Odessa, TX Tornado History — 82 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Odessa, TX had?
Odessa has had 82 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 4 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Odessa?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Odessa was an EF2 on May 30, 2024.
When is tornado season in Odessa?
May is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Odessa, with 31 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Recent Tornado Activity Near Odessa
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 11 total, averaging 0.6 per year over this window.
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Have any tornadoes near Odessa been fatal?
No fatalities are on record within 25 miles of Odessa from any of the 82 tornadoes since 1950, though 14 injuries have been reported. NOAA Storm Prediction Center records.
Notable Tornadoes Near Odessa
About Tornadoes in Odessa
This overview was written August 10, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Severe-weather season arrives in Odessa with the late-spring collision of air masses over the Permian Basin. Moist Gulf air spilling northwest across Texas meets hot, dry desert air along the dryline, a boundary that often parks itself over West Texas from April into June. When a jet-stream disturbance crosses that boundary, storms can organize and begin rotating quickly, then fade after dark as the desert air reclaims the basin.
The city's tornado history follows that calendar closely. An F1 tornado injured nine people near Odessa on May 29, 1954. On May 16, 1965, an F3 damaged property at the edge of town, with losses around $275,000. The season opened early on March 19, 2012, when an EF2 injured three people. An EF3 cut a 4.28-mile path on May 14, 2010; another EF3 tracked 5.8 miles across the area on May 20, 2019; and on May 30, 2024, an EF2 plowed a 10.27-mile furrow up to 1,700 yards wide while an EF3 churned nearby.
Recent decades read much like the earlier ones. Entries for the Odessa area span the 1950s through the 2020s in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, which feeds the event list elsewhere on this page, and the seasonal rhythm holds throughout: quiet winters, a tense May and June, then a rapid taper once summer heat caps the atmosphere.