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Tri-State tornado outbreak

A city block damaged by the tri state tornado in Murphysboro, Illinois.
Meteorological history
Formed	March 17, 1925
Dissipated	March 19, 1925
Tornado outbreak
Tornadoes	≥12
Maximum rating	F5 tornado
Duration	7 hours
Highest winds	>300 mph (480 km/h)
Overall effects
Fatalities	at least 751, likely higher
Injuries	> 2,298
Damage	Over $17 million (1925 USD); at least $1.4 billion (1997 USD) $2.66 billion (2024 USD)
Areas affected	Midwestern and southeastern United States

On March 18, 1925, one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in recorded history generated at least 12 significant tornadoes and spanned a large portion of the midwestern and southern United States. In all, at least 751 men, women and children were killed and more than 2,298 were injured, making the outbreak the deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history. The outbreak generated several destructive tornadoes in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on the same day, as well as significant tornadoes in Alabama and Kansas. In addition to confirmed tornadoes, there were undoubtedly others with lesser impacts, the occurrences of which have been lost to history.

The outbreak included the Tri-State Tornado, the deadliest disaster in Illinois, the deadliest tornado in U.S. history, and the second-deadliest registered in world history. The 219-mile-long (352 km) track left by the tornado, as it crossed from southeastern Missouri, through southern Illinois, and then into southwestern Indiana, is also the longest ever recorded. Modern meteorological re-analysis has suggested that the extremely long path length and lifespan reported in historical accounts are perhaps more plausibly attributed to multiple independent tornadoes belonging to a tornado family, rather than a single, continuous tornado. Although not officially rated by NOAA, the Tri-State Tornado is recognized by most experts (such as Tom Grazulis and Ted Fujita) as an F5 tornado, the maximum damage rating issued on the Fujita scale.

Background

During a six-year review study of the Tri-State tornado published in 2013, new surface and upper air data was obtained and meteorological reanalysis was utilized, adding significantly to knowledge of the synoptic and even mesoscale background of the event. The late winter to early spring of 1925 was warmer and drier than normal over much of the central United States. There apparently was persistent ridging in the western U.S. with a troughing pattern over the central U.S.

The extratropical cyclone that set the synoptic stage for the outbreak was centered over northwestern Montana at 7:00 a.m. CST (13:00 UTC) on March 17. Meanwhile, a diffuse area of surface low pressure was centered near Denver, Colorado, in association with a lee trough. Occluded fronts extended from Hudson Bay southwestward into the northern Plains states and into the lee trough. The synoptic cyclone moved south-southeastward across the mountain states to eastern Colorado. A warm front stretched along the Gulf Coast, separating warm, moist air from cool, showery weather with areas of fog that extended from Texas to the Carolinas. A well-mixed early-season continental tropical (cT) air mass existed over West Texas and northern New Mexico. To the east of this hot, dry air, buoyant maritime tropical (mT) air was advecting from the Gulf of Mexico. Simultaneously, a mid- to upper-level shortwave trough likely approached the northwest coast of the U.S. and moved rapidly through the persistent ridge then digging southeastward across the Great Basin and central Rocky Mountains and emerging in the Plains over Colorado. This initiated a "Colorado low" cyclogenesis.

At 7:00 a.m. CST on March 18, the surface low-pressure area, at approximately 1,003 hPa (29.6 inHg), moved to far northeastern Oklahoma while the warm front shot north into the circulation where the front then extended eastward. A maritime Polar (mP) cold front draped southwestward across eastern Texas with a dry line forming directly to the south of the low. The open shortwave, likely somewhat negatively tilted, was continuing to approach from the northwest and an apparent outflow boundary moved just to the south of the warm front over northeastern Arkansas and northwestern Tennessee. Several weak pressure troughs were traversing the cool sector over the north-central U.S.. Surface temperatures in the warm sector near the dry line and warm front ranged from 60–70 °F (16–21 °C), and the dew point was 55–65 °F (13–18 °C), with higher values farther south and increasing over time as the deepening low-pressure area continued to pull up air from the Gulf of Mexico. https://www.weather.gov/pah/1925Tornado_wi#:~:text=In This resulted in unstable air and lower cloud bases, or low LCL heights, which is favorable to tornadogenesis. From southeastern Kansas to Kentucky and Indiana, early morning showers and thunderstorms north of the low and warm front cooled and stabilized that air, retarding northward advancement of the front, and led to a sharp contrast in temperature from north to south. Such baroclinic zones are also associated with tornadic storms. Ahead of the surface dry line, which are uncommon as far east as the Mississippi River, an apparent "dry punch" of air aloft served to further increase instability. Concurrently, a capping inversion likely suppressed storms throughout the warm sector, leaving the Tri-State supercell undisturbed by nearby convection.

By 12:00 p.m. CST (18:00 UTC), the deepening surface low was centered over south-central Missouri, the shortwave axis was moving easterly and oriented over eastern Oklahoma, and the dry line was rapidly advancing eastward directly south of the low as the warm front, situated due east of the low, slowly shifted northward. Morning clouds cleared by midday across much of the Tri-State tornado's eventual path. A pronounced pressure trough extended northeast of the low and signaled its future track as a prefrontal trough formed southeast of the low ahead of the dry line. A bulge in the dry line may also have been forming slightly south of the low, and southerly to southeasterly surface winds were backing and increasing with time throughout the warm sector. The Tri-State supercell formed in a highly favorable area just ahead of the triple point where the cold front, warm front, and dry line met. The supercell initiated very near the surface low and moved east-northeastward, faster than the low, such that the storm gradually deviated east of the low's track. The supercell remained near this "sweet spot" for a prolonged period as it also traveled near the highly baroclinic warm front (likely just across the cool side of the boundary) for several hours.

By 2:00 p.m. CST (20:00 UTC), the low was centered slightly south-southwest of St. Louis, Missouri, as the Tri-State supercell neared the Mississippi River. Other storms in the warm sector, removed from the Tri-State supercell, were initiating around 3:00 p.m. CST (21:00 UTC). Around 4:00 p.m. CST (22:00 UTC), the low's central pressure lowered to around 998 hPa (29.5 inHg), centered over south-central Illinois, as the supercell was moving into Indiana. This pressure is not particularly low compared to many other outbreak setups, but the pressure gradient was strong, which induced strong gradient winds and significant advection in the warm sector. A very strong low level jet was also in place just above the surface as winds veered with height, resulting in low-level curvature and long hodographs. Strong wind shear thus existed, with pronounced directional shear likely in the vicinity of the warm front, with winds at the 700 hPa height level west-southwesterly around 70 mph (110 km/h) and winds at the 500 hPa level about 90–110 mph (140–180 km/h). Theoretical hodographs returned estimated storm relative environmental helicity (SREH) values of 340 m s in the vicinity of the Tri-State supercell track. Strong thunderstorms were now scattered throughout the warm sector and a line of severe thunderstorms was occurring near the dry line. The Tri-State supercell appeared to still be discrete and isolated, with a severe storm north of Cairo, Illinois, placed well to its south.

By 6:00 p.m. CST (00:00 UTC), the shortwave axis was over eastern Missouri and was lifting northeast. At 7:00 p.m. CST (01:00 UTC), the low was placed near Indianapolis, Indiana, with numerous thunderstorms east and south of the low and a squall line moving into the southeastern U.S. Cold air advection behind the strong cold front fed into the cyclone as snow and sleet fell from eastern Iowa to central Michigan. At 7:00 a.m. CST on March 19, the low was deepening and lifting rapidly northeastward into Canada.

Confirmed tornadoes

These are estimated tornado ratings as tornado ratings in the United States were not official until 1950.

Tri-State tornado

Tri-State tornado

The path of the Tri-State tornado. The storm covered a distance of over 219 miles (352 km) in its 3½-hour lifetime, traveling at forward speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h).
Meteorological history
Formed	March 18, 1925 12:45 p.m. CST (UTC−06:00) Reynolds County, Missouri
Dissipated	March 18, 1925 4:30 p.m. CST (UTC−06:00) Pike County, Indiana
Duration	3 hours, 45 minutes
F5 tornado
on the Fujita scale
Path length	219 miles (352 km)
Highest winds	>300 mph (480 km/h)
Overall effects
Fatalities	at least 695, likely higher (deadliest tornado in United States history)
Injuries	2,027
Damage	$16.5 million (1925 USD); $2.6 billion (2024 USD)
Areas affected	Southern Missouri, Illinois, Indiana

The tornado was first sighted as a highly visible and relatively small condensation funnel in the rugged forested hills of Moore Township, Shannon County, Missouri, at about 12:40 p.m. CST. However, this was likely a separate member of the tornado family, and the main member likely began in Reynolds County, west-northwest of Ellington, around five minutes later. The first fatality occurred around 1:01 p.m. CST (19:01 UTC), when a farmer was caught off-guard north-northwest of Ellington.

The tornado sped to the northeast, moving into Iron County and hitting the mining town of Annapolis and the small mining village of Leadanna. Within a matter of minutes, two people were killed and 90% of the town was leveled. It then crossed into the sparsely populated areas of Madison County south of Fredericktown, where near Cherokee Pass the tornado steadily began to grow larger.

In Bollinger County, 32 children were injured when two schools were damaged. Multiple homes and farms were completely destroyed near Lixville, where a farmer and three children were killed, and a third child died from her injuries one week after the storm. Deep ground scouring was observed near the town of Sedgewickville as well. The tornado carried sheets of iron as far as 50 miles (80 km) away.

The tornado then crossed the Mississippi River into southern Illinois, debarking trees and deeply scouring the ground in rural areas before hitting the riverside town of Gorham at 2:30 p.m. CST (20:30 UTC), essentially obliterating the entire town. 60 of the 80 homes, all the store fronts, the train depot, and 2 out of the 3 levels of the school were destroyed with the remaining 20 houses being damaged. Railroad tracks were also reportedly ripped from the ground. More than half the town's population was injured or killed; 30 were killed in the immediate storm and 170 were injured, six of whom later died.

Continuing to the northeast at an average speed of 62 mph (100 km/h) (and up to 73 mph (117 km/h)), the tornado cut a swath almost 1 mi (1.6 km) wide through the city of Murphysboro, a thriving coal shipping center and railroad town of 10,000. The tornado leveled all but the extreme southeastern side of town, where many densely populated working-class neighborhoods saw some of the storm's most horrific effects. Entire rows of homes were leveled and swept away in some areas. Many other structures were also damaged or destroyed throughout the town, including the M&O railroad shop, where 35 people were killed, mostly in fires after the tornado. Schools in the area were devastated as well, with 17 students killed at the Longfellow School and nine others killed at the Logan School.

Further east, the tornado crossed into Franklin County, narrowly missing the towns of Royalton and Zeigler, devastating rural areas and killing 25 people—20 of whom perished immediately and another five in the days to come—before heading towards the large mining town of West Frankfort. The tornado struck the northwest side of town, where in a manner similar to what was seen at Murphysboro, a number of densely populated neighborhoods, businesses and mining operations fell victim to the tornado. At the Orient Mine, a large multi-ton coal tipple was blown over and rolled by the tornado. Extreme damage continued east of town, as a railroad trestle was torn from its supports, and 300 ft (91 m) of railroad track was ripped from the ground and blown away. The immediate storm claimed 81 lives at West Frankfort, while injuring a staggering 410, 21 of whom later died, bringing the death toll for the town to 102.

After exiting Griffin, the tornado made a slight turn towards the northeast as it crossed into Gibson County, devastating rural areas and clipping the northwest corner of Owensville, resulting in nine fatalities. The tornado then roared into the large factory town of Princeton, destroying much of the southern side of the town, killing 38 people and injuring 152, six of whom later died. Large sections of neighborhoods in Princeton were leveled, and a Heinz factory was badly damaged. The tornado traveled more than 10 mi (16 km) to the northeast, crossing into Pike County before finally dissipating at about 4:30 p.m. CST, near Oatsville. In Indiana, at least 95 (and probably more) perished.

Non-tornadic effects

Strong thunderstorms were reported in a broad area that also included parts of Oklahoma, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. Numerous reports of hail and straight-line winds were reported, with up to 4+1⁄2-inch-diameter (11 cm) hail recorded (by comparison, a softball is 3+1⁄2–3.8 in (8.9–9.7 cm) in diameter). What began in the early afternoon as discrete supercell thunderstorms eventually consolidated into a potent squall line. By all accounts it was a widespread outbreak with severe thunderstorms occurring as far east as Ohio, as far southwest as Louisiana, and as far southeast as Georgia.

See also

• List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
  • List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• List of tornado-related deaths at schools
• List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes
• Tornado outbreak sequence of December 18–20, 1957 – Produced another violent tornado that paralleled the Tri-State tornado in Illinois
• Daulatpur–Saturia tornado – Deadliest tornado worldwide in recorded history that struck Manikganj District in Bangladesh on April 26, 1989.
• Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021 – Another deadly tornado outbreak that contained the "Quad-State supercell", which was initially believed to have dropped a single tornado that tracked over 4 states, but was later found to have not done so

Notes

1. All losses are in 1925 USD unless otherwise noted.
2. An outbreak is generally defined as a group of at least six tornadoes (the number sometimes varies slightly according to local climatology) with no more than a six-hour gap between individual tornadoes. An outbreak sequence, prior to (after) the start of modern records in 1950, is defined as a period of no more than two (one) consecutive days without at least one significant (F2 or stronger) tornado.
3. The Fujita scale was devised under the aegis of scientist T. Theodore Fujita in the early 1970s. Prior to the advent of the scale in 1971, tornadoes in the United States were officially unrated. While the Fujita scale has been superseded by the Enhanced Fujita scale in the U.S. since February 1, 2007, Canada used the old scale until April 1, 2013; nations elsewhere, like the United Kingdom, apply other classifications such as the TORRO scale.
4. Historically, the number of tornadoes globally and in the United States was and is likely underrepresented: research by Grazulis on annual tornado activity suggests that, as of 2001, only 53% of yearly U.S. tornadoes were officially recorded. Documentation of tornadoes outside the United States was historically less exhaustive, owing to the lack of monitors in many nations and, in some cases, to internal political controls on public information. Most countries only recorded tornadoes that produced severe damage or loss of life. Significant low biases in U.S. tornado counts likely occurred through the early 1990s, when advanced NEXRAD was first installed and the National Weather Service began comprehensively verifying tornado occurrences.
5. All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time and dates are split at midnight CST/CDT for consistency.
6. Prior to 1994, only the average widths of tornado paths were officially listed.

References

1. Brooks, Harold E.; C. A. Doswell (February 2001). "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890–1999". Weather Forecast. 16 (1): 168–176. Bibcode:2001WtFor..16..168B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2.
2. "Tri-State Tornado". ArcGIS StoryMaps. June 24, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
3. ^ Maddox et al. 2013.
4. "The deadliest disaster to ever happen in each state". MSN. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
5. Gibson, Christine (Aug–Sep 2006). "Our 10 Greatest Natural Disasters". American Heritage. 57 (4).
6. Tri-State Tornado - History, Facts and Information
7. ^ Johns et al. 2013.
8. Grazulis 2001b, p. 17.
9. Fujita 1973, pp. 56–83.
10. ^ Grazulis 1993, p. 796.
11. Schneider, Russell S.; Brooks, Harold E.; Schaefer, Joseph T. (2004). Tornado Outbreak Day Sequences: Historic Events and Climatology (1875–2003) (PDF). 22nd Conf. Severe Local Storms. Hyannis, Massachusetts: American Meteorological Society. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
12. Grazulis 1993, p. 141.
13. Grazulis 2001a, p. 131.
14. Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage". The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC). Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
15. "Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale)". Environment and Climate Change Canada. June 6, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
16. "The International Tornado Intensity Scale". Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
17. Grazulis 2001a, pp. 251–4.
18. Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC)". Storm Prediction Center: Frequently Asked Questions about Tornadoes. Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
19. Cook & Schaefer 2008, p. 3135.
20. Duell & Van Den Broeke 2016.
21. NOAA Photo Library
22. Brooks 2004, p. 310.
23. Grazulis 1993, p. 795.
24. Atteberry, Todd (2021-04-23). "Searching for the scars of the Tri-State Tornado of 1925 in southern Illinois". Witchery Art: A Gothic Cabinet of Curiosities and Mysteries. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
25. Grazulis 2001a, pp. 194–8.
26. ^ Grazulis 1984, p. A-38.
27. ^ "Tornadoes of March 18, 1925". Louisville, KY Weather Forecast Office. Louisville, Kentucky: National Weather Service. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
28. ^ "March 18, 1925 Tornado Outbreak". Nashville, TN Weather Forecast Office. Nashville, Tennessee: National Weather Service. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
29. ^ US Department of Commerce, NOAA. "1925 Tornado". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
30. Johns 2012, pp. 7–9.
31. Partlow 2014, pp. 6–10.
32. Grazulis 2001a, p. 195.
33. Mason 2011, p. 262.
34. Johns 2012, p. 1.
35. Partlow 2014, pp. 17–18.
36. Mason 2011, p. 278.
37. Mason 2011, p. 294.
38. Mason 2011, p. 241.
39. "NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado Web Site—Tornado Track". NWS Paducah, KY. Archived from the original on 2015-03-21. Retrieved 2013-04-01.

Sources

• Akin, Wallace E. (2002). The Forgotten Storm: The Great Tri-state Tornado of 1925. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-607-X.
• Brooks, Harold E. (April 2004). "On the Relationship of Tornado Path Length and Width to Intensity". Weather and Forecasting. 19 (2): 310–19. Bibcode:2004WtFor..19..310B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019<0310:OTROTP>2.0.CO;2.
• Cook, A. R.; Schaefer, J. T. (August 2008). "The Relation of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to Winter Tornado Outbreaks". Monthly Weather Review. 136 (8): 3121–3137. Bibcode:2008MWRv..136.3121C. doi:10.1175/2007MWR2171.1.
• Doswell III, Charles A.; Burgess, D. W. (1988). "On Some Issues of United States Tornado Climatology". Mon. Wea. Rev. 116 (2): 495–501. Bibcode:1988MWRv..116..495D. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1988)116<0495:OSIOUS>2.0.CO;2.
• Duell, Rebecca S.; Van Den Broeke, M. S. (2016). "Climatology, Synoptic Conditions, and Misanalyses of Mississippi River Valley Drylines". Mon. Wea. Rev. 144 (3): 927–43. Bibcode:2016MWRv..144..927D. doi:10.1175/MWR-D-15-0108.1.
• Felknor, Peter S. (1992). The Tri-State Tornado: The Story of America's Greatest Tornado Disaster. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press. ISBN 0-8138-0623-2.
• Flora, Snowden D. (1953). Tornadoes of the United States. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806102627.
• Fujita, T. Theodore (1973). "Tornadoes Around the World". Weatherwise. 26 (2): 56–83. doi:10.1080/00431672.1973.9931633.
• Grazulis, Thomas P. (May 1984). Violent Tornado Climatography, 1880–1982. OSTI (Technical report). NUREG. Washington, D.C.: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. OSTI 7099491. CR-3670.
  • — (November 1990). Significant Tornadoes 1880–1989. Vol. 2. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-02-3.
  • — (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-03-1.
  • — (2001a). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0.
  • — (2001b). F5-F6 Tornadoes. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films.
• Johns, Bob (2012). The 1925 Tri-State Tornado's Devastation In Franklin County, Hamilton County, And White County, Illinois. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1468560961.
  • —; Burgess, D. W.; Doswell III, C. A.; Gilmore, M. S.; et al. (2013). "The 1925 Tri-State Tornado Damage Path and Associated Storm System". e-Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology. 8 (2): 1–33. doi:10.55599/ejssm.v8i2.47.
• Maddox, Robert A.; Gilmore, M. S.; Doswell III, C. A.; Johns, R. H.; et al. (2013). "Meteorological Analyses of the Tri-State Tornado Event of March 1925". e-Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology. 8 (1): 1–27. doi:10.55599/ejssm.v8i1.46.
• Mason, Angela (2011). Death Rides the Sky: The Story of the 1925 Tri-State Tornado. Rockford, IL: Black Oak Media. ISBN 978-1-61876-001-2.
• Partlow, Geoff (2014). America's Deadliest Twister: The Tri-State Tornado of 1925. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 9780809333462.

External links

• 1925 Tri-State Tornado (NWS Paducah, KY)
• The Weather Channel's Storm of the Century list – #7 The Tri-State Tornado
• The Great Tri-State Tornado (RootsWeb Genealogy)
• The 1925 Tornado (Carolyar.com Genealogy)
• Aerial film of damage path
• 'The 1925 Tri-State Tornado Damage Path Analysis' By R.H. Johns & Associates

• F5 tornadoes
• 20th-century tornadoes
• 1925 meteorology
• Tornadoes in Missouri
• Tornadoes in Illinois
• Tornadoes in Indiana
• Shannon County, Missouri
• Reynolds County, Missouri
• Iron County, Missouri
• Madison County, Missouri
• Bollinger County, Missouri
• Perry County, Missouri
• Jackson County, Illinois
• Williamson County, Illinois
• Franklin County, Illinois
• Hamilton County, Illinois
• White County, Illinois
• Gibson County, Indiana
• Posey County, Indiana
• Pike County, Indiana
• 1925 in Indiana
• 1925 in Illinois
• 1925 in Missouri
• March 1925 events
• 1925 natural disasters in the United States