Dennis Mersereau | @wxdam
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Tornado Emergencies
All 305 tornado emergencies issued since 1999

The phrase "tornado emergency" is enhanced wording added to tornado warnings when a significant tornado poses a grave threat to populated areas. Forecasters reserve the use of tornado emergencies for the most serious storms that could potentially lead to a mass casualty event.

The first tornado emergency was issued on May 3, 1999, by the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma, ahead of a large, violent tornado moving into the Oklahoma City metro area.

That tornado, which was rated a scale-topping F5, killed several dozen people along its path. The advanced warnings and copious television coverage ahead of the storm is often creited for saving countless lives throughout the Oklahoma City area.

Since then, forecasters have added "tornado emergency" to more than 300 tornado warnings. Several tornado emergencies are issued every year, with significant tornado outbreaks alone sometimes resulting in a dozen or more tornado emergencies.

The vast majority of tornado emergencies have been issued during outbreaks in Alabama and Mississippi.

The success of this enhanced wording led to forecasters appending -emergency on to flash flood warnings, as well. Flash flood emergencies are issued when widespread, life-threatening flash flooding is ongoing.

The first tornado emergency
The large F5 tornado moving toward the Oklahoma City metro area on May 3, 1999.
The large F5 tornado near Oklahoma City that prompted the first-ever tornado emergency on May 3, 1999.
(PHOTO: Erin Maxwell/NWS Norman)

WWUS34 KOKC 040004
SVSOKC
OKZ025-027>029-040030-

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
657 PM CDT MON MAY 3 1999

...TORNADO EMERGENCY IN SOUTH OKLAHOMA CITY METRO AREA...

AT 657 PM CDT...A LARGE TORNADO WAS MOVING ALONG INTERSTATE 44 WEST OF NEWCASTLE. ON ITS PRESENT PATH...THIS LARGE DAMAGING TORNADO WILL ENTER SOUTHWEST SECTIONS OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY METRO AREA BETWEEN 715 PM AND 730 PM. PERSONS IN MOORE AND SOUTH OKLAHOMA CITY SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE TORNADO PRECAUTIONS!

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THIS STORM MAY CONTAIN DESTRUCTIVE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF BASEBALLS...OR LARGER.

LAT...LON 3524 9784 3511 9769 3536 9735 3552 9754

ANDRA

List of all 305 tornado emergencies

This list is current through June 13, 2024. Warnings are listed in chronological order. More information is available through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.


# Date State(s) # Date State(s) # Date State(s) # Date State(s)
1 5/3/1999 OK 101 4/16/2011 NC 201 4/29/2014 AL 301 5/27/2024 KY
2 3/29/2000 TX 102 4/16/2011 NC 202 6/16/2014 NE 302 5/27/2024 KY
3 3/29/2000 TX 103 4/16/2011 NC 203 5/6/2015 OK 303 5/27/2024 KY
4 6/13/2000 TX 104 4/16/2011 NC 204 5/6/2015 OK 304 5/27/2024 KY
5 5/8/2002 KS 105 4/25/2011 AR 205 12/23/2015 MS 305 5/30/2024 TX
6 9/20/2002 IN 106 4/26/2011 AR 206 12/23/2015 MS
7 11/11/2002 AL 107 4/27/2011 MS 207 12/23/2015 MS,TN
8 11/11/2002 AL 108 4/27/2011 MS 208 2/2/2016 AL
9 11/11/2002 AL 109 4/27/2011 AL 209 2/24/2016 NC
10 11/11/2002 AL 110 4/27/2011 AL 210 5/9/2016 OK
11 5/4/2003 KS 111 4/27/2011 MS 211 5/9/2016 OK
12 5/6/2003 AL 112 4/27/2011 AL 212 5/24/2016 KS
13 5/6/2003 AL 113 4/27/2011 AL 213 5/26/2016 KS
14 5/6/2003 AL 114 4/27/2011 AL 214 8/24/2016 IN
15 5/7/2003 MS 115 4/27/2011 AL 215 8/24/2016 OH
16 5/7/2003 MS 116 4/27/2011 MS 216 1/22/2017 GA
17 5/7/2003 AL 117 4/27/2011 AL 217 1/22/2017 GA
18 5/7/2003 AL 118 4/27/2011 AL 218 2/7/2017 LA
19 5/7/2003 AL 119 4/27/2011 AL 219 4/2/2017 LA
20 5/7/2003 AL 120 4/27/2011 AL,TN 220 4/2/2017 LA
21 5/7/2003 AL 121 4/27/2011 MS 221 4/5/2017 GA
22 5/8/2003 OK 122 4/27/2011 AL 222 4/5/2017 GA
23 5/10/2003 OK 123 4/27/2011 AL 223 4/5/2017 GA
24 5/10/2003 OK 124 4/27/2011 AL,TN 224 4/7/2018 LA
25 5/24/2004 MO 125 4/27/2011 AL 225 7/19/2018 IA
26 5/24/2004 MO 126 4/27/2011 TN 226 11/1/2018 LA,MS
27 5/24/2004 MO 127 4/27/2011 TN 227 12/1/2018 IL
28 5/30/2004 MO 128 4/27/2011 AL,TN 228 3/3/2019 AL
29 10/19/2004 TN 129 4/27/2011 AL 229 3/3/2019 GA
30 10/19/2004 TN 130 4/27/2011 AL 230 5/21/2019 OK
31 10/19/2004 TN 131 4/27/2011 AL 231 5/23/2019 MO
32 10/19/2004 TN 132 4/27/2011 MS 232 5/23/2019 MO
33 4/6/2005 MS 133 4/27/2011 AL 233 5/28/2019 OH
34 4/6/2005 MS 134 4/27/2011 MS 234 5/28/2019 OH
35 8/19/2005 KS 135 4/27/2011 AL 235 5/28/2019 KS
36 3/12/2006 MO 136 4/27/2011 AL 236 5/28/2019 KS
37 3/13/2006 MO 137 4/27/2011 AL 237 12/16/2019 LA
38 3/13/2006 MO 138 4/27/2011 AL 238 3/24/2020 AL
39 3/13/2006 MO 139 4/28/2011 AL 239 4/12/2020 LA
40 3/13/2006 MO 140 4/28/2011 AL 240 4/12/2020 MS
41 3/13/2006 MO 141 4/28/2011 AL 241 4/12/2020 MS
42 3/31/2006 MO 142 4/28/2011 AL 242 4/12/2020 MS
43 4/2/2006 AR 143 4/28/2011 AL 243 4/12/2020 MS
44 4/2/2006 MO 144 5/22/2011 MN 244 4/12/2020 MS
45 4/2/2006 MO 145 1/23/2012 AR 245 4/13/2020 TN
46 4/8/2006 AL 146 1/23/2012 AL 246 4/13/2020 SC
47 3/29/2007 TX 147 1/23/2012 AL 247 4/23/2020 TX
48 5/5/2007 KS 148 3/2/2012 AL,TN 248 4/23/2020 LA
49 5/5/2007 KS 149 3/2/2012 IN 249 3/25/2021 AL
50 10/19/2007 IN 150 3/2/2012 IN,KY 250 3/25/2021 AL
51 1/8/2008 MO 151 3/2/2012 IN,KY 251 3/25/2021 AL
52 2/5/2008 MS,TN 152 3/2/2012 IN,KY 252 3/25/2021 AL
53 2/6/2008 TN 153 3/2/2012 IN,KY 253 3/25/2021 AL
54 2/6/2008 TN 154 3/2/2012 IN,KY 254 3/25/2021 AL
55 2/6/2008 TN 155 3/2/2012 KY 255 3/26/2021 GA
56 2/6/2008 AL 156 3/2/2012 KY 256 3/26/2021 GA
57 2/17/2008 AL 157 3/2/2012 KY 257 3/26/2021 GA
58 3/15/2008 GA 158 3/2/2012 KY 258 5/3/2021 MS
59 4/4/2008 MS 159 3/2/2012 KY 259 9/1/2021 NJ,PA
60 4/9/2008 TX 160 3/2/2012 KY 260 10/25/2021 IL
61 7/11/2008 MN 161 3/2/2012 KY 261 12/11/2021 AR,MO,TN
62 12/9/2008 MS 162 3/2/2012 TN 262 12/11/2021 MO,TN
63 2/18/2009 AL 163 3/3/2012 KY 263 12/11/2021 KY
64 2/18/2009 AL 164 3/3/2012 KY 264 12/11/2021 KY
65 2/18/2009 AL 165 4/3/2012 TX 265 12/11/2021 KY
66 2/19/2009 AL 166 4/3/2012 TX 266 12/11/2021 KY
67 4/10/2009 TN 167 4/3/2012 TX 267 12/11/2021 KY
68 6/18/2009 NE 168 4/3/2012 TX 268 12/11/2021 KY
69 6/18/2009 NE 169 4/15/2012 KS 269 4/5/2022 SC
70 3/28/2010 NC 170 4/15/2012 KS 270 4/12/2022 AR
71 4/24/2010 MS 171 4/15/2012 KS 271 4/16/2022 AR
72 4/24/2010 MS 172 12/25/2012 AL 272 4/16/2022 AR
73 4/24/2010 MS 173 2/10/2013 MS 273 4/16/2022 AR
74 4/25/2010 AL 174 2/10/2013 MS 274 11/4/2022 OK,TX
75 4/25/2010 AL 175 4/10/2013 AR 275 11/5/2022 AR,TX
76 6/6/2010 IL 176 4/11/2013 MS 276 1/12/2023 AL
77 6/6/2010 IL 177 4/11/2013 MS 277 1/12/2023 AL
78 6/17/2010 MN 178 5/19/2013 KS 278 1/12/2023 AL
79 6/17/2010 MN 179 5/20/2013 OK 279 1/24/2023 TX
80 6/18/2010 MN,WI 180 5/31/2013 OK 280 3/25/2023 MS
81 6/18/2010 WI 181 5/31/2013 OK 281 3/25/2023 MS
82 8/13/2010 ND 182 10/5/2013 IA 282 3/25/2023 MS
83 10/25/2010 TN 183 4/28/2014 AR 283 3/25/2023 MS
84 12/31/2010 MS 184 4/28/2014 AR 284 3/31/2023 AR
85 2/25/2011 TN 185 4/28/2014 AR 285 3/31/2023 AR
86 2/28/2011 TN 186 4/28/2014 AR 286 3/31/2023 TN
87 2/28/2011 TN 187 4/28/2014 AR 287 3/31/2023 TN
88 4/15/2011 MS 188 4/28/2014 MS 288 4/1/2023 IL
89 4/15/2011 MS 189 4/28/2014 MS 289 6/24/2023 NE
90 4/15/2011 AL 190 4/28/2014 MS 290 12/9/2023 TN
91 4/15/2011 AL 191 4/28/2014 MS 291 4/26/2024 NE
92 4/15/2011 MS 192 4/28/2014 AL 292 4/26/2024 IA,NE
93 4/15/2011 AL 193 4/28/2014 AL 293 4/26/2024 IA
94 4/16/2011 AL,MS 194 4/28/2014 AL 294 4/26/2024 IA
95 4/16/2011 AL 195 4/29/2014 TN 295 5/7/2024 OK
96 4/16/2011 NC 196 4/29/2014 TN 296 5/7/2024 MI
97 4/16/2011 NC 197 4/29/2014 AL 297 5/8/2024 TN
98 4/16/2011 NC 198 4/29/2014 AL 298 5/9/2024 AL
99 4/16/2011 NC 199 4/29/2014 AL 299 5/20/2024 OK
100 4/16/2011 NC 200 4/29/2014 AL 300 5/24/2024 TX

SOURCE: Iowa Environmental Mesonet






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