Tornado machine: Beryl may end up the most prolific tornado-producing hurricane

Hurricane Beryl rewrote the record books from its formation in the Atlantic to its landfall in the United States, but the records didn't stop there. Beginning at midnight July 7 and ending at 11 p.m. July 10, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued 201 tornado warnings as Beryl moved inland, with 97 warnings issued on July 8.

Severe tornado damage to the Mead Johnson Nutrition building in Mt. Vernon, Indiana after a twister on July 9, 2024.

On Tuesday, July 9, social media and storm chaser videos showed a strong tornado twisting through the skies in Mount Vernon, Indiana, as well as severe damage in Poseyville, 17 miles northeast of Mount Vernon. The tornado also severely damaged the Mead Johnson Nutrition building in Mt. Vernon, Indiana. This tornado was rated an EF3.

How many tornadoes touched down from Beryl? NWS offices are still completing damage surveys, which can take several days. As of Friday morning, the NWS has confirmed 43 tornadoes.

The number of tornado warnings from Beryl in one day set a new record previously held by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 when around 90 tornado warnings were issued. Beryl also set a record for the most tornado warnings issued in a day, or even in a month, by the NWS office in Shreveport, where 67 advisories hit the wires Monday.

It was also the most tornado warnings ever issued on a July day, which is typically before hurricane season ramps up.

Hurricane Ivan continues to hold the record for tornado warnings issued, with 213 warnings from Sept. 14-19, 2004. Data for NWS warnings goes back to around 1985. Hurricane Ivan spawned at least 118 tornadoes in 2004, as many as 127, depending on the tally source.

Some tornadoes were embedded within the outer bands of the storm and occurred even before Hurricane Beryl's landfall. One home in Jamaica Beach, Texas, 20 miles southwest of Galveston, was almost completely destroyed by an EF1 tornado, with radar confirming that rotational winds moved over the area in the middle of the night at 3 a.m. CDT on July 8.

BOTTOM: A home, 3909 1st Street in Galveston, Texas, that neighbors believe was hit by a tornado from Hurricane Beryl sits exposed in Bay Harbor following the Category 1 hurricane on Monday, July 8, 2024. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images) / TOP: Same address in Google Maps' Street View (Google)

In addition to an active spring tornado season, the United States is now in the second spot for the number of days with over 100 tornado warnings issued. Six days meet that criteria so far this year, while nine days occurred in 2011, the year of the Super Tornado Outbreak.