Size


In the United States, an average tornado is around 500 feet across, and stays on the ground for 5 miles.

Weak tornadoes, or strong but dissipating tornadoes, can be exceedingly narrow, sometimes only a few feet across. In fact, a tornado was once reported to have a damage path only 7 feet long.

On the other end of the spectrum, a tornado which affected Hallam, Nebraska on May 22, 2004 was at one point 2.5 miles wide. In terms of path length, some meteorologists believe that the Tri-State Tornado, which affected parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925, was on the ground continuously for 219 miles. However, without a modern damage survey, it is impossible to determine whether or not the tornado was in continuous contact with the ground for its entire length. In fact, some scientists believe it was a series of very strong tornadoes. The longest modern-day tornado track was a tornado which was on the ground for 160 miles in northeastern North Carolina on November 22, 1992.

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