This page documents the tornado

Tornado

A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...

es and tornado outbreak

Tornado outbreak

While there is no single agreed upon definition, generally at least 6-10 tornadoes produced by the same synoptic scale weather system is considered a tornado outbreak. The tornadoes usually occur within the same day, or continue into the early morning hours of the succeeding day, and within the...

s of 1987, primarily in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. 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.

Synopsis

The Tornado "Season" of 1987 was one with a fairly slow spring, followed by a much more active late spring/summer. Two particularly devastating tornadoes of 1987 were the Saragosa, Texas tornado of May 22, 1987 and the Edmonton, Alberta tornado of July 31, 1987. The fall and early winter could best be described as "average" in terms of tornado activity, with a significant outbreak on November 14 and 15, and a killer F3 in December.

Events

Confirmed tornado total for the entire year 1987 in the United States.

February

There were 19 tornadoes confirmed in the US in February. One tornado on Feb. 28 was rated F4 in Mississippi and killed six people. A monstrous tornado touched down near Moselle and grew to a width of two miles as it passed near Laurel. The tornado traveled a distance of 40 miles killing six persons, injuring 350 others, and causing 28.5 million dollars damage.

May 22

On the evening of May 22, a short-lived but powerful F4 tornado struck the city of Saragosa, Texas killing 30 people and injuring over 100. Many were killed attending a graduation ceremony for pre-school children at the Catholic Hall of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. Eighty percent of the residential area was reported as destroyed.

June 16

One tornado hit by Białystok, a largest city in northeastern Poland, and destroyed 100 homes.1

July 21

A rare high-altitude tornado struck Wyoming, uprooting over one million trees along its 24-mile path. The tornado was rated F4, and is among the most violent high-altitude tornadoes ever recorded.

July 31

The city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was struck by a strong F4 tornado on the afternoon of July 31. The tornado was on the ground for over an hour, killed 27 people and caused 558 million (2009 CAD) in damages. The event is also known locally as "Black Friday". There has been much consideration over the years of rating the storm F5 (which would have been Canada's first), but the rating has remained F4.

November 15–16

The 1987 Arklatex tornado outbreak was an outbreak of 50 tornadoes (four rated as high as F3) resulting in eleven fatalities, ten of which were in Texas.

December 14

The West Memphis Arkansas tornado from December 14, 1987 was an F3 rated tornado that resulted in 6 fatalities and 100 injuries.

External links

• U.S. tornadoes in 1987 - Tornado History Project
• Tornado deaths monthly