Despite an extremely active early season, the 2022 tornado season was markedly below average due to an uneventful spring and summer. More than 1,200 were reported, resulting in 24 deaths. During the 2022 storm season, 27 achieved a F3 or higher ranking and four received a rating of EF4. The strongest storm of the season took place in Black Creek Georgia with an intensity of a EF4 twister. Let’s take a few minutes to break down the most destructive tornadoes of 2022 and what you can do to protect your family from killer storms.
Tornado March Madness
More than 230 tornadoes touched down in the US during the month of March, surpassing the previous record for the month set in 2017. During the week of March 5, an extensive system along the Midwest leveled several homes and businesses. Six people in Iowa were killed by a massive EF4 tornado before a similar vortex ripped through Pleasant Hill. Another person was killed at nearby campground when a tornado surprised visitors when this sudden gasp of destruction. Another 12 EFO and 10 EF1’s were reported from this same storm system.
March 21-23 Southeastern Slash
They say all bad things, including death, come in three’s. Unfortunately, this trifecta of carnage struck the southeast during early March. More than 80 tornadoes were reported in Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama and Mississippi. What made this particular storm so impressive, as well as damaging, was the abstract swath of destruction, as the cluster of thunderstorms stretched over a thousand miles. Even the Big Easy was feeling a little uneasy when a EF3 tornado was broadcast live during the evening news.
April’s Super Southern Outbreak
Following a March for the record books, April tried its best to follow suit. During the week of April 4-7, nearly 100 tornadoes were reported in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. Dozens of mobile were destroyed in South Carolina . One death and 12 injuries came from the swirling winds of Black Creek tornado. Storms continued to rage in Florida before dissipating to a lower frequency and intensity.
Most Destructive Tornadoes of 2022: April 11-13
Mother Nature during relent as April drug on. More than 50 tornadoes struck communities from Iowa to Arkansas. Twenty-three residents were injured during a Salado, Texas tornado. While weaker in comparison to March’s intense carnage, a menacing EF2 flipped cars and damaged homes in Taopi, Minnesota.
Midwest Mayhem
While it didn’t live up to the hype of earlier storm systems, the April 29 tornado outbreak is still seared into the minds of Great Plains residents. Nearly 20 tornadoes sent townspeople for their basements or safe rooms in Kansas and Nebraska. There people were injured and 331 buildings were damaged near or around Andover, including an elementary school, pet supplies shop and other homes. It was later discovered the EF3 tornado had windspeeds of up to 264 miles per hour.
Montana Power Pole Snapper
Montana is known more for its bitterly cold blizzards and never-ending winters, but Mother Nature continues to defy the odds with tornadoes such as these, proving no area is immune from severe weather. An EF2 tornado meandered into the small town of Glentana on July 18 like a renegade outlaw before beating it around sunset (hopefully at the behest of the town’s sheriff who doesn’t take too kindly to long-winded strangers who overstay their welcome). While no injuries were reported, this rare Montana tornado still made our cut because of the novelty of a tornado this far north of Tornado Alley.
West Virginia Whirlwind
A tornado in Dallas? Who would’ve thought that a tornado barreling down on a place called Dallas is anything out of the norm? Well, that might be the case if you’re talking about Dallas, West Virginia. This rare Appalachian tornado destroyed a barn, shed, and camper before damaging a church’s roof. This rare storm also destroyed the traditional mythology that mountains insulated and protected towns from twisters.
Hurricane Ian Brings Friends
Most people don’t think about tornadoes during the buildup of a pending landfall from a monstrous hurricane. Along with seemingly perpetual winds and a deluge of water and debris, hurricanes can also spawn several offshoot tornadoes that can be just as deadly as the cyclone itself. How does this happen? Well, the main reason is friction. There’s nothin to stop the buildup of energy from the hurricane, and once it makes landfall, it becomes even easier for high octane thunderstorms to produce tornadoes on a huge, smooth open plain. Following the landfall of Hurricane Ian in Florida in September, a EF2 tornado touched down near Florida Atlantic University. Two people were injured at Kings Point when a tornado collapsed a roof. A total of 16 twisters were confirmed from Ian.
More Texas Twisters
Tornadoes can strike anywhere, any time of the year. Texas has seen several killer tornadoes strike in November, and 2022 didn’t hold back. On Nov. 4, nearly 30 twisters touched down in northern Texas, two of which were EF4’s. One person was killed in Carson, Texas and injured eight others. This marked the first time since the 1997 central Texas tornado outbreak that more than one violent tornado touched down in Texas on the same day. When reviewing the most destructive tornadoes of 2022, November won’t be a month Texans will soon forget.
Stay Safe, Stay Protected
As you can tell from some of the year’s most notable tornadoes, storm season embodies the very definition of the “winds of change.” You just can’t tell where the next “big one” will strike next. Even advanced forecasting and meteorology can do so much during the heat of the moment when you are scurrying for safety. And where will you go when the next storm comes to your town or neighborhood? There’s nothing you can do to stop a tornado – you’d have more luck trying to derail a speeding train. What you can do is to prepare for the worst with the best line of protection currently on the market. Our safe rooms and storm shelters have been battle tested, so you can take shelter when Mother Nature starts lobbing bombs your way. Our storm shelters have been proved to withstand windspeeds up to 250 miles per hour! Don’t believe us? Just take a look at the video above. So as you take time to reflect on the most destructive tornadoes of 2022, just remember that steel protection is just a click or phone call away.