The tornado outbreak of April 30, 1954

29 tornadoesTexas, Arkansas, Iowa and 5 more states

29 tornadoes touched down across 8 states between 12:30 AM and 10:00 PM CST, 6 of them rated F3 or stronger, and 1 people were killed.

Watch the day unfold

Tornado outbreak · April 30, 1954

How the day unfolded

Every tornado recorded that day, at its logged touchdown time and along its path, with the counties it crossed.

About this replay

Central time—Historical replay — logged touchdown times

Tornadoes—of 29 that day

Strongest so far—

Killed—in tornadoes so far

The day’s milestones

Tornado pathsWider and brighter with the rating; F3 and stronger glow

On the groundEach grows from its logged touchdown time

Counties crossedLit as a tornado reaches them, brighter for F3 or stronger

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database (touchdown times, ratings, start and end points) and Storm Events Database (segment paths and times for the notable tornadoes that have record pages). SPC logs the touchdown time only; other paths are drawn at a typical forward speed of 35 mph. Times are Central Standard Time.

The day in numbers

Tornadoes: 29; on Friday, April 30, 1954
F3 or stronger: 6; 1 rated F4 or F5
Killed: 1; Along all the paths
Injured: 57; Along all the paths
Path miles: 908; All the paths end to end
First and last: 12:30 AM to 10:00 PM; Touchdowns, Central Standard Time

Hour by hour

Tornadoes touching down in each hour, Central Standard Time.

Every tornado

In order of touchdown. One has a record page, linked from the rating.

Tornadoes of April 30, 1954

12:30 AM	F1	Hamilton County TX	6.1	880	0	0
1:00 AM	F1	Pontotoc County OK	0.1	10	0	0
5:37 AM	F1	Hays County, Caldwell County TX	15.0	67	0	0
6:10 AM	F3	Leon County, Houston County and 4 more TX	139.9	880	0	6
6:30 AM	F2	Lee County, Fayette County and 1 more TX	15.8	880	0	2
7:30 AM	F2	Brazos County TX	1.9	67	0	0
8:00 AM	F2	Trinity County, Angelina County and 2 more TX	68.8	883	0	25
9:30 AM	F3	Choctaw County OK	1.0	150	0	12
10:00 AM	F3	Morris County, Cass County and 1 more TX, AR	86.3	50	0	1
10:30 AM	F3	Bowie County, Pike County and 6 more TX, AR	111.6	1,760	0	2
10:45 AM	F1	Haskell County OK	0.1	10	0	0
11:10 AM	F1	Sebastian County AR	0.1	10	0	0
11:55 AM	F3	Crawford County, Washington County AR	40.7	440	0	1
12:00 PM	F1	Pope County AR	0.5	50	0	0
12:30 PM	F1	Johnson County AR	6.9	100	0	0
1:00 PM	F1	Barry County MO	7.3	50	0	0
1:30 PM	F2	Sabine Parish LA	16.7	100	1	6
2:00 PM	F0	Polk County FL	0.1	10	0	0
2:00 PM	F2	Morgan County MO	3.6	400	0	0
2:30 PM	F1	Winn Parish LA	0.5	33	0	0
3:15 PM	F2	Cedar County, Lee County and 3 more IA	85.2	200	0	1
3:15 PM	F2	Lawrence County, Greene County AR	38.8	100	0	0
3:15 PM	F2	Boone County, Monroe County and 2 more MO	89.6	100	0	0
3:30 PM	F2	Ouachita Parish LA	1.0	67	0	1
7:00 PM	F2	Iowa County, Benton County and 2 more IA	65.8	200	0	0
7:00 PM	F4	Linn County, Delaware County and 2 more IA	80.4	200	0	0
7:05 PM	F2	Jones County, Delaware County and 1 more IA	16.6	50	0	0
7:30 PM	F2	Buchanan County IA	1.0	200	0	0
10:00 PM	F1	Scott County MS	6.8	10	0	0

By state

Tornadoes by state, April 30, 1954

Texas	8	3	0
Arkansas	5	1	0
Iowa	5	1	0
Louisiana	3	0	1
Missouri	3	0	0
Oklahoma	3	1	0
Florida	1	0	0
Mississippi	1	0	0

Tornadoes in 1954 · On this date in other years · The biggest outbreak days

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025. A day is SPC’s calendar date in Central Standard Time; an outbreak day here has 40 or more tornadoes, or 6 or more rated F3/EF3 or stronger.