NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
Significant SPC Storm Reports
During the month of June there were several rounds of intense weather activity, some of which produced tornadoes. However, the preliminary total for number of tornadoes through the month of June (968) and the number of confirmed tornadoes (821) are below the 2004—2008 final January—June average of 1131. There were no tornado related fatalities during June, the third June of the last four without a tornado-related death (seven such fatalities occurred in June 2008). The total number of deaths this year (21) compared to the three year average (82) is also below normal.
The University of Oklahoma, along with other universities and agencies, recently conducted a research experiment called the Verification of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment 2 (VORTEX 2). The experiment was conducted over a 35-day period (May 10—June 13) and it was reported that the number of tornadoes that were recorded during that time period were the fewest (200 preliminary as of June 30) since the 1990s and the second fewest since World War II.