In a recent 2000–2020 period, an average January features 32 tornadoes across the United States, the lowest month in a given year;[1] the broader 1991–2010 climatology is slightly higher at 35.
[2] These tornadoes are commonly focused across the Southern United States due to their proximity to the unstable airmass and warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico,[1] as well as California in association with winter storms.
[3] The year's first tornado, part of a broader outbreak on New Year's Day, caused EF2 damage on the Enhanced Fujita scale in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, a region hit particularly hard from one of the deadliest and largest December outbreaks on record.
As spring approached, a dramatic upswing occurred in March as 234 tornadoes were confirmed in the United States, the most on record in that month.
Outbreaks during the month produced 32, 85, and 90 tornadoes, which helped to ramp up tornadic activity.