World Report: November 22, 2002 Vol. 8 No. 10

Top 5 Worst Years for Tornadoes

The United States is the tornado capital of the world . Each year, about 1,000 tornadoes are reported here! Only a small portion of these are dangerous. In 2001, for example, just eight were rated very strong to violent (3 to 5 on the Fujita scale, which measures wind speed). Here are the worst years for serious twisters.

1. 1975: 116 tornadoes rated F3 or above
2. 1965: 75
3. 1957: 64
4. 1973, 1976: 59
5. 1971: 56
Source: National Climatic Data Center, NOAA