Tri-State Tornado
The Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925 was the deadliest tornado in United States history. More people would die, more schools would be destroyed, more farmers and students would be killed, and the most deaths would occur in one U.S. city from a tornado in history.The storm kept the same heading, NE 63 degrees for 183 of the 219-mile path. The tornado traveled at an average speed of 62 mph. Records would be set for speed, path length, and other records that probably couldn't be determined that far back in the past.
The storm began in Ellington, Missouri at 1:01 P.M., then killed a farmer. The tornado may have been a double tornado or accompanied by downbursts as it moved into Annapolis and Leadanna. Two people were killed, 75 were injured and damage totaled more than $500,000 in both towns.
Double tornadoes were sighted near Biehle. After the tornado passed the Ozarks and into Illinois, the storm was at its worst. In Gorham, 34 were killed as nearly 100% of the town was destroyed. Between Gorham and Murphysboro, the fastest ground speed record was broken as the tornado raked across the ground at 73 mph!
The tornado arrived at Murphysboro, Illinois at 2:34 P.M. The tornado passed through quickly and killed a staggering 234 people, breaking yet another record, the most deaths in one U.S. city from a tornado. Damage in Murphysboro exceeded $10 million. Sixty-nine were killed near Desoto, thirty-three at the school was the worst in U.S. history. Another 127 were killed in Hamilton and White counties in Illinois.
Seventy-one were killed in Indiana. Griffin and Owensville were devestated. The tornado finally dissipated 10 miles northeast of Princeton.
The Tri-State Tornado was also a part of a tornado outbreak which included eight tornadoes that killed a total of 747 people, making it, to date, the deadliest tornado outbreak on record.
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2 Was the Tri-State tornado really ONE tornado? 3 External links |
The reason why 695 were killed in this deadly March tornado was that there was absolutely no tornado warning time in 1925. In fact, perhaps as early as prior to the 1980's, there was no tornado warning time. Now the national average warning time in nearly 20 minutes.
If technology was as evolved in 1925 as it is now, March 18 would have obviously been the biggest day of severe weather of the year. From what we now know about tornado development, these are the ingredients that formed the deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
The Aftermath
To the people that lived in eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana, the devestation and damage in the days following the Tri-State Tornado must have been horrendous. Looting was even reported (such as taking the rings off of the deceased), but amidst all the deaths, injuries, and destruction, it was now time to clean up the destruction that nature left behind. It would take months to rebuild what was destroyed in 3 1/2 hours.Was the Tri-State tornado really ONE tornado?
According to data obtained by the National Weather Service both now and in 1925, probably not. Findings from current weather records suggest that a tornado that lasts as long as the Tri-State tornado was probably spawned from a cylical supercell. A cylical supercell is a supercell thunderstorm that continously evolves and the decay of one supercell leads to the formation of another. So we can pretty much say that the Tri-State tornado was probably much like the Glazier-Higgins-Woodward Tornadoes that would occur 22 years later in 1947: A family of tornadoes.External links
See also: List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks