What time of day do tornadoes happen?

Most tornadoes come in late afternoon and evening: 51.8% of those since 1950 started between 3 and 8 pm Central Standard Time. The hours from 9 pm to 6 am hold 16.3% of all tornadoes but 24.6% of the fatal ones.

Tornadoes by hour

Hours are Central Standard Time all year, the database's own clock, so local afternoon peaks fall earlier in the East than this chart suggests.

Tornadoes by hour started, Central Standard Time

Tornadoes by hour

12 am	1,125	1.5	36
1 am	997	1.4	45
2 am	888	1.2	40
3 am	820	1.1	38
4 am	843	1.1	22
5 am	859	1.2	22
6 am	855	1.2	15
7 am	908	1.2	12
8 am	954	1.3	13
9 am	1,145	1.6	11
10 am	1,336	1.8	29
11 am	1,897	2.6	27
12 pm	2,786	3.8	41
1 pm	3,996	5.4	82
2 pm	5,466	7.4	108
3 pm	7,161	9.8	157
4 pm	8,225	11.2	167
5 pm	8,624	11.7	169
6 pm	7,783	10.6	176
7 pm	6,208	8.5	128
8 pm	4,145	5.6	107
9 pm	2,818	3.8	84
10 pm	1,989	2.7	67
11 pm	1,593	2.2	52