Abstract:Basic characteristics of tornadoes in China in 2024 are presented in this article based on comprehensive analysis of multi-source data and on-site ground damage surveys. Despite the potential underestimation arising from the limitation of observations and the inherently stochastic nature of public reports, a total of 78 tornadoes and 40 waterspouts are identified. The results show that these tornadoes were primarily concentrated in Northeast China, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Huang-Huai Region and the Pearl River Delta in 2024. Most tornadoes occurred between June and September, with July seeing tornadoes most frequently and their diurnal peaks in the afternoon. In addition, the intensities of 51 tornadoes are classified based on damage surveys into 12 EF0, 26 EF1, 9 EF2, and 4 EF3. In terms of waterspouts, they primarily occurred along the coastal region of South China and in the Bohai Bay, and most of them occurred in August with a pronounced diurnal peak around 06:00 BT. Overall, the tornadoes in 2024 were characterized by a high frequency of mass outbreaks, with four times of mass tornado events accounting for 44% of the annual total tornadoes. Notably, there were 13 tornadoes generated associated with an upper-level trough in Shandong Province on 5 July, making the province experiencing the highest occurrence frequency of tornadoes in 2024. Under the influence of the strong 2023 winter El Nio event, convective available potential energy in South China in spring 2024 was significantly higher than the climatological average. With such a favorable thermodynamic environment, 67% of tornadoes in Guangdong Province occurred from late March to late April, reflecting an unusually high early-spring concentration. Additionally, a high-impact nocturnal severe weather event in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, underscored the persistent difficulties in identifying and confirming nighttime tornadoes.