2011 was the busiest year for tornadoes in the U.S. since recording began in 1950, when 1,894 tornadoes were reported, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC).
Driving the news: It's been a busy tornado season so far in 2019. In terms of the most tornadoes in a single period of time, 2019 has ranked 4th in both the 8-to-14-day and 28-to-30 day categories, per NOAA data.
- As of May 29, there were 549 tornadoes reported in the past 30 days. The SPC had a preliminary count of 935 tornadoes this year as of May 27, though many of these reports were likely duplicates — sightings of the same tornado.
- 422 tornadoes were reported in March and April, which is well above the 272 three-year average and 273 20-year average, per weather.com.
- 2019 also has the longest streak of days with 8+ tornadoes and days with 16+ tornadoes.
The busiest years, per data from the SPC:
- 2011: 1,894 tornadoes
- 2004: 1,820 tornadoes
- 2008: 1,685 tornadoes
- 2010: 1,543 tornadoes
- 2017: 1,522 tornadoes
- 1998: 1,440 tornadoes
- 2003: 1,374 tornadoes
- 1999: 1,364 tornadoes
- 1992: 1,312 tornadoes
- 2009: 1,305 tornadoes
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