Tornado climatology
The United States averaged 1,274 tornadoes per year in the last decade. April 2011 saw the most tornadoes ever recorded for any month in the US National Weather Service's history, 875; the previous record was 542 in one month. It has more tornadoes yearly than any other country and reports more violent (F4 and F5) tornadoes than anywhere else.
Tornado outbreak of May 26–31, 2013
By far the most significant tornado of the outbreak was an extremely large EF3 that struck areas near the town of El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31. With a maximum width of , it was the largest tornado on record. The second highest wind speeds recorded on Earth, around , were also observed in this tornado. The twister was responsible for eight deaths, including famous storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son Paul, and Carl Young as a result of being caught off-guard by the tornado's unprecedented width. In addition, the tornado caused an unknown amount of injuries.