Tornado Deaths by State 2025

What this chart shows. The number of people killed by tornadoes in each US state in 2025, for the ten states where tornadoes caused deaths. Kentucky had the most with 19, followed by Missouri with 16 and Mississippi and Tennessee with 9 each. Alabama, Arkansas, New York and North Dakota each recorded 3, and Indiana and Oklahoma 1. In total, 67 people died in 23 deadly tornadoes.

How the data is collected. Deaths are taken from the Storm Prediction Center's state segments, so when a tornado crossed a state line each death is counted in the state where it happened. The state figures add up exactly to the national total of 67, which matches the count on Wikipedia's page for the year's tornadoes.

Background. The deadliest single tornado of the year was an EF4 in southeastern Kentucky on May 16, which killed 18 people. Missouri's deaths came from two days: 10 in tornadoes on March 14 and 6 on May 16. North Dakota's 3 deaths came from the EF5 tornado near Enderlin on June 20, which Wikipedia describes as the first tornado rated EF5 since 2013.

Limits. Death tolls depend on where a tornado happens to strike as much as on its strength, so a few events decide the ranking. The Storm Prediction Center's database begins in 1950, the start of what it calls the modern era of tornado record-keeping.