	F4	Jackson to Dubois, Wyoming	WY	24.3 mi	2,550 yd	0	0

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/22/87	F4	Alpine to Fort Stockton, Texas	TX	3.0 mi	1,000 yd	30	121
02/28/87	F4	Ellisville to Heidelberg, Mississippi	MS	35.0 mi	1,230 yd	6	350
12/14/87	F3	West Memphis, AR to Millington, TN	AR, TN	25.0 mi	200 yd	6	121
11/15/87	F3	Jacksonville to New Chapel Hill, Texas	TX	33.0 mi	500 yd	4	81
11/15/87	F2	Normangee to Centerville, Texas	TX	10.0 mi	200 yd	3	2
11/15/87	F2	Caldwell to Hearne, Texas	TX	10.0 mi	500 yd	2	12
03/17/87	F1	Grapeland, Texas	TX	0.2 mi	10 yd	1	3
04/15/87	F2	Mount Dora, Florida	FL	3.0 mi	100 yd	1	7
05/21/87	F2	Double Springs, Alabama	AL	0.3 mi	150 yd	1	0
06/11/87	F1	Perryton, Texas	TX	1.5 mi	60 yd	1	4
06/21/87	F2	Novi, Michigan	MI	0.3 mi	80 yd	1	6
08/15/87	F2	Evansville, Minnesota	MN	1.0 mi	50 yd	1	8
11/15/87	F3	Elkhart to Palestine, Texas	TX	10.5 mi	250 yd	1	59
11/15/87	F3	Center, TX to Shreveport, LA	TX, LA	48.0 mi	500 yd	1	116

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