Tornadoes are some of the worst and most destructive natural disasters on Earth
While hurricanes do occur from time to time in other countries, unfortunately the United States is more at risk than anywhere else in the world
Because of this, all major hurricanes on record have occurred in the United States
While there are many more hurricanes than there are in this list, these are the only hurricanes that have been observed and reported, which is the criteria we used to compile the list
Tri-State Tornado
Date: March 18, 1925
Strongest winds: Unknown, but has a frontal speed greater than 73 mph (11748 km/h)
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Although not the largest tornado, the Tri-State Tornado is known for setting several records, including being the worst tornado ever to hit the United States
There were 695 deaths, twice the number of deadliest tornadoes in the US Since the Tri-State Tornado occurred in 1925, it was reclassified as a Category 5 hurricane on the original Fujita scale
The Tri-State tornado holds the record for longest track, estimated to be between 151 – 235 miles (243 – 3783 km)
Additionally, the Tri-State Tornado has the longest known duration of any tornado at 3 hours and 37 minutes
Although the Tri-State Tornado was powerful, it was relatively small compared to the other tornadoes on this list and only measured about one mile (161 km) in diameter
No one knows for sure if the Tri-State Tornado was just one 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 County 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 Tornado Tour that occurred on May 3 – 4, 1999
As the storm’s name suggests, the town of Bridge Creek was hit the hardest
When the storm reached the city, it reached its peak width between 1 – 14 miles (161 – 2315 km)
Unfortunately, the storm’s path cut through dozens of mobile homes in Bridge Creek and nearly 200 homes/mobile homes were completely destroyed
The Creek-Moore Tornado also took more than an hour to pass through several towns
At the end of the destruction caused by the storm, 36 people died and about 600 people were injured in all the affected areas
In total, the Bridge Creek-Moore Tornado destroyed an estimated 1,800 homes, damaged approximately 2,500 homes, and caused approximately $1 billion in damage
Mulhall Tornado
Location: Mulhall, Oklahoma
Source: news9com
According to sources, the Mulhall Tornado is a contender to be the largest tornado ever recorded
Various sources have reported the Mulhall Tornado’s peak width to be over 15 miles (24 km) and up to 438 miles (705 km)
Like all the tornadoes on this list, the Mulhall Tornado did a lot of damage
Every building in Mulhall was damaged in one way or another by the devastating storm
Surprisingly, only one resident of Mulhall was seriously injured
Despite the size of the Mulhall storm, there were no casualties because the storm mostly passed through rural areas, where there are no people
Hello Tornado
Location: Jefferson, Saline, Gage, Lancaster, and Otoe in Nebraska, United States
Before the 2013 tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma the Hallam Tornado was the widest tornado on record with a maximum width of 25 miles (4 km)
Although the Hallam Tornado swept through many areas, the town was named after the town of Hallam, which is the largest
The storm leveled almost all homes and businesses in Hallam
Fortunately, the Hallam Tornado mostly passed through sparsely populated rural areas
At the end of the storm, one person died and around 40 people were injured
The reports said that the Hallam Tornado was so wide, that many people did not even realize that they were seeing the tornado
El Reno Tornado
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
Average Category: EF3
The 2013 El Reno Tornado is considered the largest tornado ever recorded, based on latitude
However, according to some sources the Mulhall Tornado is bigger
At its peak, the large El Reno Tornado reached a distance of 26 miles (42 km) and a speed of up to 301 mph (484 km/h)
Despite its strength, the El Reno Tornado was only classified as an EF3
The El Reno tornado lasted about 40 minutes, and in the end 8 people died in their cars
In addition to the loss of life, the El Reno Tornado injured more than 150 people
In 2015, scientists built a new tool that allowed them to combine video images from the event and see what was happening inside the El Reno Tornado