page_title: Tornadoes of 2018
section_title: February 24
hierarchical_section_title: Tornadoes of 2018 / February / February 24
caption_attribution_description: English: High-end EF2 damage to a two-story apartment building in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
context_page_description: This page documents notable tornadoes and tornado outbreaks worldwide in 2018. Strong and destructive tornadoes form most frequently in the United States, Brazil, Bangladesh and Eastern India, but they can occur almost anywhere under the right conditions. Tornadoes also develop occasionally in southern Canada during the Northern Hemisphere's summer and somewhat regularly at other times of the year across Europe, Asia, Argentina and Australia. Tornadic events are often accompanied with other forms of severe weather, including strong thunderstorms, strong winds, and hail.
  There were 1,169 preliminary reports of tornadoes in the United States in 2018, of which at least 1,123 were confirmed. Worldwide, 17 tornado-related deaths were confirmed; 10 in the United States, four in Brazil, two in Indonesia, and one in Canada. The United States saw near-average numbers of tornadoes, but near-record low numbers of strong tornadoes. 2018 was the only year since reliable record-keeping began in the 1950s in which no officially-rated violent tornadoes occurred in the United States. 2018 also had the lowest number of tornado-related fatalities on record in the United States.
context_section_description: On February 24, the Storm Prediction Center issued an enhanced risk of severe weather across much of the Lower Mississippi River Valley. This included a 10% hatched risk area for tornadoes. A mixed convective mode was predicted, with both bowing line segments and discrete supercell thunderstorms expected to develop in the threat area. Throughout the event, the development of isolated supcercell thunderstorms that was expected did not occur. However, a large quasi-linear convective system developed, and numerous semi-discrete supercell structures and embedded mesovortices within the larger line of severe storms produced a moderate outbreak of tornadoes. While most of these tornadoes were relatively brief, several of them were strong, resulting in major damage and fatalities. A high-end EF2 tornado near Adairville, Kentucky destroyed several homes and barns and killed an elderly woman, ending a record 283-day streak without any tornado-related deaths. Another high-end EF2 struck the southeast side of Hopkinsville, severely damaging multiple two-story apartment buildings and injuring nine people. An EF1 tornado caused roof damage to many homes and businesses in Murray as well. In Arkansas, an EF1 tornado caused moderate damage to many structures in the town of Keiser and blew much of the roof off of a hotel near Osceola. An EF2 tornado near Knobel killed one person when a mobile home was thrown into a pond. The same tornado later crossed into Missouri and struck the town of Malden, where numerous homes were heavily damaged and several people were injured. Also in Missouri, several homes in the town of Matthews had their roofs ripped off as the result of an EF2 tornado. Another EF2 tornado touched down in the eastern part of Clarksville, Tennessee as well, where several homes and duplexes were damaged or destroyed, and many vehicles and a few buildings were damaged at an industrial complex. A total of 30 tornadoes were confirmed as a result of this outbreak, which resulted in two fatalities and at least 20 injuries.
caption: High-end EF2 damage to a two-story apartment complex in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
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