2023 tornado count well above average through the first-third of the year

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Portions of the United States have seen a very active slate of severe weather through the first four months of 2023.

It has been an unusually busy year for tornadoes as 497 of them have been confirmed as of May 2. Illinois has seen the most tornadoes of any state by far this year with 72 confirmed.

Here in the Hoosier State, 33 tornadoes have taken place in 2023. The record for most statewide in a single year is 72 in 2011. A majority of our tornadoes came from the night of Mar. 31 in which 23 touched down.

There have been two tornadoes this year that produced violent EF4 damage, and those were the Rolling Fork, MS (Mar. 24) and Keota, IA (Mar. 31) events. The Rolling Fork, MS EF4 produced near EF5 level damage in the town.

Here are a couple of other notes to take in. California has seen more tornadoes so far in 2023 than Nebraska. The 2023 tornado death toll, 64, is also nearly three times bigger than 2022’s overall death toll, 23.