Tornado History Map

Arizona tornado history

305 tornadoes recorded in Arizona from 1952 to 2025, drawn on the map and coloured by rating.

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Years1950 to 2025
Rating (F or EF scale)

Shows tornadoes that started in, or crossed, the chosen state. To see how many have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • F0 / EF0 Light damage
  • F1 / EF1 Moderate damage
  • F2 / EF2 Considerable damage
  • F3 / EF3 Severe damage
  • F4 / EF4 Devastating damage
  • F5 / EF5 Incredible damage
  • Unknown Not rated (2007 onwards)

How to read the lines. Each line is one tornado, drawn from where it started to where it ended, coloured and sized by its rating. A dot means the record has no end point. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see how many tornadoes have passed nearby. Weaker tornadoes appear as you zoom in. Ratings use the Fujita (F) scale before 1 February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale from then on.

Tornadoes in Arizona

The Storm Prediction Center records 305 tornadoes that touched Arizona between 1952 and 2025, and 302 of them began there. A tornado that crossed a state line counts in every state it touched. They killed 3 people and injured 152. The busiest month is July, with 59 tornadoes.

  • 305tornadoes
  • 3deaths
  • 152injuries
  • 27per 10,000 sq mi of land
  • 14counties touched

Tornadoes per 10,000 square miles lets you compare states of different sizes. It counts every tornado that touched the state.

How strong were Arizona's tornadoes?

RatingTornadoesShare
F0 / EF019765%
F1 / EF17826%
F2 / EF2165%
F3 / EF341%
F4 / EF400%
F5 / EF500%
Unknown rating103%

Arizona tornadoes over time

Tornadoes by decade
Bar chart of tornadoes by period. The most is 57 in 1990s.1950s181960s311970s521980s241990s572000s372010s492020s37

The 2020s only run to 2025, so that bar is for a shorter period. The record starts in 1952.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1950s18
1960s31
1970s52
1980s24
1990s57
2000s37
2010s49
2020s37

The record has changed over the decades as detection and reporting improved, so more weak tornadoes show up in recent years than in the 1950s. The year with the most in Arizona was 1972, with 17.

Tornadoes by month
Bar chart of tornadoes by period. The most is 59 in Jul.Jan6Feb10Mar12Apr8May20Jun23Jul59Aug58Sep49Oct41Nov16Dec3
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan6
Feb10
Mar12
Apr8
May20
Jun23
Jul59
Aug58
Sep49
Oct41
Nov16
Dec3

Deadliest tornadoes that touched Arizona

  • Arizona tornado27 August 1964, F2, 2 deaths, 9 injuries, 0.1 miles long
  • Arizona tornado23 June 1974, F1, 1 death, 40 injuries, 1 mile long

Strongest tornadoes that touched Arizona

  • Arizona tornado6 October 2010, EF3, 30.1 miles long
  • Arizona tornado4 August 1957, F3, 12 miles long
  • Arizona tornado6 October 2010, EF3, 4 miles long
  • Arizona tornado10 August 1972, F3, 0.1 miles long
  • Arizona tornado27 August 1964, F2, 2 deaths, 9 injuries, 0.1 miles long
  • Arizona tornado6 October 2010, EF2, 7 injuries, 26 miles long

Most recent tornadoes in Arizona

  • Arizona tornado18 November 2025, EF0, 1.1 miles long
  • Arizona tornado27 September 2025, Unknown rating, 0.1 miles long
  • Arizona tornado16 September 2025, Unknown rating, 0 miles long
  • Arizona tornado12 September 2025, Unknown rating, 0 miles long
  • Arizona tornado15 July 2025, EF0, 0.1 miles long

Many of these tornadoes killed or injured people. The numbers are the official record's, and they may be revised.

Arizona counties

Every county that a tornado has touched is listed, most tornadoes first. 11 of them have at least 3 tornadoes and their own page.

CountyTornadoesStrongest
Maricopa County75F/EF3
Coconino County49F/EF3
Pinal County34F/EF1
Yavapai County31F/EF3
Pima County29F/EF2
Navajo County23F/EF1
Mohave County19F/EF1
Cochise County18F/EF1
Apache County17F/EF0
Yuma County13F/EF2
Gila County4F/EF1
La Paz County2F/EF1
Graham County1F/EF0
Santa Cruz County1F/EF0

Other states

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