A typical thunderstorm over a field

A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are sometimes called thundershowers. Thunderstorms occur in a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus. They are usually accompanied by strong winds and often produce heavy rain and sometimes snow, sleet, or hail, but some thunderstorms produce little precipitation or no precipitation at all. Thunderstorms may line up in a series or become a rainband, known as a squall line. Strong or severe thunderstorms include some of the most dangerous weather phenomena, including large hail, strong winds, and tornadoes. Some of the most persistent severe thunderstorms, known as supercells, rotate as do cyclones. While most thunderstorms move with the mean wind flow through the layer of the troposphere that they occupy, vertical wind shear sometimes causes a deviation in their course at a right angle to the wind shear direction.

Although it is a relatively small geographical area and tornadoes are a relatively rare phenomenon in the Mid-Atlantic region, Washington, D.C. has been hit by at least ten of these damaging storms since modern records have been kept. This list may be incomplete, as official tornado records only extend back to 1950 in the United States.

Recent tornado outbreaks

July

• July 1

A violent EF4 tornado hits Mountain View County, Alberta, Canada, becoming only the third EF4 tornado in the province's history. (Northern Tornadoes Project)

• July 12–13

Several tornadoes occur in the Midwestern United States and Central Canada, including an EF1 tornado that passed through the suburbs of Chicago. (NWSChicago)

• July 16

A rare EF1 tornado touches down in Aguada, Puerto Rico, significantly damaging two houses. (Iowa State University)

Previous months: June, May

February 15

• 2021 – An EF3 tornado destroyed two homes in Sunset Beach, North Carolina and damaged dozens of others, killing three people and injuring ten. An EF2 tornado injured five people near Damascus, Georgia.

February 16

• 1995 – An F3 tornado struck Joppa and Arab, Alabama killing 6 people and injuring 130. Most of the deaths were in mobile homes. A newborn, whose mother was injured, died on delivery. About 160 homes and businesses were destroyed.

February 17

• 1927 – A tornado outbreak resulted in 41 deaths across the Southeastern United States. A strong tornado (at least F3 and probably F4) killed 14 people in Pleasant Hill, Sabine Parish, Louisiana, 7 in one family. An F2 tornado killed 13 people near Lake Bruin.
• 1938 – An F4 tornado destroyed a large portion of Rodessa, Louisiana, killing 21 people. The corrugated metal that made up many of the buildings dismembered many victims.

• ...that the 2013 Moore tornado that struck Moore and Newcastle, Oklahoma, is the most recent EF5 tornado?
• ...that the 2021 South Moravia tornado, an IF4 tornado with winds between 207–260 mph (333–418 km/h), was the strongest tornado to hit the Czech Republic in modern history?