GREG FORBES’ LIST OF
WORST TORNADO OUTBREAKS, 1950- June, 2008*

1. April 3-4, 1974 Superoutbreak (84 pts)  Tops, 6 of 11 attributes
2. April 11-12, 1965 Palm Sunday (44) Normalized damage #1
3. Nov 21-23, 1992 Houston TX, Kennesaw GA, largest Nov. (41)
4. May 3-4, 1999 Moore, OK (39) Raw damage #1
5. Feb 5-6, 2008 Super Tuesday outbreak (31) 
6. May 26-29, 1973 Union City OK (29) Most states, 17 (tie)
7. Jan 21-22, 1999 AR-TN, largest January outbreak, record Jan. (29)
8. May 29-31, 2004 Weatherby MO, Midwest (28) Raw count #1
9. May 4-5, 2003 Kansas City KS, Jackson TN, record month (27)
10. Nov 9-11, 2002 Van Wert OH, Mossy Grove TN, AL (27)
11. May 23, 2008 Quinter KS (27)
12. April 2-3, 1982 Paris TX, Broken Bow OK (26)
13. Mar 28, 1984 Carolina Outbreak (26)
14. May 31, 1985 Wheatland, PA (25)
15. Mar 13-14, 1990 Hesston/Goessel KS (24
16. Jun 2, 1990 Indiana, largest outbreak, record June (24)
17. Mar 21-22, 1952 Judsonia AR (24)
18. May 10-11, 2008 Picher OK (24)
19. Mar 18, 1925 Tri-State Tornado Outbreak (23), deadliest
20. Apr 26-27, 1991 Andover KS (22)
21. Apr 2, 2006 Newbern, TN (21)
22. June 24, 2003 Manchester SD (21) Greatest tornado density
23. Mar 11-13, 2006 Renick, MO (21)
24. Mar 20-21, 1976 West Bloomfield, MI (21) Most states, 17 (tie)
25. May 6-8, 2003 (20) central US, including Oklahoma City
26. Feb 28-Mar 2, 2007 Enterprise AL (20)
27. Mar 28, 2007 Holly CO (19)
28. Apr 19-20, 1996 (19)
29. Nov 23-24, 2004 (19) Gulf Coast States
30. Nov 23-24, 2001 (19) worst in MS and AL
31. June 7-8, 1984 Barneveld WI (19)
32. May 5-6, 2007 (19) 
33. May 9-11, 2003 (18) central US including Oklahoma City
34. June 16, 1992 (18) F5 at Chandler, MN
35. May 8, 1988 (16)

* “Worst” here is based upon a complex mixture of 11 parameters:  
-number of tornadoes
-number of significant tornadoes
-number of violent tornadoes
-number of killer tornadoes
-number of deaths
-amount of damage
-total path length
-number of wide-track tornadoes
-number of states affected
-number of tornadoes per hour
-number of injuries. 

Numbers in parentheses indicate the value of Forbes Outbreak Index, with maximum value of 100. (Not normalized for inflation of tornado counts, damage, etc.)