Early and Late Season Tornadoes

Early and Late Season Tornado Events

While tornadoes can occur during any month of the year given the right combination of atmospheric parameters, the tables below illustrate that tornado activity in the Tri-State region is rare to non-existent during the colder months. The earliest tornado on record (spring season) occurred on March 8, 1992 when an EF0 tornado developed in Dundy county, Nebraska. Most of the early season tornadoes have occurred in late March. While tornado records since 1950 are fairly reliable, information prior to that is less certain. In his book, Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991, Thomas Grazulis extensively researched tornadoes prior to 1950, documenting significant tornadoes (EF2-EF5).

In the first table below, early season tornadoes are listed. Since the only accurate compilation of tornadoes prior to 1950 are those rated EF2 and above, there may in actuality be additional tornadoes which have occurred in March and April. All tornadoes prior to 1950 are shaded in yellow to highlight this fact. Event totals for these events are not given, since it is unknown what the total number of tornadoes may have been.

Top 5 Earliest Tornadoes in the Tri-State Area ... 1882-2023

#	Date	County	Num-F/EF Scale
1	3/8/1992	Dundy	1- F0
2	3/13/1973	Sherman	1- F1
3	3/14/2021	Cheyenne (KS), Hitchcock	2- EFU
4	3/24/2007	Yuma	1-EF0
5	3/25/1980	Cheyenne (CO)	1-F1

Late season tornado events are shown below. The only tornado on record in November in the Tri-State area occurred in Yuma county Colorado in 1922. That fact is interesting enough, but considering the tornado occurred at 9:30 in the morning makes the event even more noteworthy. Once again, only those tornadoes rated EF2 and above are included prior to 1950, and are highlighted in yellow.

Top 5 Latest Tornadoes in the Tri-State Area ... 1882-2023

#	Date	County	Num-F/EF Scale
1	11/16/2015	Gove Gove-Sheridan Norton	2-F0 1-F0 1-F0, 2-F1
2	11/04/1922	Yuma	1-F3
3	10/31/2000	Decatur Rawlins Sheridan-Thomas-Decatur Sherman Thomas Wallace-Sherman Red Willow	1-F1 1-F0 1-F0 2-F0, 1-F2 1-F0 1-F1 2-F0
4	10/29/1956	Thomas	1-F2
5	10/28/2000	Gove Graham Norton Sheridan	2-F1 2-F0 1-F0 1-F0

Yellow shading represents data prior to 1950 and only includes significant tornadoes (EF2+).

** EF Scale became operational on February 1st, 2007**

Updated: May 2024