On March 18, 1925, one of the deadliest
tornado outbreak
A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same Synoptic scale meteorology, synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least ...
s in recorded history generated at least 12
significant tornadoes and spanned a large portion of the
midwestern
The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
and
southern United States. In all, at least 751 people died, including men, women, and children. 2,298 were injured, making the outbreak the deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history. The outbreak generated several destructive tornadoes in
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, and
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
on the same day, as well as significant tornadoes in
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
and
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. 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.
Tri-State Tornado
- History, Facts and Information The 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
A tornado family is a series of tornadoes spawned by the same supercell thunderstorm. These families form a line of successive or parallel tornado paths and can cover a short span or a vast distance. Tornado families are sometimes mistaken as a si ...
, rather than a single, continuous tornado. Although not officially rated by NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...
, the Tri-State Tornado is recognized by most experts (such as Tom Grazulis
Thomas P. Grazulis (born August 17, 1942) is an American meteorologist who has written extensively about tornadoes and produced documentaries as head of ''The Tornado Project''.
Biography
Early career
Thomas Grazulis grew up in Worcester, M ...
and Ted Fujita
was a Japanese and American meteorologist whose research primarily focused on severe weather. His research at the University of Chicago on severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and typhoons revolutionized the knowledge of each. Although ...
) as an F5 tornado, the maximum damage rating issued on the Fujita scale
The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...
.
Background
During a six-year review study of the Tri-State tornado published in 2013, new surface
A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...
and upper air data was obtained and meteorological reanalysis
An atmospheric reanalysis (also: meteorological reanalysis and climate reanalysis) is a meteorological and climate data assimilation project which aims to assimilate historical atmospheric observational data spanning an extended period, using a si ...
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
Hilling, earthing up or ridging is the technique in agriculture and horticulture of heaping soil up around the base of a plant. It can be done by hand (usually using a hoe), or with powered machinery, typically a tractor attachment.
Hilling bur ...
in the western U.S. with a troughing pattern over the central U.S.
The extratropical cyclone
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...
that set the synoptic stage for the outbreak was centered over northwestern Montana
Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
at 7:00 a.m. CST (13:00 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
) on March 17. Meanwhile, a diffuse area of surface low pressure
In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclem ...
was centered near Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, in association with a lee trough. Occluded front
In meteorology, an occluded front is a type of weather front formed during cyclogenesis. The classical and usual view of an occluded front is that it starts when a cold front overtakes a warm front near a cyclone, such that the warm air is sepa ...
s extended from Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...
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
Warm, WARM, or Warmth may refer to:
* A somewhat high temperature; heat
* Kindness
Music Albums
* ''Warm'' (Herb Alpert album), 1969
* ''Warm'' (Jeff Tweedy album), 2018
* ''Warm'' (Johnny Mathis album), 1958, and the title song
* ''Warm'' ( ...
stretched along the Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...
, separating warm, moist air from cool, showery weather with areas of fog that extended from Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
to the Carolinas. A well-mixed early-season continental tropical (cT) air mass
In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and humidity. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adapt to the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to ...
existed over West Texas and northern New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. To the east of this hot, dry air, buoyant maritime tropical (mT) air was advecting from the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
. Simultaneously, a mid- to upper-level shortwave trough
A shortwave or shortwave trough is an embedded kink in the trough / ridge pattern. Its length scale is much smaller than that of and is embedded within longwaves, which are responsible for the largest scale (synoptic scale) weather systems. Sho ...
likely approached the northwest coast of the U.S. and moved rapidly through the persistent ridge then digging southeastward across the Great Basin
The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...
and central Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...
and emerging in the Plains over Colorado. This initiated a " Colorado low" cyclogenesis
Cyclogenesis is the development or strengthening of Cyclonic rotation, cyclonic circulation in the atmosphere (a low-pressure area). Cyclogenesis is an umbrella term for at least three different processes, all of which result in the development of ...
.
At 7:00 a.m. CST on March 18, the surface low-pressure area, at approximately , 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
A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...
draped southwestward across eastern Texas with a dry line
A dry line (also called a dew point line, or Marfa front, after Marfa, Texas) is a line across a continent that separates moist air and dry air. One of the most prominent examples of such a separation occurs in central North America, especially ...
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
An outflow boundary, also known as a gust front, is a storm-scale or mesoscale meteorology, mesoscale boundary separating thunderstorm-cooled air (Outflow (meteorology), outflow) from the surrounding air; similar in effect to a cold front, with ...
moved just to the south of the warm front
Warm, WARM, or Warmth may refer to:
* A somewhat high temperature; heat
* Kindness
Music Albums
* ''Warm'' (Herb Alpert album), 1969
* ''Warm'' (Jeff Tweedy album), 2018
* ''Warm'' (Johnny Mathis album), 1958, and the title song
* ''Warm'' ( ...
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 , and the dew point
The dew point is the temperature the air needs to be cooled to (at constant pressure) in order to produce a relative humidity of 100%. This temperature depends on the pressure and water content of the air. When the air at a temperature above the ...
was , 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 base
A cloud base (or the base of the cloud) is the lowest altitude of the visible portion of a cloud. It is traditionally expressed either in metres or feet above mean sea level or above a planetary surface, or as the pressure level corresponding t ...
s, or low LCL heights, which is favorable to tornadogenesis
Tornadogenesis is the process by which a tornado forms. There are many types of tornadoes, varying in methods of formation. Despite ongoing scientific study and high-profile research projects such as VORTEX projects, VORTEX, tornadogenesis is a ...
. 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
In fluid dynamics, the baroclinity (often called baroclinicity) of a stratified fluid is a measure of how misaligned the gradient of pressure is from the gradient of density in a fluid. In meteorology, a baroclinic flow is one in which the dens ...
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
In dynamical systems instability means that some of the outputs or internal states increase with time, without bounds. Not all systems that are not stable are unstable; systems can also be marginally stable or exhibit limit cycle behavior.
...
. Concurrently, a capping inversion
A capping inversion is an elevated inversion layer that caps a convective planetary boundary layer.
The boundary layer is the part of the atmosphere which is closest to the ground. Normally, the sun heats the ground, which in turn heats the ...
likely suppressed storms throughout the warm sector, leaving the Tri-State supercell undisturbed by nearby convection
Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...
.
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
Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013.2 ...
lowered to around , 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
In hydrodynamics and hydrostatics, the pressure gradient (typically of air but more generally of any fluid) is a physical quantity that describes in which direction and at what rate the pressure increases the most rapidly around a particular locat ...
was strong, which induced strong gradient winds and significant advection in the warm sector. A very strong low level jet
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents in the Earth's atmosphere.
The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the globe. The northern hemisphere and th ...
was also in place just above the surface as winds veered with height, resulting in low-level curvature and long hodograph
A hodograph is a diagram that gives a vectorial visual representation of the movement of a body or a fluid. It is the locus of one end of a variable vector, with the other end fixed. The position of any plotted data on such a diagram is proporti ...
s. Strong wind shear
Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...
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 and winds at the 500 hPa level about . Theoretical hodographs returned estimated storm relative environmental helicity (SREH) values of 340 m2 s−2 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
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, with numerous thunderstorms east and south of the low and a squall line
A squall line, or quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), is a line of thunderstorms, often forming along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front (which often are accompanied by abrupt a ...
moving into the southeastern U.S. Cold air advection behind the strong cold front fed into the cyclone as snow
Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
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
The tornado, sometimes referred to as the Great tri-state tornado, touched down around 1.00 pm in Shannon County, Missouri
Shannon County is a county in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,031. Its county seat is Eminence. The county was officially organized on January 29, 1841, and was named in honor of ...
, moving to the northeast. The tornado immediately began to produce heavy damage to structures before directly impacting Annapolis
Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
, destroying ninety percent of the town and killing two people. The tornado then moved through Bollinger County
Bollinger County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 10,567. The county seat, largest and only city, is Marble Hill. The largely rural county is suppor ...
, where it would hit two schools and injure several children who were taking shelter. Deep ground scouring was observed as the tornado moved past Sedgewickville, and debris from the town was found almost away. It would hit several other small communities, including Brazeau and Frohna, before crossing state lines into Southern Illinois and directly impacting Gorham. Over half of the town's population was killed, and the town was devastated as the tornado moved by. To the northeast, it would hit the northern portions of Murphysboro
Murphysboro is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,093 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area. The mayor of Murphysboro is Will Stephens. The government consist ...
, where over one hundred residents would die as the tornado barelled through the town at an estimated forward speed of .
Further east, the tornado crossed into Franklin County, narrowly missing the towns of Royalton and Zeigler, devastating rural areas 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 Peabody Mine 18 in Caldwell, a large 80-foot coal tipple
A tipple is a structure used at a mine to load the extracted product (e.g., coal, ores) for transport, typically into railroad hopper cars. In the United States, tipples have been frequently associated with coal mines, but they have also been us ...
weighing several hundred tons was blown over and rolled by the tornado. The tornado proceeded to devastate additional rural areas across Hamilton
Hamilton may refer to:
* Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States
* ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda
** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
and White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
counties, between the two counties claiming 45 lives and injuring 140, 20 of whom later died, where it dissipated over three hours after touching down.
The tornado killed at least twenty farm owners in southeastern Illinois and southwestern Indiana, more than the combined total of the next four deadliest tornadoes in the history of the United States. The tornado killed a combined total of 695 people, the majority of which occurred in Illinois. Despite not being officially rated, it is widely accepted to have been equivalent to an F5 on the Fujita scale
The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...
, with winds up to . There has long been uncertainty as to whether the originally recognized reports of a path over 3.5 hours represent a single continuous tornado or multiple independently tracking tornadoes belonging to a tornado family
A tornado family is a series of tornadoes spawned by the same supercell thunderstorm. These families form a line of successive or parallel tornado paths and can cover a short span or a vast distance. Tornado families are sometimes mistaken as a si ...
. Because of the scarcity of verifiable meteorological data from the time of the event and the apparent absence of any record of a tornado having approached this path length and duration in the years since, doubts have been raised about the plausibility of the conclusion that a single tornado was responsible for them. To date no definitive conclusion has been reached and a complete understanding of what occurred remains unachieved.
Non-tornadic effects
Strong thunderstorms were reported in a broad area that also included parts of Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, West Virginia
West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
, and Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. Numerous reports of hail and straight-line winds
In meteorology, a downburst is a strong downward and outward gushing wind system that emanates from a point source above and blows radially, that is, in straight lines in all directions from the area of impact at surface level. It originate ...
were reported, with up to hail
Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...
recorded (by comparison, a softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
is in diameter). What began in the early afternoon as discrete supercell
A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone, a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms (su ...
thunderstorms eventually consolidated into a potent squall line
A squall line, or quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), is a line of thunderstorms, often forming along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front (which often are accompanied by abrupt a ...
. By all accounts it was a widespread outbreak with severe thunderstorms occurring as far east as Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, as far southwest as Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, and as far southeast as Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
.
See also
*List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
These are some notable tornadoes, tornado outbreaks, and tornado outbreak sequences that have occurred around the globe.
# ''Exact death and injury counts are not possible; especially for large events and events before 1955.''
# ''Prior to 1950 i ...
**List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
These are some notable tornadoes, tornado outbreaks, and tornado outbreak sequences that have occurred in North America.
#''The listing is U.S.-centric, with greater and more consistent information available for U.S. tornadoes. Some North America ...
*List of tornado-related deaths at schools
*List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes
This is a list of tornadoes which have been officially or unofficially labeled as F5, EF5, IF5, T10-T11, the highest possible ratings on the various tornado intensity scales. These scales – the Fujita scale, the Enhanced Fujita scale, the In ...
* Tornado outbreak sequence of December 18–20, 1957 – Produced another violent tornado that paralleled the Tri-State tornado in Illinois.
*Daulatpur–Saturia tornado
The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado was an intense tornado that occurred in Manikganj District, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. While it was destructive and extremely deadly, there is great uncertainty about the death toll. Official estimates from the ...
– Deadliest tornado worldwide in recorded history that struck Manikganj District
Manikganj District (; ) is a district in central Bangladesh and part of the Dhaka Division. Manikganj is called the land of rivers & cultural heritage of central Bangladesh.It was established in 1845 as a subdivision of Faridpur District, then in ...
in Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
on April 26, 1989.
*Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021
A deadly late-season tornado outbreak, the deadliest on record in December, produced catastrophic damage and numerous fatalities across portions of the Southern United States and Ohio Valley from the evening of December 10 to the early morning ...
– 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.
*Tornado outbreak of March 13–16, 2025
From March 13 to 16, 2025, a widespread and deadly tornado outbreak, the largest on record for the month of March, affected much of the Midwestern United States, Midwestern into the Eastern United States, with additional severe weather and ...
– A tornado outbreak which affected many of the same areas in March of 2025, just a few days shy of Tri-State's 100th anniversary.
Notes
References
Sources
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External links
1925 Tri-State Tornado
(NWS Paducah, KY)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081016135615/http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilfrankl/subjects/tornado.htm 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
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F5, EF5 and IF5 tornadoes
20th-century tornadoes
Tornadoes, 03-18
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Tornadoes in Indiana
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