Storm Report Desk Analysis Controls

Current View

Preparing the storm record…

Hazards

Hail and wind are far larger archives and load when you switch them on.

Guided Views 8

Start with a prepared view.

Years 1950–2025

Start Year End Year

Tornadoes run from 1950; hail and wind from 1955. Reports rise steeply over the record because spotting and reporting improved, not only because storms did.

Strength Everything

Minimum Strength

One slider, three scales: it means EF rating for tornadoes, stone size for hail, and gust speed for wind.

Only reports that killed someone

Map Story Shape · Colour

What The Map Shows

Every individual report, drawn where it happened.

Colour By

NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database. Tornadoes 1950–2025, hail and wind 1955–2025.

← Return To Hub Tornado Landscape →

A Million Storms severe.jbf.com

Preparing the storm record…

1950–2025

Play the record year by year.

Mode Speed

Loading The Storm Record

Unpacking a million storm reports…

Filtered Record Report Details

Preparing reports…

	Hazard	State				Where
Preparing reports…

Storm Report Guide

What A Storm Report Is

Every dot is something a person saw and reported. A tornado surveyed by the Weather Service, a hailstone measured against a coin, a gust that took down a tree. Together they are the closest thing the United States has to a complete record of severe local storms.

Tornadoes73,458

Since 1950, rated 0 to 5 from surveyed damage.

Hail414,481

Since 1955, measured by the largest stone.

Wind562,071

Since 1955, measured or estimated gusts.

Reading The Record

More Reports Does Not Mean More Storms

The number of reports climbs steeply across the record. Doppler radar arrived, spotter networks grew, phones put a camera in every pocket, and warning practice changed. A storm in 1958 that nobody saw is simply not in this data.
Hail and wind depend most on somebody being there. Their apparent growth is largely a growth in observers, which is why the empty interior west is thin here and the corridor from Texas to Ohio is dense.
Tornado ratings come from damage. A violent tornado crossing open country can be rated low or left unrated because there was nothing standing in its path to survey.
Reports cluster along roads and near towns, because that is where people are.

One Slider, Three Scales

What "Strength" Means Here

Step	Tornado	Hail	Wind
0	Everything	Everything	Everything
1	EF1 and up	1 inch, a quarter	50 kt
2	EF2 and up	1.75 inch, a golf ball	65 kt
3	EF3 and up	2.75 inch, a baseball	75 kt
4	EF4 and up	4 inch, a softball	90 kt
5	EF5 only	5 inch and up	110 kt

A note on the 3D view: a million points cannot be extruded one at a time — they would be a million slivers. The density view bins the country into cells and raises each one by how many reports fall inside it, which is the shape that actually reads.

About The Data

Reports: Pending
Tornadoes: Pending
Hail: Pending
Wind: Pending

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, by way of the hazard-history archive. Reports without a location are excluded and counted in the build.

Official References Storm Prediction Center: Severe Weather Database National Weather Service: The Enhanced Fujita Scale

Was This Helpful?