Top 10 Tornadoes Since 1950

This is the opening post of a series I will do over the next ten days which will rank the ten worst tornadoes in the state since 1950.  This list is highly subjective and is based on a combination of deaths, injuries, strength, path length and width. 


#10 - June 2, 1990 Petersburg Tornado


This 13 mile long tornado was part of our largest outbreak on record. It was rated F4 and did heavy damage to the town of Petersburg, killing several and injuring 60.

June 2, 1990 Tornado Outbreak - Biggest On Record

Today marks the anniversary of our biggest tornado outbreak on record.  Although it wasn't as devastating as the Palm Sunday Outbreak or the Super Outbreak, this event is notable for a few reasons.  First, 37 tornadoes set a new record for most tornadoes in a single outbreak.  Second, 20 of the 37 tornadoes were rated F2 or greater.  To put that in some perspective, it "normally" takes 3 or 4 years to accumulate that many strong tornadoes.  Third, this event produced multiple violent F4's, joining 4/11/1965 and 4/3/1974 as the only days with multiple violent tornadoes in the state (since 1950).  Unfortunately, 8 people were killed.

Here is a map of the approximate tornado tracks:

Here are some images courtesy of Nick Smith:




June 2, 1990 Convective Outlook

   



Early Evening Radar Depicting Scattered Supercells