Unluckiest Towns/Cities for Tornadoes

[TH2002]

Let's get some discussion going on what towns/cities are the most tornado prone, or perhaps one could say unlucky.

It's hard to give the crown to one city but I think it is between Moore, OK and Tuscaloosa, AL. There are plenty of other towns and cities I can think of which have been hit by significant to violent tornadoes at least twice and it is not possible (and would be redundant) to put them all in the poll. If you can think of any more, mention them in a post.

 

[buckeye05]

Might want to add Harvest, AL Xenia, OH and Haysville, KS.

 

[TH2002]

I maxed out the options in the poll. It simply won't allow me to add any more so I had to compensate by putting "Other" instead.

Other towns/cities I considered adding are Mountain View AR, Altus OK, Omaha NE and Joplin MO.

 

[tennessee storm chaser]

I voted my hometown jackson lol. We have had 3 ef4 tornadoes last 20 years. One close to Ef5

 

[A Guy]

The northern edge of Birmingham AL.

 

[Metalhead]

The greater St Louis area is up there. A number of F/EF3+ tornados have struck over the years. Number 1 in my mind though is Moore OK for violent tornados. Two F/EF5 tornados in less than 15 years and an F4 in 2003. I still think I-44 from Wichita Falls to St Louis was built so supercells have a convenient path to follow.

 

[Jacob]

The northern edge of Birmingham AL.

This was my first thought. The Pleasant Grove/McDonalds Chapel area. Since the 1950s, 2 F/EF5s and 2 F/EF4s. Though the 1977 F5 started there, it did its intense damage slightly further east. I think there's another I'm forgetting that went through that area too.

 

[locomusic01]

This was my first thought. The Pleasant Grove/McDonalds Chapel area. Since the 1950s, 2 F/EF5s and 2 F/EF4s. Though the 1977 F5 started there, it did its intense damage slightly further east. I think there's another I'm forgetting that went through that area too.

The 4/15/1956 McDonald Chapel F4 was narrow but quite violent. One home allegedly had parts of its foundation scoured away, although I'm obviously very skeptical. Most of the time reports like that are a result of someone just not understanding the nature of the damage they're seeing. In any event, despite a relatively short path (~20 miles IIRC), it killed 25 people and surpassed the Hudsonville-Standale F5 as the deadliest tornado of the year.

Hopefully imgur albums display okay for everybody:

 

[Gail]

Louisville/Philadelphia, MS stretch
Laurel, MS

 

[buckeye05]

Celina, OH is another one. Direct hits from two EF2s and one EF3 since 2011.

 

[TH2002]

Hoisington, KS has been hit by two F4's, first in 1919 and again in 2001.

And might as well mention Dolores, Uruguay as being the only city I can think of outside the United States to have been hit twice (in 2012 and again in 2016)

 

[Austin Dawg]

maxed out the options in the poll. It simply won't allow me to add any more so I had to compensate by putting "Other" instead.

You can always redo it to make more than one and eliminate and combine the top vote getters and you might get a cool list of top areas ranked

I wouldn't mind partake and seeing the results from an all time worst tornadoes that this bunch thinks is like the top 25.


Tupelo, MS for elimination

Birmimngham

St. Louis



I think it would be cool to see the states ranked by the crew minus Texas because it has so much area and then ranking the countries outside the US n


As for your poll for others just make more Pos/threadst like this one then bracket them up to eliminate them and get an informal rank up the ones that the posters here think are the top in order

 

[locomusic01]

It doesn't compare to some of the other places in this thread, but the Niles-Wheatland area is worth mentioning. Everybody knows about the 5/31/85 F5 obviously, but not as many people know that an F4 struck the same general area on June 7, 1947. In fact, I talked to a couple of people whose family properties outside of Niles were impacted by both tornadoes. In general though, the 1947 tornado track was between two and three miles north of the 1985 path.

It did some pretty significant damage to both homes and industrial buildings. There's some conflicting info regarding the death toll; IIRC Grazulis lists three killed, but I spoke with someone from the local historical society who gave a death toll of six - four in the Vienna/Niles area and two near Sharon. I haven't looked into it enough yet to know which is accurate.

 

[TH2002]

You can always redo it to make more than one and eliminate and combine the top vote getters and you might get a cool list of top areas ranked

I wouldn't mind partake and seeing the results from an all time worst tornadoes that this bunch thinks is like the top 25.


Tupelo, MS for elimination

Birmimngham

St. Louis



I think it would be cool to see the states ranked by the crew minus Texas because it has so much area and then ranking the countries outside the US n


As for your poll for others just make more Pos/threadst like this one then bracket them up to eliminate them and get an informal rank up the ones that the posters here think are the top in order

Here is the list I have (and yes it is EXTENSIVE):
Moore, OK - Violent tornadoes in 1999, 2003, 2010 and 2013, hit most recently in 2015.
Tuscaloosa, AL - Violent tornadoes in 1932, 2000 and 2011, hit most recently in 2021.
El Reno, OK - Hit three times in 2011, 2013 and 2019.
Codell, KS - Hit on May 20 in 1916, 1917 and 1918.
Tanner, AL - Hit twice on April 3, 1974 and again on April 27, 2011.
Wichita Falls, TX - Hit twice by F5 tornadoes in 1964 and 1979.
Jackson, TN - Hit by EF4 tornadoes in 1999, 2003 and 2008.
Murfreesboro, TN - Hit in 1913, 1974, 1997, and 2009.
Jonesboro, AR - Violent tornadoes in 1968 and 1973, hit again in 2020.
Vilonia, AR - Hit twice in 2011 and 2014.
Jarrell, TX - Hit twice in 1989 and 1997.
Joplin, MO - Hit twice in 1971 and 2011.
Altus, OK - Hit by two F3's and seven F2's since 1875.
Mountain View, AR - Hit twice in 1996 and 2008.
Huntsville, AL - Hit twice in 1989 and 2011.
Omaha, NE - Hit twice in 1913 and 1975.
Hoisington, KS - Hit twice in 1919 and 2001.
Haysville, KS - Hit twice in 1991 and 1999.
Hattiesburg, MS - Hit twice in 2013 and 2017.
Tupelo, MS - Hit in 1936 and 2014, and again in 2021.
Harvest, AL - Hit twice on April 3, 1974, and in 1995, 2011, and yet again in 2012.
Birmingham, AL - Hit in 1932, 1956, 1977, and 2011.
Dolores, Uruguay - Hit twice in 2012 and 2016.
Niles, Ohio - Hit twice in 1947 and 1985 (Thanks locomusic01 for bringing the 1947 tornado to my attention!)
Celina, Ohio - Hit in 2011, 2017 and again in 2019 (Thanks buckeye05 for bringing this city to my attention!)
St. Louis, MO - Hit in 1896 and 2011.
Xenia, Ohio - Hit twice in 1974 and 2000.
Nashville, Tennessee - Hit in 1933, 1998 and again in 2020.
Louisville, KY - Hit in 1890, 1964, 1974 and again in 1996.

I do like the idea of making multiple polls with a "process of elimination" used to come up with the TalkWeather community's ranking of the most tornado prone/unlucky cities and towns. It is something I could do if enough people are willing to participate and the mods are okay with it.

I have no plans to close this thread though. I have already learned a lot myself and would love to keep the discussion going.

 

[locomusic01]

I could've sworn I saw Murphysboro, IL mentioned here somewhere but apparently not. It was of course devastated by the Tri-State tornado, but it was also struck by an F4 on 12/18/1957 during a significant outbreak sequence. It followed the Tri-State path pretty closely and actually struck Gorham and several other towns as well. The violent damage was limited mostly to a small section of Murphysboro, where nearly a dozen people were killed.

 

[TH2002]

I could've sworn I saw Murphysboro, IL mentioned here somewhere but apparently not. It was of course devastated by the Tri-State tornado, but it was also struck by an F4 on 12/18/1957 during a significant outbreak sequence. It followed the Tri-State path pretty closely and actually struck Gorham and several other towns as well. The violent damage was limited mostly to a small section of Murphysboro, where nearly a dozen people were killed.

Wasn't that general area hit yet again by another F4 on 9/22/2006?

 

[locomusic01]

Wasn't that general area hit yet again by another F4 on 9/22/2006?

Yeah, the Crosstown, MO F4. I don't recall the exact details of its path off-hand but I believe it dissipated just a couple miles north or northeast of Murphysboro. IIRC the path was a bit wonky though, so it didn't necessarily strike a lot of the same areas.

 

[TH2002]

Yeah, the Crosstown, MO F4. I don't recall the exact details of its path off-hand but I believe it dissipated just a couple miles north or northeast of Murphysboro. IIRC the path was a bit wonky though, so it didn't necessarily strike a lot of the same areas.

Like Tri-State I am pretty sure Crosstown '06 was a very fast mover reaching a forward speed of nearly 70MPH at points.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Yeah, the Crosstown, MO F4. I don't recall the exact details of its path off-hand but I believe it dissipated just a couple miles north or northeast of Murphysboro. IIRC the path was a bit wonky though, so it didn't necessarily strike a lot of the same areas.

I mentioned some of the details on the other thread, here's a pic:



Another localized area of the US prone to violent tornadoes, wonder what local geography/topography plays a role here?
Also the 2006 Crosstown tornado's appearance is probably what the Tri-State looked like for much of its path, aside from being clearly visible and not rain-wrapped.

 

[TH2002]

I mentioned some of the details on the other thread, here's a pic:

View attachment 10710

Another localized area of the US prone to violent tornadoes, wonder what local geography/topography plays a role here?
Also the 2006 Crosstown tornado's appearance is probably what the Tri-State looked like for much of its path, aside from being clearly visible and not rain-wrapped.

I would imagine that map was created pre-2017 but the Perryville tornado is yet another one to add to the map.

One localized area of the US that seems to be extremely prone to tornadoes is the area where NE OK/SE KS/SW MO meet. Quapaw OK and Baxter Springs KS got hit by the same EF2 in 2014 while Joplin watched.