The history of EF5 tornadoes in the U.S.

Just two days ago marked the ten year anniversary of the Joplin EF5 tornado that caused extensive damage and loss of life in southern Missouri. It’s been eight years since the last EF5 rated tornado hit anywhere in the United States, and as we passed the ten year anniversary of our last EF5 tornado in Missouri, we wanted to look into our history as a state and nation with these violent tornadoes. 

Since 1950, the state of Missouri has only seen two EF5 tornadoes; one in 1957 in Jackson County and the other in 2011 in Jasper County. The United States as a whole has only encountered 138 EF5 tornadoes since 1950, and our last tornado of this rating occurred in Moore, Oklahoma in 2013. 

Tornadoes are rated based on the damage they create, meaning that there possibly could be more EF5 strength tornadoes that moved through less populated areas that created less damage therefore causing them to be rated lower.

It's always best to prepare for the worst case scenario. Having different ways to get alerts when severe weather is nearby as well as having a safe place to go is a necessity.