The Strongest Tornado Ever Recorded
The strongest tornado ever recorded is the Bridge Creek-Moore tornado of May 3, 1999, in Oklahoma. A Doppler on Wheels radar truck measured winds of about 301 mph inside it, the highest wind speed ever measured in a tornado.
That measurement is only possible where radar trucks chase, which is almost entirely the central United States. Everywhere else, a tornado's strength is judged from the damage it left, so the records below compare ratings rather than wind speeds. Here is the strongest tornado on record on each continent.
| Continent | Strongest Tornado | Country | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | Bridge Creek-Moore tornado1999Tied at F5 with every other F5 and EF5 in the United States and Canada. | United States | F5 |
| South America | San Justo tornado1973The only F5 in South America. | Argentina | F5 |
| Europe | Woldegk tornado1764Tied at IF5 with seven other European tornadoes. | Germany | IF5 |
| Asia | Funing tornado and Khashaat tornado2016 / 2014Joint record. No wind figure exists to break the tie. | China / Mongolia | EF4 / F4 |
| Africa | Mount Ayliff tornado and Welkom tornado1999 / 1990Joint record. No wind figure exists to break the tie. | South Africa | F4 |
| Oceania | Bucca tornado1992The only official F4 in Oceania. | Australia | F4 |
| Antarctica | No tornado has ever been recorded. | ||
Ranked by measured wind speed instead? See the tornadoes with the highest wind speeds.
Strongest tornado in North America
Bridge Creek-Moore tornado, Oklahoma, United States, May 3, 1999. Rated F5.
A Doppler on Wheels radar truck measured winds of about 301 mph, give or take 20 mph, roughly 100 feet above the ground. It is the highest wind speed ever measured in a tornado. It killed 36 people directly along a 38 mile path through Bridge Creek, south Oklahoma City and Moore.
TieTied at F5 with every other F5 and EF5 in the United States and Canada. Broken by wind speed: it is the only one with a radar measurement, about 301 mph.
- El Reno tornado, Oklahoma, United States, May 31, 2013 (EF3). The University of Oklahoma's RaXPol radar measured Doppler velocities above 135 meters per second, about 302 mph. It is also the widest tornado on record at 2.6 miles. The official rating is EF3 because its strongest winds crossed open fields with little to damage.
- Elie tornado, Manitoba, Canada, June 22, 2007 (F5). The only F5 ever confirmed in Canada. It was first rated F4 and upgraded in September 2007 after surveyors found a house swept clean off its foundation. Canada switched to the Enhanced Fujita scale in 2013, so it will stay the country's only F5. Nobody was killed.
Strongest tornado in South America
San Justo tornado, Santa Fe, Argentina, January 10, 1973. Rated F5.
The only F5 ever recorded in Argentina, and often described as the strongest tornado in the Southern Hemisphere. It lasted about ten minutes and killed 63 people in San Justo. It was long regarded as an F5 and received the rating officially in 2017.
TieThe only F5 in South America. No tie to break.
Most of South America's strong tornadoes form in the plains of Argentina, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Tornadoes in Chile are rare and usually weak. A tornado in Santiago in October 2026 was preliminarily rated EF0.
Strongest tornado in Europe
Woldegk tornado, Mecklenburg, Germany, June 29, 1764. Rated IF5.
The European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL) has reviewed it as a confirmed IF5 on the International Fujita scale, and TORRO rates it T11, the top of its scale. ESSL estimates its winds at no less than 480 km/h (300 mph), based on the destruction of a manor house. The path ran about 33 km near Woldegk, and the worst damage was at Lichtenberg.
TieTied at IF5 with seven other European tornadoes. Broken by wind speed: it is the only one with a published estimate, at least 480 km/h (300 mph) from ESSL.
- Ivanovo tornado, Ivanovo, Russia, June 9, 1984 (F4). Part of an outbreak north of Moscow. Soviet authorities rated it F4, while TORRO lists it as F5 after a review of the damage. Death toll estimates run from about 70 to more than 400.
- South Moravia tornado, Hodonín District, Czech Republic, June 24, 2021 (IF4). The strongest tornado in modern Czech history. It killed six people and injured hundreds as it crossed the villages of Hrušky, Moravská Nová Ves, Mikulčice and Lužice.
ESSL lists eight confirmed IF5 tornadoes in Europe: Woldegk (1764) and Dittersdorf (1800) in Germany, Montville (1845) and Palluel (1967) in France, Catania (1884), Selva del Montello (1930) and Valle Scuropasso (1957) in Italy, and Neede (1927) in the Netherlands.
Strongest tornado in Asia
Funing tornado, Jiangsu, China, June 23, 2016. Rated EF4.
The China Meteorological Administration rated it EF4 after a damage survey and estimated its peak winds at about 165 mph (266 km/h). It killed 98 people and was about 4.1 km wide, the widest tornado documented in China since records began in 1950.
Khashaat tornado, Arkhangai, Mongolia, July 26, 2014. Rated F4.
A narrow stovepipe tornado rated F4 from the damage it left. It killed one person and some livestock.
TieTied with the Khashaat tornado in Mongolia, rated F4. Not broken. Funing has an official estimate of about 165 mph, but none has been published for Khashaat, so they share the record.
- Daulatpur-Saturia tornado, Manikganj, Bangladesh, April 26, 1989 (F3–F4). The deadliest tornado in recorded history, with more than 1,300 people killed and about 12,000 injured. It was never formally rated. Estimates put it at F3 to F4, and the poor construction it hit makes the damage hard to judge.
No tornado in Asia has been confirmed at F5 or EF5.
Strongest tornado in Africa
Mount Ayliff tornado, Eastern Cape, South Africa, January 18, 1999. Rated F4.
It killed 25 people. Some accounts describe it only as a severe storm, so its F4 rating rests on thinner records than the others on this page.
Welkom tornado, Free State, South Africa, March 20, 1990. Rated F4.
A multiple-vortex tornado that destroyed about 4,000 homes, the costliest tornado in South African history.
TieTied with the Welkom tornado, also rated F4. Not broken. No wind estimate has been published for either, so they share the record.
Almost every documented strong tornado in Africa has been in South Africa, where about two thirds of tornadoes are rated F0 or F1. Tornadoes elsewhere on the continent are rarely surveyed, so the record is thin.
Strongest tornado in Oceania
Bucca tornado, Queensland, Australia, November 29, 1992. Rated F4.
The only tornado officially rated F4 in Australia, with peak winds estimated at 335 km/h (about 208 mph). It hit farmland near Bundaberg, destroyed or damaged nine houses and killed about 20 cattle. No one was seriously hurt.
TieThe only official F4 in Oceania. No tie to break.
- Bulahdelah tornado, New South Wales, Australia, January 1970 (Unrated). Some meteorologists think it was at least as strong as Bucca, but no official rating was ever published.
What is the strongest tornado ever recorded?
The Bridge Creek-Moore tornado of May 3, 1999, in Oklahoma. A Doppler on Wheels radar truck measured winds of about 301 mph inside it, give or take 20 mph, the highest wind speed ever measured in a tornado. It was rated F5.
What is the strongest tornado outside the United States?
There is no single answer, because no tornado outside the US has had its winds measured by radar at close range. By rating, the strongest are the F5 and IF5 tornadoes: the 1764 Woldegk tornado in Germany and seven other confirmed IF5s in Europe, the 1973 San Justo tornado in Argentina, and the 2007 Elie tornado in Canada.
Which continent has the strongest tornadoes?
North America. The central United States has the most violent tornadoes in the world, because cold dry air from Canada, warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico and dry air from the southwest meet over flat land. No other region produces that setup as often.
Has a tornado ever been recorded in Antarctica?
No. Tornadoes need warm, humid air near the ground to feed the thunderstorms that produce them, and Antarctica does not have it. Antarctica is the only continent with no recorded tornado.
How These Are Compared
Each record is the highest official rating published for a tornado on that continent. Ratings come from different scales: the original Fujita scale (F), the Enhanced Fujita scale used in the US, Canada and China (EF), and the International Fujita scale used in Europe (IF). All three rate a tornado from the damage it caused, and their top categories cover roughly the same wind speeds, but they are not identical. Where tornadoes on a continent share the top rating, the tie goes to the one with the highest wind speed, measured by radar or estimated by the agency that rated it. Where no wind figure has been published, the tornadoes share the record.
Sources & Citations
- National Weather Service Norman, OK. "The Great Plains Tornado Outbreak of May 3-4, 1999." Weather.gov
- The Weather Network. "Canada's only F5 tornado hit this Manitoba town in 2007." TheWeatherNetwork.com
- European Severe Storms Laboratory. "Violent Tornadoes." ESSL.org
- Wikipedia. 1973 San Justo tornado, 1984 Soviet Union tornado outbreak, 2021 South Moravia tornado, 2016 Funing tornado, 1992 Bucca tornado.
- Wikipedia. List of Asian tornadoes and tornado outbreaks and List of African tornadoes and tornado outbreaks.