On January 4–6, 1946, a small but violent tornado outbreak struck the South-Central United States, killing 47 people and injuring at least 412 others. L. H. Seamon with the US Weather Bureau, the predecessor of the National Weather Service, later stated it was the "most disastrous" tornado event of the year; the US Weather Bureau stated in 1960 that January 4, 1946 had "outstanding tornadoes".
All ratings on the Fujita scale were done by Thomas P. Grazulis, a tornado expert, and are classified as unofficial ratings as official ratings for tornadoes began in 1950. Grazulis only documented significant tornadoes (F2+), so the true number of tornadoes for this outbreak is likely higher.
List of United States tornadoes in 1946