Tracking destructive and deadly tornadoes in the US, in maps and charts

(CNN) — Thousands of tornadoes sprout up across the United States each year, causing billions of dollars in damage and killing scores of Americans.

The storms occur across the country throughout the year, but are most common during the spring and summer months in the Deep South and parts of the Great Plains and Midwest.

Track their frequency and recent locations on this page, which updates daily.

The National Weather Service and the Storm Prediction Center logs severe weather reports as they happen, including those about tornadoes. This map plots the number and locations of preliminary tornado reports during the last seven days:

This tornado season got off to an accelerated start, with the cumulative number of storms thus far eclipsing storm counts in recent years — and the 15-year average.

This trend deviated from the norm after a spate of tornadoes in late April and May began to make this year stand out.

Some parts of the country have seen more tornado reports than others, with clusters appearing in the Midwest and other places in regions of the country prone to storms, according to a CNN analysis that counts them within a 25-mile hexagonal grid across the contiguous United States.

In addition to property damage caused each year by destructive winds, storms also are responsible for many deaths annually, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal agency that tracks severe weather events.

Since 1991, nearly 70 people have been killed by them each year on average. That figure is inflated somewhat by 2011, when one of the costliest and deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded claimed the lives of at least 553 people, including more than 150 in one Missouri storm alone.

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