Tri-State Tornado (1925): The Deadliest Tornado in US History

The Tri-State Tornado was a violent tornado that crossed southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana on the afternoon of 18 March 1925. In about three and a half hours it travelled roughly 219 miles (352 km), destroying several towns and killing 695 people. It is still the deadliest tornado in the history of the United States.

Background

Spring brings frequent severe storms to the central United States, when warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meets colder air from the north and west. On 18 March 1925 a strong low-pressure system moved across the region, creating the conditions for a series of tornadoes now known as the 1925 tornado outbreak.

At that time, weather forecasting was very limited. The US Weather Bureau generally avoided using the word “tornado” in public forecasts, fearing that it would cause panic, and there were no radars or warning sirens. Most people in rural Missouri, Illinois and Indiana had no idea that a tornado was approaching until it was upon them.

The path of the tornado

The tornado touched down at about 1 p.m. in southeastern Missouri, near the small town of Ellington. It moved northeast across Missouri, killing at least 11 people, and crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois.

In southern Illinois it struck its deadliest blows. Gorham was almost completely destroyed. Murphysboro, a town of about 12,000 people, lost 234 residents, the highest tornado death toll for a single city in US history. In nearby De Soto, 69 people died, including 33 schoolchildren, the most ever killed at a single school by a tornado in the country. West Frankfort, a coal-mining town, lost more than 100 people, and the village of Parrish was largely wiped out.

The tornado then crossed the Wabash River into Indiana. It destroyed much of Griffin and caused heavy damage and deaths in and around Princeton before finally dissipating near Petersburg at about 4:30 p.m.

Why it was so deadly

Several factors made the Tri-State Tornado unusually destructive. It was extremely strong, and researchers have rated it F5, the top of the Fujita scale introduced in 1971. Its width at times reached about three-quarters of a mile (over 1 km).

It also moved very quickly, at roughly 60 to 70 miles per hour, giving people little time to react. Witnesses often did not recognise it as a tornado, because it was wrapped in rain, dust and debris that made it look more like a dark, rolling fog bank. Many buildings were wooden and poorly anchored, and fires broke out in the ruins of several towns.

Aftermath

Relief efforts were organised by the American Red Cross, local communities and state governments. Thousands of people were left homeless, and some small towns never recovered their former size. Death totals by state are usually given as about 613 in Illinois, 71 in Indiana and 11 in Missouri.

Some later research, including a reanalysis published in 2013, has suggested that the track may have included more than one tornado, or been longer than previously thought. The official record still treats it as a single continuous tornado.

Myths and facts

A common belief in the early twentieth century, and still sometimes repeated, is that tornadoes cannot cross large rivers or strike towns in valleys. The Tri-State Tornado crossed both the Mississippi and the Wabash Rivers, and it destroyed towns regardless of terrain.

It is also often assumed that the storm was a single giant funnel along its entire route. The official record treats it as one tornado, but some research suggests that the long track may have included separate tornadoes at its beginning or end. Either way, the central section across southern Illinois was clearly produced by one exceptionally violent and long-lived tornado.

By the numbers

Legacy

The disaster became a landmark in the history of American severe weather. Together with other early twentieth-century disasters, such as the Galveston hurricane of 1900, it showed how vulnerable communities were without forecasts and warnings. Two years later, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 would strike many of the same states.

Modern tornado forecasting began only in the early 1950s, and today’s networks of radar, warnings and storm shelters make a death toll on the scale of 1925 far less likely. Memorials and markers stand in several of the towns along the track.

Timeline

• 1925, 18 March, about 1 p.m.: The tornado touches down near Ellington, Missouri.
• 1925, 18 March, about 2:30 p.m.: It crosses into Illinois and destroys Gorham.
• 1925, 18 March, about 2:35–2:40 p.m.: Murphysboro and De Soto are devastated.
• 1925, 18 March, about 3 p.m.: West Frankfort and Parrish are hit.
• 1925, 18 March, about 4 p.m.: The tornado crosses into Indiana and strikes Griffin and Princeton.
• 1925, 18 March, about 4:30 p.m.: It dissipates near Petersburg, Indiana.

Why it matters

The Tri-State Tornado remains the deadliest tornado in US history and holds the record for the longest continuous tornado track. It demonstrated the deadly cost of having no forecasts or warnings, and it remains a benchmark against which other tornado disasters are measured.