The tornado outbreak of May 31, 1985
30 tornadoesPennsylvania, Ohio and New York
30 tornadoes touched down across 3 states between 3:59 PM and 11:05 PM CDT, 15 of them rated F3 or stronger, and 76 people were killed. The 11th-deadliest tornado day since 1950.
Watch the day unfoldTornado outbreak · May 31, 1985
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
- 30
- on Friday, May 31, 1985
- F3 or stronger
- 15
- 7 rated F4 or F5
- Killed
- 76
- 11th-deadliest tornado day since 1950
- Injured
- 876
- Along all the paths
- Path miles
- 535
- All the paths end to end
- First and last
- 3:59 PM to 11:05 PM
- Touchdowns, Central Daylight Time
Hour by hour
Tornadoes touching down in each hour, Central Daylight Time.
Every tornado
In order of touchdown. 9 have a record page, linked from the rating.
By state
| Pennsylvania | 17 | 9 | 29 |
| Ohio | 11 | 5 | 47 |
| New York | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Tornadoes in 1985 · 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.