YearFinal SPC data

2004

1,817 tornadoes in 2004, with 13,170 hail and 11,854 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reports (soon)Storm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 1,216 F1 470 F2 103 F3 23 F4 5

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

2004 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

20041991 to 2020 average1999 to 2009 (other years)

1,817 tornadoes in 2004, 48% above 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	05/30/04	88	0	2	F3	AL, AR, IA, IL, IN, KY, MN, MO, MS, OH +1
2	05/29/04	81	1	3	F4	KS, KY, MO, MS, ND, NE, OK, SD, TN
3	11/23/04	76	0	3	F3	AL, AR, LA, MS, TX
4	05/22/04	66	1	1	F4	CO, IA, KS, MI, NE, WI, WY
5	09/17/04	59	0	0	F3	MD, NC, PA, VA, WV
6	05/24/04	53	0	1	F2	IA, IL, KS, MO, NE, NY, OK
7	09/07/04	43	0	0	F3	FL, NC, SC
8	06/11/04	38	0	0	F3	IA, MN, NC, ND, TX, VA
9	10/18/04	36	0	3	F2	AL, AR, IL, KY, MO, MS, TN
10	09/15/04	34	0	6	F2	AL, FL, GA
11	04/20/04	32	0	8	F3	IA, IL, IN, NE, OK
12	09/05/04	28	0	0	F2	FL, GA, IA, MN, WI
13	05/27/04	26	0	0	F3	IN, KY, MO, OH, TX, WA
14	03/04/04	25	0	0	F2	AR, OK, TX
15	07/07/04	25	0	0	F1	CA, KS, TX

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/30/04	996	88	235	673	4.5 in	104 kt (120 mph)
2	05/21/04	714	24	406	284	4.25 in	83 kt (96 mph)
3	05/24/04	706	53	461	192	6 in	90 kt (104 mph)
4	06/02/04	649	3	283	363	2.75 in	85 kt (98 mph)
5	07/05/04	532	9	138	385	2.75 in	80 kt (92 mph)
6	06/12/04	515	17	240	258	2.75 in	86 kt (99 mph)
7	05/29/04	507	81	254	172	4.75 in	78 kt (90 mph)
8	07/13/04	486	6	133	347	4.25 in	81 kt (93 mph)
9	06/01/04	421	5	163	253	4.5 in	75 kt (86 mph)
10	05/22/04	414	66	200	148	5.5 in	92 kt (106 mph)
11	05/26/04	411	12	203	196	4 in	80 kt (92 mph)
12	04/18/04	375	14	246	115	3 in	75 kt (86 mph)
13	07/04/04	372	2	118	252	2.75 in	75 kt (86 mph)
14	05/23/04	367	9	227	131	3 in	78 kt (90 mph)
15	05/27/04	360	26	170	164	4.25 in	104 kt (120 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	05/24/04	6 in	Linn County, MO
2	05/22/04	5.5 in	Story County, IA
3	08/26/04	5.5 in	Hancock County, IA
4	04/10/04	4.75 in	Montgomery County, TX
5	05/29/04	4.75 in	Custer County, OK
6	04/03/04	4.5 in	Brewster County, TX
7	05/11/04	4.5 in	Wilkin County, MN
8	05/24/04	4.5 in	Tillman County, OK
9	05/30/04	4.5 in	Maries County, MO
10	06/01/04	4.5 in	Jack County, TX
11	07/01/04	4.5 in	King County, TX
12	07/12/04	4.5 in	Wheeler County, NE
13	08/09/04	4.5 in	El Paso County, CO
14	04/03/04	4.25 in	Reeves County, TX
15	04/20/04	4.25 in	Creek County, OK

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	05/27/04	104 kt	120	Not given	Daviess County, KY
2	05/31/04	104 kt	120	Not given	Giles County, TN
3	05/11/04	96 kt	110	Not given	Hartley County, TX
4	05/25/04	96 kt	110	Not given	Warrick County, IN
5	06/07/04	96 kt	110	Not given	Cavalier County, ND
6	06/07/04	96 kt	110	Not given	Cavalier County, ND
7	05/22/04	92 kt	106	Not given	Madison County, IA
8	05/24/04	90 kt	104	Not given	Oneida County, NY
9	05/27/04	90 kt	104	Not given	Gallatin County, IL
10	07/06/04	90 kt	104	Not given	Coffee County, TN
11	08/03/04	88 kt	101	Not given	Stanley County, SD
12	05/22/04	87 kt	100	Not given	Madison County, IA
13	06/15/04	87 kt	100	Not given	Lane County, KS
14	06/15/04	87 kt	100	Not given	Decatur County, KS
15	07/07/04	87 kt	100	Not given	Ellis County, KS

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/12/04	F4	Harper, Kansas	KS	1.2 mi	500 yd	0	1
05/22/04	F4	Fairbury to Palmyra, Nebraska	NE	54.0 mi	4,400 yd	1	38
05/29/04	F4	Maysville to Bethany, Missouri	MO	22.0 mi	800 yd	3	6
07/13/04	F4	Metamora to Roanoke, Illinois	IL	9.6 mi	440 yd	0	3
07/18/04	F4	Jamestown to LaMoure, North Dakota	ND	12.0 mi	200 yd	0	0

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
04/20/04	F3	Mark to North Utica, Illinois	IL	15.8 mi	880 yd	8	12
09/15/04	F2	Blountstown, Florida	FL	7.0 mi	600 yd	4	5
05/29/04	F4	Maysville to Bethany, Missouri	MO	22.0 mi	800 yd	3	6
08/13/04	F2	Northchase to St. Helena, North Carolina	NC	5.0 mi	500 yd	3	29
10/18/04	F2	Steele, Missouri	MO	0.5 mi	125 yd	3	7
05/22/04	F4	Fairbury to Palmyra, Nebraska	NE	54.0 mi	4,400 yd	1	38
05/24/04	F1	Winchester, Illinois	IL	7.3 mi	100 yd	1	1
05/30/04	F3	English to Milltown, Indiana	IN	15.0 mi	400 yd	1	11
05/30/04	F1	Berkeley to Calverton Park, Missouri	MO	2.0 mi	50 yd	1	0
06/23/04	F3	Markesan to Waupun, Wisconsin	WI	7.6 mi	300 yd	1	1
06/26/04	F1	Cameron, Texas	TX	0.8 mi	30 yd	1	0
09/15/04	F1	Parker to Lynn Haven, Florida	FL	5.0 mi	200 yd	1	7
09/15/04	F1	Mexico Beach, Florida	FL	5.0 mi	200 yd	1	1
09/16/04	F2	Carnesville, Georgia	GA	5.5 mi	50 yd	1	1
09/27/04	F2	Winnsboro, South Carolina	SC	2.0 mi	220 yd	1	13

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