YearFinal SPC data

2009

1,162 tornadoes in 2009, with 13,313 hail and 13,379 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

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

Tornado deaths

EF0 706 EF1 350 EF2 84 EF3 20 EF4 2

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

2009 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

20091991 to 2020 average2004 to 2014 (other years)

1,162 tornadoes in 2009, 6% 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	04/10/09	63	1	2	EF4	AL, GA, KY, NC, SC, TN
2	05/08/09	46	0	2	EF3	IA, IL, KY, MO, NC, TN, VA
3	10/29/09	33	0	0	EF2	AR, LA, OK, TX
4	06/15/09	31	0	0	EF2	CO, KS, MO, NE, SD, TX
5	08/19/09	30	0	0	EF3	IA, IL, IN, MN, MO, OH, WI
6	03/08/09	26	0	0	EF3	IL, IN, KY, MO, OH
7	05/13/09	25	0	3	EF2	AR, FL, IL, IN, KS, MO, OK, TX
8	04/09/09	24	0	3	EF3	AL, AR, LA, MO, OK, TX
9	05/03/09	23	0	0	EF2	AL, LA, MS, NC, TN, UT, VA
10	04/29/09	22	0	0	EF2	AR, KS, OK, TX
11	06/16/09	22	0	0	EF1	KS, KY, NC, ND, SC, SD, VA
12	03/23/09	20	0	0	EF2	IA, KS, NE, OK, SD
13	04/19/09	19	0	1	EF2	AL, GA
14	06/26/09	19	0	0	EF1	CO, CT, FL, ME, ND, NE
15	05/06/09	18	0	0	EF2	AL, MS, OR, VA, WA

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	06/15/09	697	31	386	280	4.5 in	83 kt (96 mph)
2	06/17/09	603	17	311	275	4.25 in	87 kt (100 mph)
3	04/10/09	588	63	387	138	4.25 in	80 kt (92 mph)
4	06/18/09	523	5	183	335	2.75 in	82 kt (94 mph)
5	06/12/09	483	12	143	328	4 in	80 kt (92 mph)
6	06/10/09	459	18	122	319	2.5 in	87 kt (100 mph)
7	06/26/09	459	19	228	212	4.25 in	72 kt (83 mph)
8	06/09/09	457	8	317	132	3 in	70 kt (81 mph)
9	02/11/09	397	4	7	386	0.88 in	80 kt (92 mph)
10	05/13/09	391	25	179	187	2.75 in	83 kt (96 mph)
11	05/15/09	382	11	270	101	4 in	83 kt (96 mph)
12	06/11/09	378	6	156	216	4.5 in	82 kt (94 mph)
13	06/02/09	364	7	242	115	4.25 in	70 kt (81 mph)
14	04/09/09	356	24	208	124	3 in	90 kt (104 mph)
15	05/08/09	335	46	130	159	4 in	92 kt (106 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	02/10/09	4.5 in	Osage County, OK
2	06/11/09	4.5 in	Eastland County, TX
3	06/14/09	4.5 in	Donley County, TX
4	06/15/09	4.5 in	Ochiltree County, TX
5	06/15/09	4.5 in	Ochiltree County, TX
6	06/19/09	4.5 in	Fulton County, IN
7	02/18/09	4.25 in	Cleburne County, AL
8	02/18/09	4.25 in	Coweta County, GA
9	03/23/09	4.25 in	Seward County, NE
10	04/10/09	4.25 in	Morgan County, AL
11	04/26/09	4.25 in	Grant County, OK
12	04/29/09	4.25 in	Terrell County, TX
13	04/29/09	4.25 in	Terrell County, TX
14	04/29/09	4.25 in	Haskell County, KS
15	05/01/09	4.25 in	Haskell County, TX

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	05/11/09	109 kt	125	Estimated	Robeson County, NC
2	08/19/09	109 kt	125	Estimated	Jones County, IA
3	03/27/09	104 kt	120	Estimated	Baldwin County, AL
4	05/08/09	92 kt	106	Estimated	Jackson County, IL
5	05/08/09	91 kt	105	Estimated	Bollinger County, MO
6	06/30/09	91 kt	105	Estimated	Calloway County, KY
7	07/10/09	91 kt	105	Estimated	Black Hawk County, IA
8	07/11/09	91 kt	105	Estimated	Pike County, OH
9	04/10/09	90 kt	104	Measured	Clay County, AR
10	07/19/09	90 kt	104	Measured	Maricopa County, AZ
11	08/04/09	90 kt	104	Estimated	Stewart County, TN
12	08/09/09	90 kt	104	Estimated	Hardin County, IA
13	07/29/09	89 kt	102	Measured	Childress County, TX
14	08/09/09	89 kt	102	Measured	Hardin County, IA
15	08/09/09	89 kt	102	Estimated	Union County, IA

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/10/09	EF4	Nocona, TX to Springer, OK	TX, OK	37.0 mi	880 yd	8	46
04/10/09	EF4	Spring Hill to Murfreesboro, Tennessee	TN	23.3 mi	750 yd	2	58

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
02/10/09	EF4	Nocona, TX to Springer, OK	TX, OK	37.0 mi	880 yd	8	46
04/09/09	EF3	Hatfield to Mena, Arkansas	AR	14.8 mi	1,075 yd	3	30
04/10/09	EF4	Spring Hill to Murfreesboro, Tennessee	TN	23.3 mi	750 yd	2	58
05/08/09	EF3	Lancaster to Irvine, Kentucky	KY	21.1 mi	150 yd	2	15
05/13/09	EF2	Kirksville, Missouri	MO	5.8 mi	150 yd	2	6
02/18/09	EF3	Sparta to Gibson, Georgia	GA	10.4 mi	500 yd	1	3
04/19/09	EF1	Guntersville to Geraldine, Alabama	AL	3.0 mi	60 yd	1	1
05/13/09	EF1	Milan, Missouri	MO	4.4 mi	100 yd	1	0
10/09/09	EF1	Greenville, Mississippi	MS	2.0 mi	100 yd	1	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