Tornadoes are some of the most violent and destructive natural disasters that occur on Earth.
While hurricanes do occur from time to time in other countries, unfortunately the United States is hit with hurricanes more often than anywhere else in the world.
Because of this, all of the largest hurricanes on record have occurred in the United States.
Although there have been many more hurricanes than are on this list, these are the only hurricanes where the width was specified, which is the criteria we used to compile the list.
Tri-State Tornado
Date: March 18, 1925
Maximum Winds: Unknown, but traveled at a forward speed of over 73 mph (117.48 km/h)
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Although it was not the largest tornado, the Tri-State Tornado is known for setting several other records, including being the deadliest tornado ever recorded in the United States.
There were 695 deaths, which is twice as many as the second deadliest hurricane in the U.S. Since the Tri-State Hurricane occurred in 1925, it was retroactively classified as a category 5 hurricane on the original Fujita scale.
The Tri-State Tornado holds the record for the longest track, estimated to be between 151 – 235 miles (243 – 378.3 kilometers).
Additionally, the Tri-State Hurricane has the longest known duration of any hurricane at 3 hours and 37 minutes.
Although the Tri-State Hurricane was strong, it was relatively small compared to the rest of the hurricanes on this list and was only about a mile (1.61 kilometers) wide at most.
No one knows for sure if the Tri-State Hurricane was just a single tornado or if it was actually a series of tornadoes that caused the reported damage.
Bridge Creek-Moore Tornado
Location: Grady, McClain, Cleveland and Oklahoma counties in Oklahoma, USA
Duration: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Duration: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Source: Wikimedia Commons via Erin D.
The Bridge Creek-Moore Tornado was part of the Great Plains Tornado Event that occurred on May 3 – 4, 1999.
As the name of the hurricane suggests, the town of Bridge Creek was hardest hit by the hurricane.
When the tornado reached the town, it had reached its peak width of between 1 – 1.4 miles (1.61 – 2.315 kilometres).
Unfortunately, the tornado’s path cut through a large number of mobile homes in Bridge Creek and approximately 200 homes/mobile homes were completely wiped out.
The Bridge Creek-Moore Tornado also lasted for over an hour passing over several towns.
By the end of the hurricane’s devastation, 36 people had died and almost 600 people were injured across all the affected areas.
In total, the Bridge Creek-Moore Tornado destroyed and estimated 1,800 homes, damaged approximately 2,500 homes, which amounted to approximately $1 billion in damage.
Mulhall Tornado
Location: Mullhall, Oklahoma
Source: news9.com
Depending on the source, the Mulhall Tornado is a contender for being the largest tornado ever recorded.
Different accounts report that the peak width of the Mulhall Tornado was over 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) and up to 4.38 miles (7.05 kilometers).
Like all of the hurricanes on this list, Hurricane Mulhall did a lot of damage.
Every building in the town of Mulhall was damaged in some way by the devastating tornado.
Surprisingly, only one Mulhall resident was seriously injured.
Despite the size of the Mulhall Tornado, there were no deaths due to the tornado mainly passing over rural, unpopulated areas.
Hurricane Hallam
Location: Jefferson, Saline, Gage, Lancaster, and Otoe counties in Nebraska, USA
Prior to the 2013 tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Tornado Hallam was the widest tornado on record with a maximum width of 2.5 miles (4 kilometers).
Although Cyclone Hallam swept through many counties, it was named after the town of Hallam, which was hardest hit.
The tornado leveled almost all the homes and businesses in Hallam.
Fortunately, Cyclone Hallam mostly passed through sparsely populated rural areas.
By the end of the storm, one person had died and around 40 people had been injured.
According to news reports, the Hallam Tornado was so widespread that many people did not even realize they were witnessing a tornado.
El Reno Hurricane
Location: Canada County, Oklahoma, USA – especially south of El Reno
Date: May 31, 2013
Date: May 31, 2013
Date: May 31, 2013
Date: May 31, 2013
Duration: 40 minutes
Highest Category: EF3
The 2013 El Reno Hurricane is widely considered to be the largest hurricane on record, based on width.
However, according to some sources the Mulhall Hurricane was bigger.
At its peak, the massive El Reno Tornado reached a width of 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) and speeds of up to 301 mph (484 km/h).
Despite its strength, the El Reno Tornado was only categorized as an EF3.
The El Reno Tornado lasted for about 40 minutes and by the end eight people were killed, all in their vehicles.
In addition to the deaths, the El Reno Tornado injured over 150 people.
In 2015, scientists built a new tool that allowed them to piece together video footage of the event and see what was happening inside the El Reno Tornado.