Tornadoes are known for their different sizes and strengths, but their ground speeds can also differ significantly, ranging from fast highway speeds to a slow crawl. Detailed statistics are not readily available, but the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) of NOAA indicates that the average forward speed of a typical tornado is approximately 10 to 20 mph. Some tornadoes can move even faster, with speeds reaching up to 60 mph in environments with strong storm movements caused by a powerful jet stream.
In contrast, some tornadoes can move at a snail’s pace, almost stationery at times. An example is the EF3 tornado that struck near Bennington, Kansas, on May 28, 2013, which had an average forward speed of only 2.3 mph due to a slow-moving low-pressure system that created the tornado. These slow tornadoes can also exhibit erratic paths, as seen in the case of the tornado near Bennington that made loops in various directions.
A study from 2006 by Philip W. Suckling of Texas State University–San Marcos and Walker S. Ashley of Northern Illinois University revealed that nearly 70% of tornadoes in the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. from 1980 to 2002 moved in an east or northeast direction, with a smaller percentage following other directional paths.
