2025 Is Shaping Up To Be A Whirlwind Year For Tornadoes In The US

At least 1,200 tornadoes were reported between January 1 and June 20, 2025 (at the time of writing), according to the National Weather Service’s Preliminary Severe Weather Report Database. That’s significantly higher than the average number since 2010, which is around 894 tornadoes by mid-June. 

This year is on track to be the third busiest tornado season over the past 15 years, beaten only by 2024, which had 1,222 by this point in the year, and the record-smashing year of 2011, which had 1,809 by mid-June. The so-called “2011 Super Outbreak” proved to be one of the deadliest, costliest, and most devastating bouts of tornadoes ever recorded. 

Accuweather forecasted that 2025 was going to be jam-packed with tornadoes back in March. They also correctly predicted that the swirling weather events would be more frequent in eastern parts of the US, outside their usual territory.

Tornadoes are typically seen within Tornado Alley, a loosely defined region of the central US that stretches from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and into parts of South Dakota and Iowa. However, recent years have shown a noticeable shift, with an increasing number of tornadoes touching down in states farther east, such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.

A tornado is a narrow, twisting column of air that extends from a thunderstorm in the clouds to the ground below. There are many different forms, but they tend to be created when warm, moist air from the ground crashes into cool, dry air from above, creating an unstable atmosphere. 

As thunderstorms build, strong winds at different altitudes blow horizontally in different directions, creating a tube-like vortex of air. Warmth from the ground then causes an updraft that tilts the spinning tube of air upright, turning it into a rotating column.

They usually travel at 16 to 32 kilometers (10–20 miles) per hour and “burn out” after a few minutes, although some can rage for several hours and move at more than 96 kilometers (60 miles) per hour, leaving a trail of destruction in their path. 

The US has more tornadoes than other country in the world. This is due to its unique atmospheric and topographical conditions, which are especially prominent in Hurricane Alley. Most notably, the open expanse of the Great Plains and the Mississippi River Valley create the perfect stage for cold, dry air from Canada to collide with warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, fostering ideal conditions for cooking up a tornado.

A study in 2024 by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looked into the changes in tornado trends between 1966 to 2022 in the US. They also found that the Southeast was experiencing fewer days when tornadoes were occurring, but the number of tornadoes occurring on those remaining active days was increasing.

They weren’t particularly sure why the nature of tornadoes was changing. While it might be associated with internal climate variability, it’s possible that human-induced climate change may be at play too. 

Regardless of the cause, the change is a concern. It’s been noted that the eastward shift of tornadoes could make them more dangerous, upping their chances of striking heavily populated regions. Tornadoes in the Southeastern US are also more likely to be nocturnal, striking at night when people are asleep and can’t protect themselves.

“Tornado Alley roared back to life in 2023 and 2024, but we expect the highest frequency of severe thunderstorm and tornado threats to shift farther east this year,” Paul Pastelok, AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Expert, said in a statement in March 2025. 

“This forecast is concerning because more people are in harm’s way, compared to Tornado Alley. More people live in the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys, and more of those families are in vulnerable buildings without basements like mobile homes,” Pastelok.