The tornadoes that killed the most people since 1950, from NOAA’s official database.
Strength matters, but so does what it hits and when. Many of the deadliest struck towns and cities directly, at night or with little warning, or hit mobile homes. Since 1950, warning lead times have grown thanks to Doppler radar, and deaths per tornado have fallen, but outbreaks such as April 27, 2011 and the Joplin tornado that May show how deadly a direct hit on a town still is.
Sources last checked 1 November 2026.
May 22, 2011 in Missouri (the Joplin tornado), with 158 deaths in NOAA’s database.
The Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925 across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana killed about 695 people. It is before the 1950 start of NOAA’s modern database, so it is not in the table.
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