Tornadoes 2004 Another Record-Setting Year

Until the end of May, 2004 looked like a below normal year for tornado activity. Suddenly, things changed. Following frequent tornado days in June, records were set in August and September as six tropical systems produced just over 300 tornadoes over the east central and southeast United States—a level unprecedented in 54 years of tornado data. This activity led to a record number of tornadoes reported in 2004 for a preliminary count of 1,722, eclipsing the previous mark of 1,424 tornadoes in 1998.