Tornado metros: the county record behind six storm-country cities

Six counties, 2016 through 2025

NOAA's Storm Events Database records the tornado and thunderstorm wind events below for each metro's county from 2016 through 2025. The rating column shows the highest Enhanced Fujita rating among that county's tornado events in the same window.

NCEI's FAQ explains that a tornado crossing a county or state line is logged as a separate segment, so one long-track tornado can appear in several counties' totals.

Metro by metro

Tulsa

Tulsa County's wind record stands out: the database logs 59 thunderstorm wind events of 65 knots or more there from 2016 through 2025, the most of any county on this site. The June 17, 2023 storm gusted to over 100 mph at times and left at least $160 million in estimated damage across the county, with some people out of power for more than a week. On the tornado side, the August 6, 2017 EF2 formed over a neighborhood east of South Harvard Avenue and injured 30 people.

Nashville

Davidson County's 419 thunderstorm wind events are the highest wind count on this page. The December 9, 2023 EF2 touched down east of I-24 on Brick Church Lane and strengthened in Madison with winds up to 120 to 125 mph, killing three people and injuring 21. The county's costliest tornado segment since 2000 is the March 3, 2020 EF3, with a $1.09 billion property damage estimate.

Birmingham

NWS surveyors rated the January 25, 2021 tornado in northern Jefferson County EF3, with maximum winds near 150 mph; it crossed Interstate 65 at the Walker Chapel Road overpass, killed one person and injured 30. Nearly ten years earlier, the April 27, 2011 EF4 that tore through Tuscaloosa entered western Jefferson County and lifted northeast of downtown Birmingham; the Jefferson County segment alone records 20 deaths and 700 injuries.

Little Rock

The March 31, 2023 EF3 began southwest of the Colonel Glenn and Marsh Road intersection in Martindale, injured 54 people, and carries an $85.71 million damage estimate. An earlier Pulaski County EF3, on April 27, 2014 near Ferndale, killed three people.

Jackson

Hinds County logs 44 tornado events from 2016 through 2025, the most on this page, and 28 of them were rated EF1. Its strongest tornado since 2000 in the record, the April 15, 2011 EF3, ran from southwest of Clinton to southeast Ridgeland, with the worst damage in Clinton and western Jackson. Hail matters here too: a 4.25-inch hailstone fell in Clinton on March 18, 2013, part of a storm recorded with a $200 million damage estimate.

Mayfield

Graves County's 18 tornado events include the only EF4 in this table: the December 10, 2021 tornado, whose Graves County segment records 24 direct deaths and 210 injuries.

The distance factor in a damage path

Google's local ranking help page lists distance as one of its three main factors, so a search made from inside a damage path favors whoever is nearest that path. That is useful for finding someone to tarp a hole today. It says nothing about whether the company is licensed for the permanent repair, so check your state on the directory's roofing licensing page and see the directory's Storm Center.

Frequently asked questions

Why can a county's tornado count be higher than the number of tornadoes?

Because the database counts segments. NCEI's FAQ says a tornado that crosses a county or state line becomes a separate segment, and it points to the Storm Prediction Center's monthly counts for official state tornado totals.

Which metro on this page has the most tornado reports?

Jackson. NOAA's Storm Events Database records 44 tornado events in Hinds County from 2016 through 2025, compared with 23 in Tulsa County.

Are thunderstorm winds a roofing problem too?

Yes. Every county in the table records far more thunderstorm wind events than tornado events in NOAA's Storm Events Database, and the Tulsa storm of June 2023 shows how much damage straight-line wind can do across a whole county.