November Tornadoes
Tornadoes in the Fall may seem rare, but in reality are more common than we realize. November can be extremely active for severe weather. Some years, over 100 tornadoes were recorded. Meteorologist Mikayla Smith recaps the most active and quietest Novembers for severe weather.
It may sound surprising, but tornadoes in November are actually not that uncommon. In fact, there has only been one November, in 1976, where no tornadoes struck somewhere in the U.S.
In the U.S., November has averaged 54 tornadoes per year, over in the last 24 years (2000-2024) according to the Storm Prediction Center. Some years in fact broke into triple digit territory with over 100+ tornadoes: – 1988, 1992, 2001, 2004 and 2005.
Over the last 25 years, you can clearly see where tornadoes are more likely to occur in November. Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi lead the states with the highest average for tornadoes in November.
However, just because these states are highlighted to have more tornadoes on average in November, that does not guarantee a tornado each year. Or save surrounding states from seeing breakout years with many tornadoes.
Most recently in 2024, Oklahoma set a new state record for the month of November where they had 36 tornadoes officially reported. This shattered the states previous record of 12 set back in 1958.
This brought the total tornadoes in November 2024 to 60, with the most action occurring in Oklahoma. Of these 60 tornadoes, 6 of them were considered strong tornadoes, that means the tornado received a rating of EF2 or greater.
The month of November is the only month where there has never been an F5/EF5 tornado reported, not only in the U.S. but in the world.
While there may have not been an F/EF5 tornadoes in the past, there have been many significant tornado outbreaks in the U.S. during the month of November.
Here is a list of the top 5 most memorable tornado outbreaks.
Note: These are outbreaks but not how many tornadoes occurred for the month as a whole
#5: November 23rd-24th, 2001 - 66 Tornadoes
- Impacted 7 States: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and Indiana
- Two F4 rated tornadoes in Mississippi, one on the 23rd and another on the 24th
- 13 fatalities
- 219 injured
#4: November 17th, 2013 - 72 Tornadoes
- Impacted 7 States: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee
- 2 EF4 rated tornadoes in Illinois
- 6 fatalities
#3: November 9th-11th, 2002 - 82 Tornadoes
- Impacted 14 States: Ohio Valley into parts of the South
- Known as Veterans Day Weekend Outbreak
- 1 F4 tornado from this event, tracked near Van Wert Ohio
- 5 tornadoes had path lengths greater than 40 miles long
- 36 fatalities
- 303 injured
#2: November 23rd-24th, 2004 - 93 Tornadoes
- Impacted 6 States: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas
- 3 tornadoes received F3 rating, 2 in Mississippi, 1 in Louisiana
- 4 fatalities: 3 from tornadoes and 1 from severe winds
- 39 injured
#1: November 21st-23rd, 1992 - 105 Tornadoes
- Impacted 13 States: Texas to the Carolinas
- 2 F4 tornadoes: 1 in Houston, TX and 1 in Mississippi
- 26 fatalities
- 638 injured
- $713 million in damage; Houston metro hit especially hard
As of the posting of this blog, Monday November 17th, there have not been any recorded tornadoes in the U.S. for November 2025. The last time there were fewer than 5 tornadoes in the month of November was in 2009, when only 3 tornadoes were reported.
Meteorologist Mikayla Smith and Meteorologist Taylor Cox will have weather updates every Monday-Friday on all HailTrace socials! Be sure to follow along for any changes in the forecast.