This is a list of all tornadoes that were confirmed by local offices of the National Weather Service in the United States in May 2011.
Activity then abruptly increased with a prolonged and violent tornado outbreak sequence taking place from May 21–26, resulting in 178 fatalities.
This tornado was the most severe of the outbreak, and it caused catastrophic damage across southern portions of the city of Joplin.
This activity continued into the next day, when an EF3 tornado impacted part of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana and injured four people.
These included four tornadoes–three EF2 and one EF1–in the Fargo, North Dakota area, resulting in heavy damage to buildings and electrical transmission lines.