Damaging Wind Reports by State 2025

What this chart shows. The number of damaging thunderstorm wind reports in each US state and the District of Columbia in 2025, from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center. Alabama had the most with 1,561, ahead of Texas with 1,206, Virginia with 1,123, Illinois with 1,029 and Georgia with 1,025. Every one of the 51 recorded at least one; Alaska had the fewest with 2 and Hawaii 4.

How the data is collected. Each row of the wind file is one report of thunderstorm wind damage or of a gust strong enough to be severe, with a speed in knots. Most speeds are estimated from the damage: of the 22,333 reports in 2025, 4,724, or 21.2 per cent, were measured by an instrument. The chart counts 22,263 reports in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Background. The Storm Prediction Center defines a severe thunderstorm as one with wind gusts of 58 mph or more, hail of at least 1 inch, or a tornado, and it treats gusts of 75 mph or more as significant. Unlike hail, where the Plains lead, wind damage reports are spread across the East, the South and the Midwest.

Limits. Reports depend on people and property being in a storm's path, so the counts can be higher where more people live and more trees fall onto roads and power lines. A single storm line can produce hundreds of reports in one afternoon.