YearFinal SPC data

2008

1,704 tornadoes in 2008, with 17,768 hail and 17,160 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

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

128

Tornado deaths

EF0 983 EF1 506 EF2 156 EF3 49 EF4 9 EF5 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

2008 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

20081991 to 2020 average2003 to 2013 (other years)

1,704 tornadoes in 2008, 38% 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	02/05/08	85	5	57	EF4	AL, AR, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, TN, TX
2	05/23/08	79	1	2	EF4	CO, KS, NE, OK, WY
3	05/10/08	59	1	24	EF4	AL, AR, GA, KS, MO, MS, OK, SC
4	01/07/08	48	0	3	EF3	AR, IL, MO, OK, WI
5	03/15/08	47	0	2	EF3	AL, GA, NC, SC
6	06/11/08	41	1	7	EF4	IA, KS, MN, NE
7	05/29/08	41	0	0	EF3	IA, KS, NE, SD, WY
8	06/04/08	41	0	0	EF1	CO, IA, IL, IN, KY, MD, NE, VA
9	06/05/08	41	0	0	EF2	CO, IA, KS, MO, NE, OK, SD
10	04/09/08	34	0	0	EF2	AR, MT, OK, TX
11	06/07/08	33	0	0	EF2	IA, IL, KS, MN, NE, WI
12	05/25/08	32	1	10	EF5	IA, IL, KS, MN, ND, TX, WI
13	05/02/08	32	0	6	EF3	AR, LA, MO, MS, TN, TX
14	09/13/08	31	0	0	EF2	AR, LA, MI, MS, TX
15	05/01/08	30	0	0	EF3	IA, KS, MO, OK

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/25/08	716	32	446	238	4.25 in	87 kt (100 mph)
2	06/10/08	677	2	243	432	4.5 in	90 kt (104 mph)
3	06/22/08	630	1	489	140	3 in	70 kt (81 mph)
4	06/04/08	623	41	242	340	4.25 in	87 kt (100 mph)
5	08/02/08	614	1	239	374	2 in	87 kt (100 mph)
6	06/15/08	587	3	292	292	2.75 in	74 kt (85 mph)
7	06/16/08	583	1	434	148	3.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
8	07/22/08	575	2	216	357	2.75 in	78 kt (90 mph)
9	06/08/08	555	8	148	399	4.5 in	87 kt (100 mph)
10	02/05/08	545	85	147	313	4.25 in	87 kt (100 mph)
11	06/26/08	534	8	230	296	4 in	108 kt (124 mph)
12	06/05/08	533	41	201	291	3 in	87 kt (100 mph)
13	05/10/08	525	59	299	167	2.75 in	96 kt (110 mph)
14	05/20/08	461	6	306	149	3 in	80 kt (92 mph)
15	05/31/08	461	3	315	143	4 in	78 kt (90 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	01/07/08	5 in	Lawrence County, MO
2	05/06/08	4.5 in	Lamb County, TX
3	06/08/08	4.5 in	Deaf Smith County, TX
4	06/10/08	4.5 in	Graham County, KS
5	06/17/08	4.5 in	Lamb County, TX
6	06/17/08	4.5 in	Bailey County, TX
7	06/18/08	4.5 in	Custer County, NE
8	06/19/08	4.5 in	Armstrong County, TX
9	07/27/08	4.5 in	Sullivan County, MO
10	09/05/08	4.5 in	Hemphill County, TX
11	02/05/08	4.25 in	Chicot County, AR
12	02/05/08	4.25 in	Smith County, TX
13	02/05/08	4.25 in	Ozark County, MO
14	03/02/08	4.25 in	Harper County, OK
15	03/15/08	4.25 in	Anderson County, SC

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	07/27/08	109 kt	125	Estimated	Greene County, NY
2	06/26/08	108 kt	124	Measured	Sully County, SD
3	07/31/08	104 kt	120	Estimated	Day County, SD
4	07/31/08	104 kt	120	Estimated	Day County, SD
5	07/31/08	100 kt	115	Measured	Grant County, SD
6	04/04/08	100 kt	115	Estimated	Hinds County, MS
7	05/09/08	100 kt	115	Estimated	Fredericksburg city, VA
8	06/27/08	100 kt	115	Estimated	Saunders County, NE
9	06/27/08	100 kt	115	Estimated	Douglas County, NE
10	04/04/08	96 kt	110	Estimated	Cullman County, AL
11	05/10/08	96 kt	110	Estimated	Phillips County, AR
12	05/10/08	96 kt	110	Estimated	Coahoma County, MS
13	05/11/08	96 kt	110	Estimated	Jenkins County, GA
14	05/11/08	96 kt	110	Estimated	Screven County, GA
15	07/22/08	96 kt	110	Estimated	Perry County, OH

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/05/08	EF4	Pottsville to Hardy, Arkansas	AR	122 mi	1,320 yd	13	139
02/05/08	EF4	Jackson to Medina, Tennessee	TN	7.6 mi	125 yd	0	51
02/05/08	EF4	Crump to Clifton, Tennessee	TN	16.2 mi	880 yd	3	5
02/06/08	EF4	Moulton to Trinity, Alabama	AL	16.7 mi	880 yd	4	23
02/06/08	EF4	Pisgah to Ider, Alabama	AL	10.9 mi	660 yd	1	12
05/10/08	EF4	Chetopa, KS to Purdy, MO	OK, MO	75.5 mi	1,760 yd	21	350
05/11/08	EF4	Darien, Georgia	GA	11.0 mi	700 yd	0	9
05/23/08	EF4	Quinter, Kansas	KS	11.4 mi	1,320 yd	0	2
05/25/08	EF5	Aplington to Fairbank, Iowa	IA	41.0 mi	2,100 yd	9	70
06/11/08	EF4	Ogden to Manhattan, Kansas	KS	8.6 mi	440 yd	0	0

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/05/08	EF3	Gallatin, TN to Tompkinsville, KY	TN, KY	50.3 mi	880 yd	22	63
05/10/08	EF4	Chetopa, KS to Purdy, MO	OK, MO	75.5 mi	1,760 yd	21	350
02/05/08	EF4	Pottsville to Hardy, Arkansas	AR	122 mi	1,320 yd	13	139
05/25/08	EF5	Aplington to Fairbank, Iowa	IA	41.0 mi	2,100 yd	9	70
05/02/08	EF3	Plumerville to Mountain View, Arkansas	AR	45.3 mi	1,600 yd	5	24
02/06/08	EF3	Westmoreland to Lafayette, Kentucky	KY	9.4 mi	440 yd	4	11
02/06/08	EF4	Moulton to Trinity, Alabama	AL	16.7 mi	880 yd	4	23
06/11/08	EF3	Tekamah to Onawa, Iowa	IA	13.0 mi	440 yd	4	48
01/07/08	EF3	Strafford to Richland, Missouri	MO	50.4 mi	300 yd	3	18
02/05/08	EF2	Southaven, MS to Germantown, TN	MS, TN	10.2 mi	440 yd	3	13
02/05/08	EF3	Stanton to Jackson, Tennessee	TN	31.1 mi	600 yd	3	14
02/05/08	EF4	Crump to Clifton, Tennessee	TN	16.2 mi	880 yd	3	5
02/05/08	EF3	Greenville to Central City, Kentucky	KY	18.1 mi	375 yd	3	24
01/29/08	EF2	Poseyville to Cynthiana, Indiana	IN	7.0 mi	100 yd	2	0
03/15/08	EF3	Aragon to Cartersville, Georgia	GA	16.9 mi	880 yd	2	2

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