YearFinal SPC data

1989

856 tornadoes in 1989, with 3,778 hail and 5,710 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 369 F1 364 F2 102 F3 10 F4 11

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

1989 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

19891991 to 2020 average1984 to 1994 (other years)

856 tornadoes in 1989, 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	05/24/89	33	2	0	F4	FL, IA, ID, IL, MI, MN, MO, OH, WI
2	06/07/89	28	0	2	F3	FL, LA, NE, NV, TX, UT
3	06/08/89	23	0	3	F2	AL, CO, FL, GA, LA, MS, NM, WY
4	11/16/89	21	0	9	F1	DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA
5	05/16/89	20	1	1	F4	NM, TX
6	04/03/89	20	0	0	F3	AR, IL, IN, KY, MO, TX
7	04/04/89	19	0	0	F2	AL, FL, GA, MS, SC
8	06/03/89	19	0	0	F2	IN, KY, OH, TX
9	06/06/89	19	0	0	F3	CO, FL, KS, ND, NE, OK, TX
10	06/10/89	19	0	0	F1	FL, KS, NM, OK, TX
11	11/15/89	18	1	21	F4	AL, AR, GA, KY, MS, OH, SC, TN, WV
12	05/05/89	17	3	7	F4	GA, KY, NC, SC, VA
13	07/10/89	17	2	0	F4	CT, MA, NJ, NY, SD
14	04/23/89	17	0	0	F1	KS, NE
15	05/04/89	16	0	0	F2	LA, MS, TX

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/04/89	302	16	95	191	3 in	87 kt (100 mph)
2	11/15/89	295	18	65	212	3 in	96 kt (110 mph)
3	04/03/89	219	20	127	72	3.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
4	04/04/89	217	19	73	125	1.75 in	87 kt (100 mph)
5	06/03/89	211	19	105	87	4.5 in	75 kt (86 mph)
6	06/02/89	201	16	78	107	2.75 in	110 kt (127 mph)
7	05/21/89	196	5	77	114	2.75 in	85 kt (98 mph)
8	05/05/89	184	17	23	144	2.5 in	68 kt (78 mph)
9	05/24/89	179	33	27	119	2.75 in	76 kt (87 mph)
10	05/16/89	174	20	119	35	4.5 in	74 kt (85 mph)
11	06/12/89	171	11	77	83	3 in	96 kt (110 mph)
12	08/05/89	168	0	13	155	2.5 in	74 kt (85 mph)
13	04/27/89	152	11	61	80	4.5 in	70 kt (81 mph)
14	11/20/89	150	2	1	147	0.75 in	82 kt (94 mph)
15	08/04/89	148	2	24	122	2.5 in	71 kt (82 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	04/24/89	4.5 in	Custer County, NE
2	04/27/89	4.5 in	Saunders County, NE
3	04/27/89	4.5 in	Douglas County, NE
4	04/28/89	4.5 in	Tarrant County, TX
5	04/28/89	4.5 in	Tarrant County, TX
6	04/29/89	4.5 in	Anderson County, TX
7	05/13/89	4.5 in	Jones County, TX
8	05/14/89	4.5 in	Hansford County, TX
9	05/14/89	4.5 in	Hansford County, TX
10	05/16/89	4.5 in	Grayson County, TX
11	05/16/89	4.5 in	Fannin County, TX
12	05/16/89	4.5 in	Wheeler County, TX
13	06/03/89	4.5 in	Ward County, TX
14	06/03/89	4.5 in	Childress County, TX
15	06/03/89	4.5 in	Hardeman County, TX

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	06/02/89	110 kt	127	Not given	Worcester County, MA
2	08/08/89	101 kt	116	Not given	Clark County, NV
3	05/02/89	100 kt	115	Not given	Lancaster County, VA
4	05/02/89	100 kt	115	Not given	Middlesex County, VA
5	03/18/89	96 kt	110	Not given	Camden County, NJ
6	06/13/89	96 kt	110	Not given	Denton County, TX
7	11/15/89	96 kt	110	Not given	Grayson County, KY
8	08/21/89	91 kt	105	Not given	Russell County, KS
9	10/14/89	91 kt	105	Not given	Niagara County, NY
10	02/20/89	90 kt	104	Not given	Hinds County, MS
11	03/04/89	90 kt	104	Not given	Madison County, MS
12	03/29/89	90 kt	104	Not given	Warren County, MS
13	07/07/89	90 kt	104	Not given	Sullivan County, NH
14	09/06/89	90 kt	104	Not given	Polk County, FL
15	06/06/89	89 kt	102	Not given	Glasscock County, TX

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
01/07/89	F4	Mount Carmel, IL to Monroe City, IN	IN, IL	19.0 mi	200 yd	0	55
05/05/89	F4	Chesnee, SC to Forest City, NC	SC, NC	15.0 mi	700 yd	2	35
05/05/89	F4	Belwood to Hildebran, North Carolina	NC	14.0 mi	800 yd	4	52
05/05/89	F4	Wesley Chapel to Unionville, North Carolina	NC	13.0 mi	500 yd	1	6
05/17/89	F4	Brackettville to Camp Wood, Texas	TX	17.0 mi	300 yd	0	0
05/24/89	F4	Corning to Lamoni, Iowa	IA	49.0 mi	1,760 yd	0	0
05/24/89	F4	Stanhope to Gladbrook, Iowa	IA	66.0 mi	150 yd	0	0
05/30/89	F4	Eldora to Conrad, Iowa	IA	11.0 mi	200 yd	0	3
07/10/89	F4	Sharon Springs to Ravena, New York	NY	42.0 mi	1,320 yd	0	20
07/10/89	F4	New Haven, Connecticut	CT	3.0 mi	100 yd	0	40
11/15/89	F4	Huntsville to Gurley, Alabama	AL	18.5 mi	880 yd	21	463

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
11/15/89	F4	Huntsville to Gurley, Alabama	AL	18.5 mi	880 yd	21	463
11/16/89	F1	Kiryas Joel to Walden, New York	NY	9.1 mi	100 yd	9	18
05/05/89	F4	Belwood to Hildebran, North Carolina	NC	14.0 mi	800 yd	4	52
06/08/89	F2	Apalachicola, Florida	FL	3.0 mi	300 yd	3	4
05/05/89	F4	Chesnee, SC to Forest City, NC	SC, NC	15.0 mi	700 yd	2	35
06/08/89	F2	Rosedale to Brusly, Louisiana	LA	10.0 mi	77 yd	2	30
10/01/89	F2	Coolidge to Funston, Georgia	GA	10.0 mi	100 yd	2	12
10/14/89	F2	Norwich, New York	NY	2.0 mi	300 yd	2	3
03/05/89	F2	La Fayette, AL to Whitesburg, GA	AL, GA	45.5 mi	167 yd	1	6
05/05/89	F4	Wesley Chapel to Unionville, North Carolina	NC	13.0 mi	500 yd	1	6
05/17/89	F3	Jarrell, Texas	TX	3.0 mi	1,700 yd	1	28
05/22/89	F2	Minor Hill to Pulaski, Tennessee	TN	9.0 mi	100 yd	1	2
11/08/89	F2	Pineview, Georgia	GA	0.8 mi	100 yd	1	8

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