NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado Web Site—Startling Statistics
On March 18, 1925, the Great Tri-State Tornado tore across Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, and Southwest Indiana. With its rapid movement, monstrous size, and long track, the tornado took hundreds of lives and injured thousands. By all means, the Tri-State Tornado was a rare event—an event that few people will ever experience in their lifetime. To give you some idea of this tornado’s magnitude, this section is devoted to a list of incredible statistics on the tornado.
•
3 states affected (Missouri, Illinois, Indiana)
•
13 counties affected, including:
Missouri: Reynolds, Iron, Madison, Bollinger, Perry
Illinois: Jackson, Williamson, Franklin, Hamilton, White
Indiana: Posey, Gibson, Pike
•
19+ communities affected, including:
Missouri: Ellington, Redford, Leadanna, Annapolis, Cornwall, Biehle, Frohna
Illinois: Gorham, Murphysboro, De Soto, Hurst-Bush, Zeigler, West Frankfort, Eighteen, Parrish, Crossville
Indiana: Griffin, Owensville, Princeton
•
219 mile path length
•
3/4 mile average path width (some accounts of 1 mile wide—a record width)
•
3 1/2 hours of continuous devastation
•
1:01 p.m.—tornado touched down 3 miles NNW of Ellington, Missouri
•
4:30 p.m.—tornado dissipated about 3 miles SW of Petersburg, Indiana
•
N 69° E heading maintained for 183 of the 219 miles
•
62 mph average speed
•
73 mph record speed between Gorham & Murphysboro
•
F5 tornado on the Fujita Scale, with winds perhaps in excess of 300 mph
•
28.87” lowest pressure measured on a barograph trace at the Old Ben Coal Mine in West Frankfort, Illinois
•
695 deaths—a record for a single tornado
•
234 deaths in Murphysboro—a record for a single community from such a disaster
•
33 deaths at the De Soto school—a record for such a storm (only bombings and gas explosions have taken higher school tolls)
•
2,027 injuries
•
15,000 homes destroyed
***33 deaths at the De Soto school—a record for such a storm (only bombings and gas explosions have taken higher school tolls)****
I believe the Babbs Switch school house fire should be mentioned. 35 people killed.
http://rebelcherokee.labdiva.com/babbsfire.html
The 1974 tornadoes hit here. Those were the most damaging of all tornadoes. I can remember watching them form in western AL and head our way. Power went out and we had no idea what was headed our way. It was after this that all tv stations got their own radar. I think they formed in MS., came here and ended in Zenia, Ohio. Then in 1989 it happened again. This one hit about a mile from my house. Then 2 years ago, it happened again. I read a recent report that stated HSV is number one for tornado activity. Now, even if it looks like a storm is headed our way, schools close. We take warnings very seriously. I feel for anyone in danger. It only takes a few minutes to destroy everything.
If there is such a thing as an F-6, the Great Tri-State Tornado was it. The forward speed is one of the more incredible aspects of the storm; many tornadoes are clocked at 30-40 mph; the storms that hit OKC on Friday night were moving around 25 mph. The Tri-State tornado averaged 60 mph over its 219-mile track and hit 73 on the ground in Illinois; the power of the storm was absolutely incredible.
Not too many years ago, meteorologists and disaster managers were quietly predicting that we’d never see another tornado with a high death toll. Joplin changed their thinking; put an F-5 in a heavily populated area, and people are going to lose their lives, particularly when they ignore the warnings. Or when they’re advised to get into their cars and drive away from the storm, as they were in OKC two days ago.