Several destructive, strong and deadly tornadoes have formed in the U.S. state of Texas, which experiences on average 137 tornadoes per year, since 1878, the year with the first recorded instance in the state.

Climatology Each year on average, 137 tornadoes touch down in Texas, the most of any U.S. state. Its position next to the Gulf of Mexico provides the required moisture to generate tornadoes any month out of the year.

Events

Pre-1950 January 26, 1879 – An F2 tornado hit Lockhart, killing one and injuring 15. January 31, 1879 – An F2 tornado hit New Braunfels, killing one and injuring 15. May 28, 1880 – A violent F4 tornado hit Savoy, Texas, killing 14 people and injuring 60 more and nearly wiping out the town. Witnesses described the tornado as "a funnel blazing with balls of fire". May 6, 1882 – An F2 tornado hit Marshall, killing one and injuring five. April 27, 1883 – An estimated F4 tornado hit Belton, destroying 3 homes and scattering debris for over a mile. Five people died: three in Midway and two north of Belton. A half-hour later, an F2 hit Milano, killing one. June 3, 1883 – An F2 tornado hit Greenville, killing one and injuring five. November 5, 1885 – An F3 tornado hit Avinger, killing five and injuring seven. May 4, 1890 – An F3 tornado hit Acton, damaging much of the town but causing no deaths. May 31, 1892 – An F4 tornado devastated Temple, killing 10. A newspaper described the tornado as "the whirling tiger of the air". December 6, 1892 – An estimated F4 tornado hit Atlanta, killing as many as 15. April 28, 1893 – At least 23 die when an F4 tornado hit Cisco, damaging or leveling much of the town. A train was thrown some 80-200 feet from the tracks. March 17-18, 1894 – Several strong tornadoes touch down, including a narrow, but devastating F4 that hit the western side of Emory, killing 4 and injuring 40. This tornado may have also injured another five in Sulphur Springs as an F2. An F3 killed 8 east of Longview, an F2 killed one in Lufkin, and another four died in Nacogdoches when two tornadoes (an F3 and an F2) hit both western and eastern sides of town. Another F2 killed one (possibly two) near Celeste. May 15, 1896 – Part of a larger outbreak, a destructive F5 tornado ravaged Sherman, destroying large portions of the town and killing an estimated 73 people. April 30, 1898 – An F4 tornado hit Mobeetie, killing seven and injuring 35. May 18, 1902 – An F4 tornado touched down in the city of Goliad, killing 114 people. This made it the deadliest tornado in state history, later tied by the 1953 Waco tornado. The same day, an F2 killed three in Fairfield. July 5, 1905 – Unusual for Texas at this time of year, an F4 tornado tore through Montague County and devastated several rural communities, killing 18. April 26, 1906 – An F4 tornado hit Bellevue, killing 17. May 30, 1909 – An F4 tornado devastated Zephyr, killing at least 34. April 20, 1912 – Part of a larger outbreak, several strong tornadoes touched down in North Texas, killing seven, from an F3 and two F4s. An F1 killed one in Taylor. April 27, 1912 – A long-tracked F4 tornado destroyed at least 30 homes in six communities in Rusk and Panola counties, killing 4. April 9, 1919 – Four F4 tornadoes touched down in various areas of Texas, killing 64 people and injuring hundreds of others. The deadliest of these tornadoes tracked through Wood County, destroying rural communities and causing an estimated $450,000 (1919 USD) in damages. April 13, 1921 – An F4 devastated the central and eastern portions of Melissa, killing 11 and destroying every church in town and the entire business district except for the bank. Some homes and farms were swept away. April 15, 1921 – A tornado family (including some F4s) traveled on a 112 mile path across northeast Texas into southwestern Arkansas. Six died in Avinger and two more in Marion County. May 4, 1922 – An F2 and then an F4 tornado struck Austin, killing an estimated 12-13 people and causing $300,000 (1922 USD) or more in damages. Both were widely photographed, and caused extensive damage to Austin. May 14, 1923 – A massive F5 tornado swept away ranch homes across Howard and Mitchell counties, killing 23. April 13, 1927 – A mile-wide F5 tornado destroyed much of Rocksprings, killing 72; another two were killed near Leakey when the tornado "skipped" into Real County. This tornado is the southernmost F5 to hit the United States. May 9, 1927 – Three F4 tornadoes touched down in the counties of Collin, Hunt and Dallas, killing 40 people and completely destroying numerous buildings and structures. The deadliest, which killed 19, hit Nevada and destroyed up to a half of the town. October 29, 1929 – An F2 tornado tore across the eastern side of Houston, injuring five. May 6, 1930 – A tornado outbreak across eastern Texas killed at least 81, most of which were from two F4s. One wiped out the town of Frost, killing at least 22. The second F4 killed 36, most of them tenant farmers in poorly built homes near Kenedy, Runge and Nordheim. An F2 killed one north of Gonzales, an F1 killed one in Converse, and another F2 killed two near Bronson. November 15, 1930 – An F2 tornado killed one and injured two in western Houston. June 10, 1938 – A slow-moving F5 tornado with an unusual boomerang-shaped track struck the west side of Clyde, killing 14, including four when their car was picked up by the tornado. December 12, 1940 – An F2 tornado destroyed two farm homes north of Katy, killing one person and injuring another. A couple in the other house escaped in time before the tornado struck. April 28, 1942 – An F4 (likely an F5) tornado destroyed parts of Crowell, killing 11 and injuring 250. August 27, 1945 – During the 1945 Texas hurricane, an F3 tornado touched down in northeast Houston and travelled for 22 miles across northern Houston, killing one and injuring 15. January 4, 1946 – Part of a larger outbreak, multiple strong tornadoes touched down in East Texas. An F3 hit Clawson, killing three while Nacogdoches and Appleby were hit hard by an F4 that killed 10; Texas A&M University states that these two tornadoes were one and the same, with a death toll of 13. A second F4 touched down near Log Lake and moved northeast towards Palestine, killing 15. The National Weather Service office in Amarillo lists this tornado as one of the worst in Texas history. One survivor reported the sound of the tornado as a "freight train like roar". An F2 killed eight on a path from St. Paul to Shiloh. 24-25 people were injured from two other F2s. April 9, 1947 – A long-tracked, large (up to 2 miles wide at times), and fast-moving F5 tornado destroyed Glazier and much of Higgins, killing at least 68 in Texas. May 15, 1949 – An estimated F4 tornado hit Amarillo, killing seven and injuring 82. This tornado remains the strongest and costliest in Amarillo. Another estimated F4 injured three in Stratford before crossing into Oklahoma.

1950–1959

February 11-12, 1950 – Several tornadoes touched down in East and Southeast Texas. An F3 killed a woman in her 100s in western La Porte (Harris County) and another F3 killed a second person in Bowie County. On the 12th, an F3 leveled a home in Fellowship, killing two and injuring at least another 32. The tornado also caused damage in Jericho before crossing into Louisiana. April 28, 1950 – An F4 tornado tore through Clyde, killing 5. 21 homes were completely destroyed by this tornado. March 12, 1952 – An F2 tornado touched down in Carthage, causing extensive damage to homes and injuring 2 people. The tornado is estimated to have caused $25,000 (1953 USD) in damages. March 13, 1952 – A large and violent F4 tornado tracked through Haskell County, killing 17 people and injuring another 25. The tornado caused $5 million (1953 USD) in damages. April 28, 1953 – An F3 tornado hit Smithville, destroying multiple poorly built homes and injuring 3 people. Another F3 tornado tracked through Hays County, destroying up to four homes. 1 person was killed, and it was estimated that the tornado caused $250,000 (1953 USD) in damages. A destructive and violent F4 tornado also tracked through Bexar County, hitting suburban areas of San Antonio and killing 2 people. May 11, 1953 – Amid a larger outbreak, three tornadoes touched down across the state, including an F5 that struck Waco in McLennan County, killing 114 people and injuring 597 others. This made it the deadliest tornado in state history, along with the 1902 Goliad tornado. Across Waco, the tornado damaged or destroyed more than 1,600 buildings. December 1, 1953 – An F3 tornado touched down near Seguin, destroying seven houses and injuring 10 people. The tornado caused $250,000 (1953 USD) in damages. December 2, 1953 – An F3 tornado touched down near Tanglewood, destroying three houses and two churches. 4 people were injured. An F2 tornado hit Lane City, shifting two farmhouses off of their foundations and inflicting crop damage. Another deadly F2 tornado hit areas near Navasota, completely destroying a house with 2 people inside, instantly killing both. Multiple farmhouses and barns were also heavily damaged and destroyed. A tornado briefly inflicted F1 damage to Pollok, and three houses were unroofed with a garage heavily damaged. An F2 tornado struck Brazos County, destroying a house. May 25, 1955 – An F4 tornado tracked through Collingsworth and Wheeler counties, destroying thirteen farmhouses and killing 2. Damage caused by the tornado was estimated to be $500,000 (1955 USD). Another brief F0 tornado touched down near Sterling City before lifting. An F1 tornado was observed near Rotan, and an F2 tornado damaged two houses near Benjamin. Another F2 briefly touched down in the Wichita Falls area, causing damage to trees. May 26, 1955 – A brief F0 tornado touched down near Corsicana, causing little damage to crops. March 17, 1957 – A tornado outbreak hit the Greater Houston and Beaumont-Port Arthur areas. An F2 hit Santa Fe and Dickinson, injuring four. Another F2 hit the northwest side of Texas City, killing one and injuring seven. A third F2 moved over Galveston Bay near Goat Island as a waterspout, injuring four. A final F2 hit Groves, causing no casualties. April 2, 1957 – A brief tornado inflicted F0 damage on crops in Cooke County. An F2 tornado damaged multiple houses near Howe, and 2 people were injured. The tornado caused an estimated $25,000 (1957 USD) in damages. Another F2 tornado touched down in Montague County, destroying a church and a warehouse. One person was injured when the building they were sheltering in collapsed. A brief F0 tornado also inflicted minimal damage to crops near Grapevine. An F0 tornado in Grayson County destroyed multiple houses and caused crop damage. A long-tracked F3 tornado hit Melissa, destroying over 10 homes and injuring four people. The tornado caused $500,000 (1957 USD) in damages, and was part of a larger tornado family. An F3 tornado tore through Western Dallas, causing $2.5 million (1957 USD) in damages and killing 10 people. An F2 tornado tracked through Lamar County, destroying multiple homes and outbuildings and killing one person. Another F2 tornado damaged multiple barns and killed hundreds of cattle in Wheeler County. An F3 tornado struck Newark, directly impacting a school and destroying 11 poorly built homes. Two people were injured. A brief but strong F2 tornado also destroyed a rodeo arena and a K-Bar Ranch. An F1 tornado tracked through rural Denton County, damaging a few homes and barns. A tornado hit Ben Franklin, inflicting F2 damage to a home and killing one person.