Tornadoes of 1955

The article, therefore, documents information from the most contemporary official sources alongside assessments from tornado historian Thomas P. Grazulis.

May 25 saw two F5 tornadoes on the ground at the same time in the same general area of Northern Oklahoma and Southern Kansas, both of which caused catastrophic damage and hundreds of casualties.

On March 13, an isolated, but strong F2 tornado moved through the north sides of Ridge Spring and Monetta, South Carolina, killing 2 and injuring 10.

Finally, on March 16, another isolated, but large F2 tornado tore through areas southeast of Black Creek, North Carolina, killing one and injuring another.

On March 20, the first tornado of the outbreak struck Illinois Bend, Texas just south of the Red River, injuring one.

Later, a long-tracked F2 tornado hit the southeastern part of Jonesboro, Arkansas, before moving into Missouri and striking the towns of Arbyrd, Hollywood, Caruth, and Pascola.

On April 5, a long-tracked F2 tornado moved through Stamford before tracking 43.7 miles through rural areas into the northwest side of Woodson, injuring six.

The next day, another long-tracked F3 tornado hit Sherman, Bells, Savoy, Ector, Bonham, and Dodd City, killing one and injuring 27.

This was followed by yet another long-tracked F2 tornado that hit Sanger, Lake Ray Roberts, Pilot Point, and the north side of Van Alstyne, injuring one.

The only tornado to cause casualties was an F3 storm that moved directly through Frankston, Texas into Blackburn Bay on April 12, injuring seven.

The same day, a long-tracked F2 tornado moved east-northeast through the south side of Mendenhall, Mississippi before striking Sylvarena and Mulberry along its 57.6 mile path.

An even longer-tracked F2 tornado then touched down in Bethel, Mississippi and moved north, which caused Sylvarena to be hit again.

On April 21, the first tornado of the outbreak struck the eastern side of White Hall, Arkansas at F2 strength, killing one and injuring two.

[5] That afternoon, the final tornado of the outbreak than touched down on the east side of Richmond, Kentucky at F1 strength, injuring two.

Towards the end of May, 46 tornadoes touched down in an intense two-day outbreak across the Great Plains and Arkansas.

On May 25, a large, long-tracked, 1100-yard wide F4 tornado passed west of Aberdeen, Texas before moving into Oklahoma, turning northeast and striking the north side of Sweetwater, killing two and injuring 18.

The first F5 tornado was 500 yards wide and struck the towns of Blackwell, Oklahoma and South Haven, Kansas, killing 20 and injuring 280 on its 28.4 mile path.

After that, an even larger, longer-tracked, and deadlier F5 tornado touched down near Peckham, Oklahoma and moved into Kansas.

It grew to 1320 yards wide and hit the towns of Ashton, Oxford, Udall, Rock, and Atlanta, killing 80 and injuring 273 along its 56.4 mile path.

On June 4, a large, long-tracked 500 yard wide F4 tornado struck Formoso, Kansas before moving into Nebraska and hitting areas west of Hubell along its 61.9 mile path.

[1] The first ten days of July produced 28 scattered tornadoes that caused varying degrees of damage and casualties across the Northern US.

That was followed by a 440 yard wide F3 tornado that moved south-southeastward through rural Wilkin County, Minnesota, just east of the Minnesota-North Dakota state line.

Early on July 8, another long-tracked F2 tornado struck Loup City and Elba, Nebraska, also killing one and injuring 13.

[1] A brief, but destructive F1 tornado touched down in Drayton Plains, Michigan and struck Loon Lake northwest of Pontiac, although there were no casualties.

This was not the case in Oklahoma where another F1 tornado tore a 300 yard wide and 1.5 mile long path directly through the center of Sulphur, killing one and injuring two.

The strongest downed trees and power-lines, threw a boat and an anchor, broke windows, and ripped off parts of a roof.

[1] A brief, isolated, but surprisingly deadly F0 tornado struck the northwest side of Great Bend, Kansas, killing one.

It started early on October 28, when a family of four brief but strong tornadoes touched down over the course of four hours in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

[1] On November 15, a long-tracked F3 tornado, moved through Heber Springs, Floral, Salado, Magness, and the north side of Newark, Arkansas, killing one and injuring four.

[9][1] Early on November 16, a large, 1000 yard wide F2 tornado struck areas south of West Plains, Missouri, injuring two.

Oklahoma tornado tracks during the 1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak.
Damage from the Udall Tornado