This page documents notable tornadoes and tornado outbreaks worldwide in 2018. Strong and destructive tornadoes form most frequently in the United States, Brazil, Bangladesh and Eastern India, but they can occur almost anywhere under the right conditions. Tornadoes also develop occasionally in southern Canada during the Northern Hemisphere's summer and somewhat regularly at other times of the year across Europe, Asia, Argentina and Australia. Tornadic events are often accompanied with other forms of severe weather, including strong thunderstorms, strong winds, and hail. There were 1,169 preliminary filtered reported tornadoes and 1,121 confirmed tornadoes in the United States in 2018. Worldwide, 20 tornado-related deaths were confirmed; 10 in the United States, four in Brazil, two each in Indonesia and Italy, and one each in Argentina and Canada.
The United States saw near-average numbers of tornadoes, but near-record low numbers of strong (EF2-EF5) tornadoes. 2018 was the only year since reliable record-keeping began in the 1950s in which no officially rated violent (EF4-EF5) tornadoes occurred in the United States. 2018 also had the lowest number of tornado-related fatalities on record in the United States. In contrast to the United States, Canada experienced above-average numbers of strong tornadoes, including the only officially rated violent tornado of the year.
Events United States
Costliest United States tornadoes
January January 1 (France)
Four tornadoes were reported in western France on January 1, including two strong F2 tornadoes. The first tornado touched down and completely destroyed a wind turbine at F2 strength near Bouin, in the region of Pays de la Loire. The second tornado was a weak and brief F0 that was about 50 yards wide, that hit Saint-Paul-Mont-Penit, again in Pays de la Loire. This tornado damaged an equestrian center, tossed a trampoline, downed trees, and damaged the roof of a school. The third tornado was an F1 with a damage path of about 5 kilometers long that hit to the south of Macau, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The Macau area tornado caused considerable roof and structural damage to homes and businesses, and downed signs and fences along its path, with much of the damage occurring in the Lafont area. The last tornado was an F2 that hit Aize and nearby rural areas in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. Numerous large trees were snapped or uprooted, outbuildings were destroyed, and multiple homes sustained severe damage as a result of this strong tornado, including a few that had their roofs completely torn off.
January 21–22 (United States)
A small outbreak of 13 tornadoes impacted the Southern United States on January 21 and 22. On January 21, an EF1 tornado struck the town of Huntington, Arkansas, where trees were downed, a metal structure was destroyed, and a mobile home was damaged along with multiple chicken houses. An EF2 tornado caused significant damage as it clipped the eastern outskirts of De Kalb, Texas. The De Kalb tornado tore roofs off of homes, snapped and twisted numerous trees, damaged a church, and completely destroyed many large chicken houses along its path. Weak tornado activity continued the following day. An EF1 tornado near Taylorsville, Mississippi destroyed sheds and barns, damaged homes, pushed a mobile home off of its foundation, snapped and uprooted many trees, and injured one person. Another EF1 tornado caused extensive roof damage to a church and multiple homes near Greenbrier, Arkansas. One injury and no fatalities occurred as a result of this outbreak.
February February 24 (United States)
On February 24, the Storm Prediction Center issued an enhanced risk of severe weather across much of the Lower Mississippi River Valley. This included a 10% hatched risk area for tornadoes. A mixed convective mode was predicted, with both bowing line segments and discrete supercell thunderstorms expected to develop in the threat area. That day, temperatures peaked in the mid-70s°F (mid-20s°C) with dewpoints in the mid-to-upper 60s°F. This also included a risk of flash flooding, damaging wind gusts exceeding , as well as the aforementioned 10% tornado risk, and a 5% risk for hail.Morning update on today's severe weather timing and threats, Memphis Weather.Net Blog, February 24, 2018 Throughout the event, the development of isolated supercell thunderstorms that was expected did not occur. However, a large quasi-linear convective system developed, and numerous semi-discrete supercell structures and embedded mesovortices within the larger line of severe storms produced a moderate outbreak of tornadoes. While most of these tornadoes were relatively brief, several of them were strong, resulting in major damage and fatalities.
A high-end EF2 tornado near Adairville, Kentucky destroyed several homes and barns and killed an elderly woman, ending a record 283-day streak without any tornado-related deaths. Another high-end EF2 struck the southeast side of Hopkinsville, severely damaging multiple two-story apartment buildings and injuring nine people. An EF1 tornado caused roof damage to many homes and businesses in Murray as well. In Arkansas, an EF1 tornado caused moderate damage to many structures in the town of Keiser and blew much of the roof off of a hotel near Osceola. An EF2 tornado near Knobel killed one person when a mobile home was thrown into a pond. The same tornado later crossed into Missouri and struck the town of Malden, where numerous homes were heavily damaged and several people were injured. Also in Missouri, several homes in the town of Matthews had their roofs ripped off as the result of an EF2 tornado. Another EF2 tornado touched down in the eastern part of Clarksville, Tennessee as well, where several homes and duplexes were damaged or destroyed, and many vehicles and a few buildings were damaged at an industrial complex. A total of 30 tornadoes were confirmed as a result of this outbreak, which resulted in two fatalities and at least 20 injuries.
After the line of storms, flooding occurred along the Ohio River, which crested at , the 22nd highest in recorded history and highest since 1997.Cincinnati flood of 2018: How does it compare?, WLWT, February 26, 2018 This flooding caused six people to die. The flooding from this particular storm caused rainfall levels to hit in Cincinnati, in Louisville, and in Evansville.USA – 6 Dead as Flooding in Central and Southern States Worsens, FloodList, February 26, 2018 Damage totalled $526 million, including $500 million from flooding and $26 million from tornadoes.
March March 12 (Italy) During the overnight hours of March 12, a damaging F2 tornado moved through the southern portions of Caserta, Italy injuring at least eight people. Well-built brick buildings had windows blown out and sustained some collapse of exterior masonry. Large business signs were toppled, and vehicles were thrown off of roads and severely damaged. Brick fences were blown over, large trees were downed, and multiple homes and apartment buildings were damaged as well.
March 18–19 (United States)
On March 18, the Storm Prediction Center issued a slight risk for severe weather across much of the Southern United States. Scattered severe weather occurred, including an EF1 tornado that caused minor damage near the town of Glazier, Texas. The system pushed eastward on March 19, along with a highly unstable and sheared environment in place across portions of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. The SPC then issued a moderate risk for severe weather, including a 15% hatched risk area for tornadoes. Multiple strong tornadoes touched down that evening, including an EF2 that uprooted hundreds of trees and ripped roofs off of homes near Ardmore, Alabama. A high-end EF2 severely damaged or destroyed several homes near the town of Southside. The most significant tornado of the event was a damaging, long-tracked EF3 that struck Jacksonville, Alabama, where the Jacksonville State University campus and multiple apartment complexes sustained major damage. This tornado also became the first EF3 tornado in the United States in 306 days.Wild week of weather!, ABC News, March 23, 2018 The same tornado also destroyed several houses and mobile homes in the small community of Nances Creek. In Russellville, an EF1 tornado caused minor damage to numerous homes and several businesses. Further east in Georgia, an EF2 tornado touched down in the Atlanta suburb of South Fulton, damaging many homes in a subdivision. The supercell thunderstorms that produced the tornadoes during this event were very high-precipitation in nature, some of which even produced some very large hail; this included baseball to grapefruit-sized hailstones that fell across several counties in northern Alabama. One particularly massive hailstone found in Cullman County was measured at approximately 5.25 inches in peak width, had a circumference of 13.75 inches, and weighed 8.9 ounces; that made it the largest hailstone ever recorded in Alabama state history. No fatalities occurred during this outbreak, though seven people were injured. A total of 22 tornadoes were confirmed. In addition to tornadoes, the largest hailstone in Alabama history at fell.Record Hailstorms and Hailstones in the U.S., Weather Underground, April 27, 2018
April April 3 (United States)
On April 3, 2018, the Storm Prediction Center issued a moderate risk of severe weather throughout parts of the Midwest and Southern United States, including a 10% hatched risk area for tornadoes across much of the Ohio Valley. Multiple tornadoes occurred throughout the Midwest, causing damage in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, a few of which were strong. An EF1 tornado caused damage to farms near Xenia, Ohio on the 44th anniversary of the 1974 F5 Xenia Tornado, while another EF1 damaged homes and power poles in the Columbus suburb of Grove City. In Simpson County, Kentucky, a man was killed when flooding washed his car away. Two EF2 tornadoes destroyed homes near the Illinois towns of Galatia and Vandalia. In Energy, Illinois, an EF1 tornado heavily damaged a couple of businesses. An EF2 tornado near Burna, Kentucky destroyed vehicles and twisted a home off of its foundation as well. It also killed one person in their home. Numerous reports of damaging straight-line winds and large hail were also received. 22 tornadoes were confirmed as a result of this outbreak.
April 6–7 (United States)
An area of low pressure pushed eastward from the Texas Panhandle into northwestern Louisiana on April 6. The Storm Prediction Center issued an enhanced risk of severe weather, including a 5% risk of tornadoes. Within the moist and unstable warm sector from eastern Texas into western Mississippi, severe thunderstorms developed and led to numerous reports of damaging winds and large hail, as well as several tornadoes. Subsequent damage surveys confirmed 20 tornadoes from April 6 into April 7, most notably an EF2 wedge tornado near Coushatta, Louisiana that prompted a tornado emergency and destroyed several metal structures. Many trees and power poles were snapped as a result of this tornado as well. Three separate EF1 tornadoes also damaged several homes and downed many trees near DeRidder, Louisiana.
April 13–15 (United States)