Tornadoes are some of the most violent and devastating natural disasters to occur on Earth
Although tornadoes do occur from time to time in other countries, unfortunately, the United States is hit with tornadoes more often than anywhere else in the world
Because of this, all of the largest tornadoes on record have occurred in the United States
Although there have been many more tornadoes than are on this list, these are the only tornadoes that were noted for width, which is the criteria we used to compile the list
Tornado of three states
Date: March 18, 1925
Highest winds: Unknown, but traveled at forward speeds greater than 73 mph (11748 km/h)
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Although not the largest tornado, the Tri-State Tornado is known for setting 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 tornado in the United States Since the tri-state tornado occurred in 1925, it has been retroactively classified as a Category 5 tornado on the original Fujita scale
The Tri-State Tornado holds the record for longest path, estimated at 151 to 235 miles (243 – 3783 kilometers)
Also, the tri-state tornado has the longest known duration of any tornado at 3 hours and 37 minutes
Although the tri-state tornado was strong, it was quite small compared to the rest of the tornadoes on this list and only reached a maximum width of about one mile (161 kilometers)
No one knows for sure if the tri-state tornado 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, United States
Duration: 1 hour and 25 minutes
Duration: 1 hour and 25 minutes
Source: Wikimedia Commons via Erin D
The Bridge Creek-Moore tornado was part of the Great Plains tornado outbreak that occurred on May 3–4, 1999
As the name of the tornado suggests, the town of Bridge Creek was the hardest hit by the tornado
By the time the tornado reached the city, it had reached its maximum width of 1 to 14 miles (161 to 2315 kilometers)
Unfortunately, the path of the tornado passed through a large number of mobile homes in Bridge Creek and about 200 mobile homes/homes were completely obliterated
The Bridge Creek-Moore tornado also lasted over an hour and passed over several towns
At the end of the tornado’s destruction, 36 people were killed and nearly 600 people were injured in all the affected areas
In total, the Bridge Creek-Moore tornado destroyed and estimated 1,800 homes, damaged about 2,500 homes, resulting in approximately $1 billion in damage
Mulhall Tornado
Location: Mulhall, Oklahoma
Source: news9com
Depending on the source, the Mulhall Tornado is a contender for being the largest tornado ever recorded
Different accounts report that the maximum width of the Mulhall Tornado was over 24 kilometers (15 mi) and up to 705 kilometers (438 mi)
Like all tornadoes on this list, the Mulhall Tornado caused a significant amount of damage
Every building in the town of Mulhall was damaged in some way by the devastating tornado
Amazingly, only one Mulhall resident was seriously injured
Despite the size of the Mulhall Tornado, there were no fatalities because the tornado passed through mostly rural and unpopulated areas
Hallam Tornado
Location: Jefferson, Saline, Gage, Lancaster and Otoe counties in Nebraska, USA
Prior to the 2013 tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma, the Hallam tornado was the widest tornado on record with a maximum width of 25 miles (4 kilometers)
Although the Hallam tornado traveled through many counties, it was named after the town of Hallam, which was the hardest hit
The tornado leveled almost every home and business in Hallam
Fortunately, Tornado Hallam mostly passed through sparsely populated rural areas
By the end of the storm, one person had died and about 40 people were injured
According to news reports, the Hallam tornado was so large that many people didn’t even realize they were witnessing a tornado
The Reindeer Tornado
Location: Canadian 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
Maximum category: EF3
The 2013 El Reno tornado is widely considered to be the largest tornado ever recorded, based on its width
However, according to some sources the Mulhall Tornado was larger
At its peak, the massive El Reno tornado reached a width of 26 miles (42 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 about 40 minutes and ended up killing eight people, all in their vehicles
In addition to the fatalities, the El Reno Tornado injured more than 150 people
In 2015, scientists built a new tool that allowed them to gather video footage of the event and see what was happening inside the El Reno Tornado