Tornado Statistics

Developed by Professor Theodore Fujita of the University of Chicago to classify tornadoes according to wind speed and damage.

• (F0) Gale Tornado (40 - 72 m.p.h.) - Light damage: Some
  damage to chimneys; break branches off trees; push over
  shallow-rooted trees; damage sign boards
• (F1) Moderate Tornado (73 - 112 m.p.h.) - Moderate
  damage: The lower limit (73 m.p.h.) is the beginning of
  hurricane wind speed; peel surface off roofs; mobile homes
  pushed off foundations or overturned; moving auto pushed off
  road
• (F2) Significant Tornado (112 - 157 m.p.h.) - Considerable
  damage: Roofs torn off frame houses; mobile home demolished;
  boxcars pushed over; large trees snapped or uprooted; heavy
  cars lifted off ground and thrown
• (F3) Severe Tornado (158 - 206 m.p.h.) - Severe damage:
  Roof and some walls torn off well-constructed houses; trains
  overturned; most trees in forests uprooted; heavy cars lifted
  off ground and thrown
• (F4) Devastating Tornado (207 - 260 m.p.h.) - Devastating
  damage: Well-constructed houses leveled; structures blown off
  weak foundations; cars and other large objects thrown about
• (F5) Incredible Tornado (261 - 318 m.p.h.) - Incredible
  damage: Strong frame houses are lifted off foundations and
  carried a considerable distance to disintegrate;
  automobile-sized missiles fly through air in excess of 100
  meters; trees debarked
• (F6+) Inconceivable Tornado (319 - 379 m.p.h.) The
  maximum wind speed of tornadoes is not expected to reach the
  F6 wind speeds.

Tornadoes can be classified into one of three types:

• Weak Tornadoes (F0/F1) account for 74 percent of all
  tornadoes cause less than 5 percent of tornado deaths; lifetime
  usually 1-10+ minutes; wind speeds are less than 113 m.p.h.
• Strong Tornadoes (F2/F3) account for 25 percent of all
  tornadoes cause nearly 30 percent of all tornado deaths; may
  last 20 minutes or longer; wind speeds are 113 m.p.h. to 206
  m.p.h.
• Violent Tornadoes (F4/F5) account for less than 2 percent of
  all tornadoes cause 67 percent of all tornado deaths
  nationwide; may last for one hour or more; wind speeds are
  greater than 206 m.p.h.

Since 1950, North Carolina has averaged 14 tornadoes and two tornado-related fatalities each year. The year 1998 was a record tornado year in North Carolina, with 66 confirmed tornadoes through the end of November. The previous record year was 1996, when 51 tornadoes hit the state. In 2000, North Carolina experienced 23 tornadoes that caused one injury.

In North Carolina, F1 tornadoes account for 74 percent of all tornadoes. Only 1.6 percent of this state's tornadoes had a F4 classification; tornadoes classified as F4 cause 44.6 percent of the injuries and 45.8 percent of the fatalities in North Carolina.