Tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1959 were tornadoes that appeared primarily in the United States in that year. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due to fewer reports or confirmed tornadoes.
Events
Fatal United States tornadoes in 1959
Approximate touchdown location of killer tornadoes in 1959
1959 had several intense outbreaks, especially during May, which had several violent tornadoes. The year was also historic as an F0 tornado was confirmed in Alaska during December. It was the first tornado ever confirmed in the state as well as the final state to confirm its first tornado since records began in 1950.
There were 16 tornadoes confirmed in the US in January.[3]
January 20–21
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All 16 January tornadoes touched down in an intense outbreak that struck the Southeast.[3] It started with two weak tornadoes touching down in Mississippi on January 20.[4] The next day was much more destructive.[5] It started early that morning, when Alabama's lone tornado of the outbreak struck Fairview at F2 strength, causing extensive damage.[6] Then, in Mississippi, a long-tracked F2 tornado caused major damage while just missing several towns in Sharkey and Humphrey Counties.[7] Later, another F2 tornado hit Belmont just west of the Alabama border, injuring one.[8] A long-tracked F3 tornado moved through Ecru, Alpine, and Geeville, and Southwestern Booneville, injuring one as well.[9] Later, a large, 500 yd (460 m) wide F2 tornado moved directly through Adamsville, Tennessee, injuring three.[10] A destructive F3 tornado then hit Carthage and Edinbrug, Mississippi.[11] The final strong tornado was also the only deadly one: A devastating F3 tornado that hit Neafus, and Caneyville, Kentucky, killing three.[12] In the end, the outbreak killed three and injured five.[3]
February
There were 20 tornadoes confirmed in the US in February.[13]
A strong and devastating outbreak of 17 tornadoes hit the Great Plains, Midwest, and Southeast, mostly during the overnight hours.[13] It started with a large, 800 yards (730 m) wide F1 tornado east of Joplin, Missouri that hit Duquesne and Duenweg, injuring one.[14] Early the next morning, an F0 tornado caused some minor damage in the Northwestern St. Louis suburb of Southeastern Florissant, Missouri.[15] While, this was going on, however, a violent and catastrophic F4 tornado touched down in Crescent, Missouri and tore through Northwestern Downtown St. Louis, ending south of Madison, Illinois. Around 2000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, including 16 homes that were destroyed and over 100 others that suffered major damage.[16] There were 21 fatalities and 345 injuries.[17]
The St. Louis tornado was the first in a slew of significant (F2+) tornadoes that occurred across the region.[18] An F3 tornado hit Bruceville, Indiana, causing significant damage.[19] Later, a large .25 miles (0.40 km) wide F3 tornado struck Eagle Station and Sanders, Kentucky, injuring six.[20] One final large F3 tornado then injured six more people in rural Highland County, Ohio.[21] In the end, the outbreak killed 21 and injured 358.[13]
February 17
A rare F1 tornado touched down in Fort Ross, California, causing considerable damage, but no casualties.[22]
March
There were 43 tornadoes confirmed in the US in March.[23]
March 13–15
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An outbreak of nine tornadoes struck the Great Plains and the Mississippi Valley.[23] The first major tornado occurred on the evening of March 14, when a massive 833 yd (762 m) wide F2 tornado hit Moorefield and Charlotte, Arkansas, causing major damage.[24] Later, another large F2 tornado hit areas north of Lonsdale, Arkansas in between Owensville and Crows, killing one and injuring seven.[25] At the same time, another F2 tornado struck Moko, Arkansas and Lanton, Missouri, killing one and injuring 15.[26] The strongest tornado of the outbreak then touched and reached F3 intensity as it tore through Southern Vilonia and Antioch, Arkansas, killing one and injuring three.[27] An F2 tornado then injured one in Modoc, Illinois.[28] The final tornado of the outbreak moved through rural Effingham County, Illinois at F2 intensity just after midnight, injuring two.[29] In the end, the tornadoes hit four states, killing three and injuring 28.[23]
March 20–21
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An outbreak of six tornadoes hit Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama.[23] On March 20, twin F2 tornadoes tracked from Trenton, Texas and Ector, Texas.[30][31] Later, a .5 miles (0.80 km) wide F2 tornado moved through Shelby County, Texas, lifting just yards away from the city limits of Paxton.[32] The next day, an isolated, but strong F2 tornado caused heavy damage in Enterprise, Alabama.[33] Despite the damage, there were no casualties from any of the tornadoes.[23]
The next day, an F2 tornado caused considerable damage northeast of Versailles, Illinois.[37] The final tornado of the outbreak was also the strongest: a large .25 miles (0.40 km) wide F3 tornado tore through Carthage and Southern Defeated and Kempville, Tennessee.[38] Similar to the previous outbreak, despite several strong tornadoes taking place, there were no casualties.[23]
March 31 – April 2
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The trend of non-fatal outbreaks came to an abrupt end when another outbreak of 17 tornadoes struck the Midwest and the Southeast.[39][40] The first tornado of the outbreak occurred on March 31 in Oklahoma, when an F2 tornado moved through areas north of Morrison.[41] An F1 tornado then injured one north of Pawnee.[42] Three people were then injured by an F3 tornado in Silver City.[43]
After only five weak F1 tornadoes touched down in Texas, Georgia, and Indiana on April 1, April 2 produced three short-lived, but destructive early-morning F2 tornadoes in Florida (possibly from the same cell).[40] The first one hit Dade City, injuring 12.[49] The second one struck Eastern Orlando, killing one and injuring nine.[50][51] The final F2 tornado hit Mims, Florida, injuring one.[52] In the end, the outbreak was extremely destructive, killing seven and injuring 83.[39][40]
April
There were 30 confirmed tornadoes in the US in April.[53]
May
There were 226 confirmed tornadoes in the US in May.[54]
Two weak tornadoes hit Minnesota and Wisconsin on May 5 before two F2 tornadoes hit Wisconsin on May 6.[61][62] The first one was a mile-wide and hit Bear Creek.[63] The second one was brief, but caused major damage northeast of Shiocton.[64] In the end, the outbreak injured two.[54]
Less, but still destructive tornado activity occurred on the final two days of the outbreak.[80][81] On May 11, an early-morning F2 tornado caused heavy damage southwest of Monticello, Illinois.[82] The next day, a half-mile wide F3 tornado hit the Southern Birmingham suburb of Shannon, Alabama, injuring five.[83] The final tornado of the outbreak then struck areas northeast Salisbury, Connecticut, causing F2 damage.[84] In the end, the outbreak sequence killed seven and injured 34.[54]
May 20–21
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An outbreak of 15 tornadoes hit the Great Plains, Midwest, and Southeast.[54] The worst event occurred on May 20, when a violent, quarter-mile wide F4 tornado hit the northwest side of Plano, Iowa while moving through Wayne County, injuring five.[85] Later, an F2 tornado occurred in rural Smith County, Kansas.[86] Another F2 tornado traveled 12 miles (19 km) through Saunders County, Nebraska, although the exact track of the tornado is unknown.[87] Early the next morning, an F3 tornado caused considerable damage at Port Bolivar, Texas.[88] The final tornado of the outbreak hit the Northwestern Tampa suburb of Town 'N' Country, Florida at F1 strength that afternoon.[89] Overall, the outbreak injured five.[54]
May 30–31
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A small, but deadly outbreak of eight tornadoes hit areas from Nebraska to Connecticut.[54] The worst tornado was an F2 twister that hit Crofton, Menominee, and St. Helena, Nebraska, killing one and injuring two.[90] Later, a brief but strong F3 tornado damaged areas east of Yankton, South Dakota.[91] The final tornado took place early the next morning, when quarter-mile wide F2 tornado struck Zearing, Iowa.[92] Overall, the outbreak killed one and injured two.[54]
June
There were 73 tornadoes confirmed in the US in June.[93]
There were 63 tornadoes confirmed in the US in July.[101]
July 28
A rare F0 tornado touched down west of Utuado, Puerto Rico, causing considerable damage, but no casualties.[102]
August
There were 38 confirmed tornadoes in the US in August.[103]
September
There were 58 tornadoes confirmed in the US in September.[104]
September 26–29 (Pre–Hurricane Gracie)
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16
12
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A deadly outbreak sequence of 36 tornadoes struck areas from Idaho to Indiana at the end of September.[104] It started on the morning of September 26, when an F1 tornado injured three northwest of Avenue City, Missouri.[105] That afternoon, a violent F4 tornado tore directly through Grovespring, Missouri, although there were no casualties.[106] Unfortunately, this was not the case in Monmouth, Illinois, where a fatal F2 tornado killed one.[107] Later, an F2 tornado hit Northern Plano, Idaho, becoming the first of only 10 F2 tornadoes to hit the state (as of 2024, the state has no tornadoes rated EF2 and no tornado has ever reached F3/EF3+ status).[108][109] At the same time, an F1 tornado struck Palatine, and Buffalo Grove and Lake Forest, Illinois northwest of Chicago, injuring 14.[108] This was followed by a long-tracked, 667 yards (610 m) wide F3 tornado that struck Athelstan and Luxora, Arkansas, Elmot Bar, Tennessee, Fletcher Towhead, and Island Number 28, Arkansas, and Ashport, Tennessee, injuring 21.[110] Meanwhile, in the Southern Milwaukee suburbs, an F2 tornado hit Greendale, Wisconsin, injuring three while an F1 tornado passed south of Rochester before moving through Sylvania, Sturtevant, and Northwestern Elmwood Park, injuring two.[111][112]
Tornado activity slowed after that, but some strong tornadoes still touched down.[113][114][115] On September 27, a violent F4 tornado moved through rural Craig County, Oklahoma before moving into Kansas, growing .25 miles (0.40 km), and striking Western Chetopa, killing one and injuring one.[116] Later, an F1 tornado hit Polk, Missouri, injuring one.[117] An F2 tornado then hit Bardolph and Southeastern Bushnell, Illinois, injuring one as well.[118] September 28 saw an F1 tornado injure one Rich Mountain, Missouri before the outbreak ended with an isolated F0 tornado southeast of Midfield, Texas on September 29.[119][120] In the end, eight states were impacted by the outbreak, which killed two and injured 47.[104]
An hour and 26 minutes after the previous outbreak ended, landfalling Category 4 Hurricane Gracie triggered another outbreak of six tornadoes in the Southeast.[104] On September 30, the final three tornadoes of the outbreak were all F3 twisters that caused major damage in Virginia.[121] The first one struck Stanardsville, killing one and injuring nine.[122] The next one was the deadliest of the outbreak, killing 11 and injuring four in Ivy.[123] The final one was half-mile wide and caused major damage in Pleasant Grove Park.[124] In the end, six tornadoes were confirmed, killing 12 and injuring 13.[104]
October
There were 24 tornadoes confirmed in the US in October.[125]
There were 11 tornadoes confirmed in the US in November.[130]
November 2–4
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An outbreak sequence of 10 tornadoes struck the US.[130] It started with an early-morning F1 tornado west of Prescott Valley, Arizona on November 2 before the outbreak mostly focused on Texas.[131][130] On November 3, an F2 tornado damaged Corral City.[132] Another F2 tornado then grew to mile-wide and damaged Center Point and Northern Comfort.[133] A third F2 tornado then struck Northern Bowie.[134] The worst tornado of the outbreak occurred just after midnight on November 4, when an F3 twister touched down and moved through rural areas of Henderson County, before striking Leagueville and Brownsboro, injuring three.[135] Another destructive F3 tornado later hit Northern Darco and Western Stricklin Springs.[136]
Following the second F3 tornado, an extremely rare F0 tornado touched down in Alaska on Kayak Island that afternoon and caused some minor damage to Cape St. Elias.[137] This was the first tornado ever confirmed in Alaska, thus making it the 50th and final state to confirm their first tornado since 1950.[138] The outbreak ended with an F1 tornado that hit Star, Mississippi 55 minutes later.[139] In the end, the outbreak sequence injured three.[130]
December
There were 2 tornadoes confirmed in the US in December.[140]
