NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
This analysis is based on preliminary data available from the Storm Prediction Center. Final tornado counts published by the Storm Prediction Center and NCEI's Storm Events Database might differ from this report. For a more detailed climatology, please visit our tornado climatology page.
According to data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, during February, there were 46 preliminary tornado reports. This is slightly above the 1991-2010 average of 29 for the month. Most of the tornadoes during the month occurred across the Ohio Valley and Southeast. On February 6-7, 12 tornadoes were reported from Louisiana to Georgia, as a cold front moved through the Southeast. Some minor property damage was reported in Alabama and Georgia. The largest outbreak of the month occurred on the 24th, when 27 tornadoes were reported across the Mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys from Arkansas to Ohio. The tornadoes were spawned along a slow-moving cold front that also brought record-setting rainfall to the region. There were two fatalities blamed on the outbreak, one in Arkansas and one in Kentucky, both of which were caused by an EF-2 tornado. This ended a streak of more than 280 days without a tornado-related fatality in the United States which began on May 17, 2017.