Tornadoes of 2020
Clockwise from top: A destructive EF3 tornado in Nashville, Tennessee on March 3; Damaged vehicles following the EF4 Cookeville tornado on March 3; The tornado scar caused by a 2.25 mile wide EF4 tornado on April 12; EF4 damage to a house near Sandy Hook, Mississippi from a tornado on April 19; EF4 damage to a house near Ashby, Minnesota following a tornado on July 8. | |
| Timespan | January 3 – December 30 |
|---|---|
| Maximum rated tornado | EF4 tornado
|
| Tornadoes in U.S. | 1,086 |
| Damage (U.S.) | >$4.4 billion |
| Fatalities (U.S.) | 78 |
| Fatalities (worldwide) | 90 |
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This page documents notable tornadoes and tornado outbreaks worldwide in 2020. Strong and destructive tornadoes form most frequently in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Bangladesh, and eastern India, but can occur almost anywhere under the right conditions. Tornadoes also develop occasionally in southern Canada during the Northern Hemisphere's summer and somewhat regularly at other times of the year across Europe, Asia, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. Tornadic events are often accompanied by other forms of severe weather, including strong thunderstorms, strong winds, and hail. There were 1,243 preliminary filtered reported tornadoes in 2020 in the United States in 2020, and 1,086 confirmed tornadoes in the United States in 2020. Worldwide, at least 93 tornado-related deaths were confirmed with 78 in the United States, eight in Vietnam, two each in Canada, Indonesia, and Mexico, and one in South Africa.
It was the deadliest year of tornadoes in the United States since 2011. Despite this, it ended up being the least active year in terms of the number of confirmed tornadoes since 2016, mostly due to six of the final eight months being significantly below average.