This page documents the tornado

Tornado

A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...

es and tornado outbreak

Tornado outbreak

While there is no single agreed upon definition, generally at least 6-10 tornadoes produced by the same synoptic scale weather system is considered a tornado outbreak. The tornadoes usually occur within the same day, or continue into the early morning hours of the succeeding day, and within the...

s of 1990, primarily in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due to fewer reports or confirmed tornadoes, however by the 1990s tornado statistics were coming closer to the numbers we see today.

Synopsis

1990 saw some unusual and powerful tornadoes and tornado outbreaks. On March 13 not one, but two F5 tornadoes struck in Kansas from the same supercell. This is the only day since the 1974 Super Outbreak to have more than one F5 on the same day. In June, a strong outbreak struck the upper midwest United States, and in late August a powerful F5 tornado struck the city of Plainfield, Illinois resulting in significant loss of life and damage.

Events

Confirmed tornado total for the entire year 1990 in the United States.

March 11–13

The March 1990 Central US tornado outbreak produced at least 64 tornadoes across the region including 4 violent tornadoes; two of which were rated F5 that touched down north and east of Wichita, Kansas in which the most publicized tornado of this outbreak struck Hesston. In Nebraska, several strong tornadoes touched down across the southern and central portion of the state including an F4 that traveled for over 125 miles. 2 people were killed in the outbreak in Kansas both from the F5 tornadoes.

June 2–3

The June 1990 Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak occurred in southern Illinois, central and southern Indiana, southwestern Ohio, and northern Kentucky on Saturday June 2 and Sunday June 3, 1990. By the end of the outbreak during the early morning hours on June 3, 66 tornadoes had struck the Ohio River Valley including seven of F4 intensity, resulting in nine deaths. One F4 tornado trekked 94 miles from southeastern Illinois into southern Indiana killing one person.

Thirty-seven tornadoes occurred in Indiana, a record for a single day. It eclipsed the previous record of 21 set during the Super Outbreak in April, 1974. Twelve tornadoes struck Illinois.

August 28

The 1990 Plainfield tornado was a devastating tornado that occurred on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 28, 1990. The violent tornado killed 29 people and injured 350. It is the only F5 tornado ever recorded in August and the only F5 tornado to ever strike the Chicago area.

December

There were 35 tornadoes confirmed in the US in December. Two tornadoes in Mississippi killed two people on December 21.

External links

• U.S. tornadoes in 1990 - Tornado History Project
• Tornado deaths monthly