PlainHazard

Washington tornadoes

Every recorded tornado since 1950 · 28 counties with a record

Washington has recorded 136 tornadoes from 1950 through 2025, about 2.9 a year since 2000, with 3 rated F3/EF3 or stronger (NOAA Storm Prediction Center). The deadliest was the April 5, 1972 Vancouver tornado (6 deaths in Washington). Washington ranks 42nd of 52 states and territories by count and 47th of 51 per square mile.

Tornadoes in Washington, 1950 to 2025

Tornadoes per year (SPC; a tornado that crossed a state line counts in each state it touched).

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
  • 1996: tornado reports rose with NEXRAD Doppler radar, mid-1990s (SPC)
Tornadoes
1361950 to 2025
A year since 2000
2.9average
Deaths
6303 injuries
F3/EF3 or stronger
32% of tornadoes
Busiest year
199714 tornadoes

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025 (state segments). SPC severe weather database.

Are tornadoes common in Washington?

Washington averages about 2.9 tornadoes a year since 2000, 42nd of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 1997 (14). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Washington records 20 tornadoes since 1950, 47th of 51 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Florida 701
  2. 2. Oklahoma 658
  3. 3. Mississippi 614
  4. 4. Louisiana 579
  5. 5. Illinois 567
  6. 6. Kansas 564
  7. 7. Iowa 555
  8. 8. Alabama 537
  9. 9. Indiana 492
  10. 10. Maryland 438
  11. 47. Washington 20

Source: NOAA SPC, tornadoes 1950-2025, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Washington have the most tornadoes?

Per square mile, Clark County leads Washington: 15 days with a tornado record since 1950, 23.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Spokane County has the most tornado records (16 since 1950); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Clark County 23.9 (15)
  2. Spokane County 8.5 (16)
  3. Thurston County 6.9 (5)
  4. Pierce County 5.4 (9)
  5. Kitsap County 5.1 (2)
  6. Cowlitz County 4.4 (5)
  7. Walla Walla County 3.9 (5)
  8. Lincoln County 3.9 (12)
  9. Snohomish County 3.4 (7)
  10. Pacific County 3.2 (3)
  11. Benton County 2.9 (5)
  12. King County 2.4 (5)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1950 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is tornado season in Washington?

Washington's tornadoes by month. The busiest month is May (32 tornadoes).

The values, month by month

Jan 4 · Feb 0 · Mar 7 · Apr 20 · May 32 · Jun 18 · Jul 12 · Aug 13 · Sep 8 · Oct 13 · Nov 3 · Dec 6 (records).

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments by the month they began, 1950-2025.

What were the deadliest tornadoes in Washington?

Washington: the tornadoes with the most deaths in the state, 1950-2025
DateCountiesRatingPath in stateKilledInjured
1972-04-05Vancouver · ClarkWhole track: OR, WA; 6 deathsF38.7 mi6300

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (state segments: deaths and path inside Washington), 1950-2025; counties are the first four the SPC lists for the segment. SPC severe weather database.

Where have the strongest tornadoes tracked in Washington?

  • F2/EF2
  • F3/EF3
  • F4/EF4
  • F5/EF5
  • no end point filed
16 tornadoes rated 2 or higher drawn from start to end of the whole track (a track that crossed into Washington from another state is drawn in full); 119 rated 0 or 1 are left off the map.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, start and end points of each track; county lines: Census Bureau cartographic boundaries (2017), via us-atlas. SPC severe weather database. Census cartographic boundary files.

The strongest tornadoes in Washington

Washington: the highest-rated tornadoes, 1950-2025
DateCountiesRatingPath in stateWidthKilled
1972-04-05Vancouver · ClarkF38.7 mi440 yd6
1969-12-12Seattle · KingF33.8 mi100 yd0
1972-04-05Creston · LincolnF30.1 mi83 yd0
1957-05-06Rockford · SpokaneF21.5 mi23 yd0
1965-11-10Centralia · LewisF21.5 mi23 yd0
2018-12-18Port Orchard · KitsapEF21.35 mi285 yd0
1957-04-30Yakima · YakimaF21 mi23 yd0
1966-03-14ColumbiaF21 mi13 yd0
1972-04-05Kettle Falls · StevensF21 mi100 yd0
1954-06-15Spangle · SpokaneF20.5 mi100 yd0

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database; F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after.

The longest tornado paths in Washington

Washington: the longest paths inside the state, 1950-2025
DateTornado and countiesRatingPath in stateWidthKilled
1958-04-24Walla WallaF045 mi17 yd0
1997-05-31LincolnF112 mi50 yd0
1964-05-22Walla WallaF010.7 mi10 yd0
1956-05-09BentonF010.2 mi80 yd0
2008-01-10ClarkEF110.11 mi440 yd0
2009-09-06PierceEF19.6 mi170 yd0
1972-04-05Vancouver · ClarkF38.7 mi440 yd6
1964-08-18KingF05.2 mi30 yd0
1997-05-31SpokaneF15 mi50 yd0
1997-07-21OkanoganF15 mi100 yd0

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments: path length and width inside the state. SPC severe weather database.

Tornadoes in every Washington county

All 28 counties: tornadoes whose track touched each, and the strongest
Washington: tornadoes whose track touched each county since 1950, most first
CountyTornadoesStrongest
Spokane County16F/EF2
Clark County15F/EF3
Lincoln County12F/EF3
Pierce County9F/EF1
Yakima County8F/EF2
Snohomish County7F/EF2
Grant County6F/EF2
Benton County5F/EF0
Cowlitz County5F/EF1
King County5F/EF3
Okanogan County5F/EF1
Stevens County5F/EF2
Thurston County5F/EF1
Walla Walla County5F/EF2
Adams County3F/EF1
Douglas County3F/EF0
Grays Harbor County3F/EF1
Lewis County3F/EF2
Pacific County3F/EF0
Whitman County3F/EF2
Columbia County2F/EF2
Franklin County2F/EF1
Kitsap County2F/EF2
Ferry County1F/EF0
Kittitas County1F/EF0
Mason County1F/EF1
Pend Oreille County1F/EF2
Whatcom County1F/EF0

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database: whole tornadoes whose track touched the county (any state segment listing it). SPC severe weather database.

The costliest tornadoes in Washington

Washington: the most damaging tornadoes since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2018-12-18 TornadoPort Orchard, Kitsap County At 1350PST, a tornado touched down near Port Orchard, WA. This tornado continued on the ground in a northeast direction for approximately 5 minutes. Significant structure damage was evident in the damage path, including one home where the roof was completely removed. Ultimately, 300 homes and businesses were impacted ... EF2 1.35 mi x 285 yd 0 0 $1.4M
1993-04-26 TornadoTo 10 Ne A spotter in Enumclaw reported winds of 40 to 60 mph. F1 5 mi x 70 yd 0 0 $1.0M
2008-01-10 TornadoHazel Dell, Clark County Tornado had estimated wind speeds of 90 to 110 mph. Damage reports along the path of the tornado include: 200+ trees down, most between 12 to 24 inches in diameter, and approximately 6 trees greater than 36 inches; 30 to 40 homes damaged, with primarily roof damage; 19 power poles were snapped off; 3 lightly ... EF1 10.11 mi x 440 yd 0 0 $720K
1997-05-31 TornadoDeer Park, Spokane County nws survey team concluded f1 tornado touched down and pulled up numerous times as it traveled from Pruffer and Wallbridge in se stevens county to near riverside in spokane county F1 5 mi x 50 yd 0 0 $643K
1997-05-31 TornadoWilbur, Lincoln County top of barn blown off and several outbuildings destroyed in wilbur. tree and irrigation system damage and major damage to large horse barn in creston F1 12 mi x 50 yd 0 0 $552K
2015-12-10 TornadoBattle Ground, Clark County Around 36 homes and 2 businesses sustained damage from the tornado. Dozens of trees with a diameter of 1 to 3 feet were uprooted and blown down, and around a half of a dozen 1 to 2 foot diameter trees were snapped. EF1 0.82 mi x 528 yd 0 0 $387K
1997-05-31 TornadoTacoma, Pierce County A weak tornado touched down in a south Tacoma neighborhood just east of I-5. A church suffered roof and beam damage and several trees were pushed over or snapped off. There were also some downed fences. F1 0.5 mi x 0 yd 0 0 $276K
2009-09-06 TornadoBonney Lake, Pierce County Confirmed EF1 tornado with estimated wind speed 100-110 mph. Maximum width was 170 yards. On ground intermittently over a 9.6 mile path length for 16 minutes. EF1 9.6 mi x 170 yd 0 0 $248K

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $25M, in the dollars of the day) holds: April 5, 1972 (tornado, Clark County, 6 killed).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are tornadoes becoming more frequent in Washington?

Washington's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. The Storm Prediction Center notes that tornado reports rose especially around the installation of the NEXRAD Doppler radar network in the mid-1990s, so a rising count is partly better detection; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Tornadoes: Washington and the United States by decade
DecadeWashingtonUnited StatesWashington's share
1950s74,8370.14%
1960s86,8630.12%
1970s158,6330.17%
1980s198,2500.23%
1990s2312,2050.19%
2000s3112,8920.24%
2010s2012,2320.16%
2020-25138,2340.16%

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, state segments.

The most recent tornadoes in Washington

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2024-10-28 TornadoLongview, Cowlitz County EF0 0.2 mi x 20 yd 0 0 –
2024-05-01 TornadoVantage, Kittitas County EF0 0.35 mi x 1 yd 0 0 –
2024-04-18 TornadoLyons, Spokane County EF0 0.01 mi x 5 yd 0 0 –
2024-03-26 TornadoRocklyn, Lincoln County EF0 0.01 mi x 25 yd 0 0 –
2023-10-11 TornadoLa Center, Clark County EF0 0.5 mi x 100 yd 0 0 $969
2023-07-10 TornadoWilbur, Lincoln County EF0 0.9 mi x 40 yd 0 0 –
2023-05-26 TornadoMae, Grant County EF0 0.37 mi x 25 yd 0 0 –
2022-05-06 TornadoGlenrose, Spokane County EF0 2.14 mi x 250 yd 0 0 $40K
2022-05-06 TornadoSpokane International Ar, Spokane County EF0 0.59 mi x 50 yd 0 0 $10K
2021-09-27 TornadoDollar Corner, Clark County EF0 3.9 mi x 240 yd 0 0 $44K
2021-03-19 TornadoIlwaco Airport, Pacific County EF0 0.3 mi x 60 yd 0 0 –
2020-10-10 TornadoNeilton, Grays Harbor County EF1 0.5 mi x 30 yd 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for tornadoes in Washington

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Washington for tornadoes, counting its incident type and declarations that name tornado in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); one was a major disaster, the latest on March 4, 2019.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
2019-03-04DR-4418Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, Mudslides, Tornado8

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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