Dennis Mersereau | @wxdam
Stick to the weather.



Saturday, June 14, 2025   |   22:15:36 Local ◈ 22:15:36 UTC


How tornadoes are rated...
The Enhanced Fujita Scale

Meteorologists use damage to estimate the maximum winds of a tornado at any given point. Engineers and meteorologists worked together to figure out how strong winds have to be to cause certain levels of damage.

Dr. Theodore Fujita pioneered the study of tornado damage in the mid-20th century. He developed the Fujita (F) Scale to rate damage to buildings, vehicles, and vegetation on a scale ranging from F0 (weak) to F5 (extreme).

Scientists began using a revamped version of the scale in 2007. This Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale reflects the fact that objects like homes and trees require much lower wind speeds to incur damage.

The Fujita/Enhanced Fujita scales are damage rating scales. Some ratings are controversial as a result. There are several cases where meteorologists have gotten accurate measurements of a tornado's winds, but couldn't find damage to warrant a higher F/EF-Scale rating.


Tornadoes by Rating
All tornado tracks and ratings between 1950 and 2024.

Meteorologists confirmed 71,813 tornadoes between January 1, 1950, and December 31, 2024.

The vast majority of those tornadoes were relatively weak and short lived. Only 0.1% of all confirmed tornadoes were rated a top-of-the-scale F5 or EF-5.

Here's a breakdown of confirmed tornadoes between 1950 and 2024:

F0/EF-0: 32,812 (45.7%)

F1/EF-1: 24,541 (34.2%)

F2/EF-2: 9,904 (13.8%)

F3/EF-3: 2,628 (3.7%)

F4/EF-4: 591 (0.8%)

F5/EF-5: 59 (0.1%)

Additionally, 1,278 (1.8%) of tornadoes were unrated (FU/EF-U).

UnratedF0/EF-0 F1/EF-1F2/EF-2F3/EF-3 F4/EF-4F5/EF-5TOTAL
January16691780 35083110 1931
February8659860 400108211 2057
March5917591873 938309704 5012
April13338403845 174054617320 10297
May45176274932 200159113320 15755
June23968864026 1457316869 13019
July12840062363 716125231 7362
August11826881646 49392151 5053
September4418431177 43184130 3592
October4113041059 4239061 2924
November278581156 559163240 2787
December14651824 396121162 2024
TOTAL127832812 2454199042628 5915971813

Tornado Tracks by Rating | 1950 - 2023

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