The tornado outbreak of May 15, 1968
33 tornadoesMissouri, Iowa, Minnesota and 6 more states
33 tornadoes touched down across 9 states between 3:28 PM and 12:20 AM the next day CDT, 9 of them rated F3 or stronger, and 71 people were killed. The 13th-deadliest tornado day since 1950.
Watch the day unfoldTornado outbreak · May 15, 1968
How the day unfolded
Every tornado recorded that day, at its logged touchdown time and along its path, with the counties it crossed.
The day in numbers
- Tornadoes
- 33
- on Wednesday, May 15, 1968
- F3 or stronger
- 9
- 4 rated F4 or F5
- Killed
- 71
- 13th-deadliest tornado day since 1950
- Injured
- 1,181
- Along all the paths
- Path miles
- 256
- All the paths end to end
- First and last
- 3:28 PM to 12:20 AM the next day
- Touchdowns, Central Daylight Time
Hour by hour
Tornadoes touching down in each hour, Central Daylight Time.
Every tornado
In order of touchdown. 4 have a record page, linked from the rating.
By state
Tornadoes in 1968 · 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.