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 1991, 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, however by the 1990s tornado statistics were coming closer to the numbers we see today.

Synopsis

The Tornado "Season" of 1991 looks generally very average on paper. The spring months of March, April, May and June all saw very large numbers of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks. The fall, sometimes referred to as a "second season" was very quiet. The Andover, Kansas outbreak of April 26, 1991 was famous for its violent tornadoes, incredible video and is the signature event of this tornado season.

Events

Confirmed tornado total for the entire year 1991 in the United States.

March

There were 157 tornadoes confirmed in the US in March. Late March saw several small to moderate outbreaks. Tornadoes on March 22 killed six people in Kentucky and Tennessee. A small outbreak on March 26 saw 21 tornadoes including an F4 near Hutchinson, Kansas (no fatalities). Two more people were killed by tornadoes on March 27 (in Wisconsin and Indiana). An F1 tornado in Talladega County, Alabama killed five people on March 29.

April 26

The 1991 Andover, Kansas tornado outbreak was a violent outbreak of 55 tornadoes which took place on April 26, 1991, killing 24 people and injuring hundreds more. The killer Andover tornado was rated F5, while five others were rated F4, including the monstorous Red River tornado. This is also the outbreak with the infamous video shot by a news crew hiding under an overpass in Kansas.

November

There were 20 tornadoes confirmed in the US in November. One tornado, rated F4, killed two people near Springfield, Missouri on November 29.

External links

• U.S. tornadoes in 1991 - Tornado History Project
• Tornado deaths monthly