Weather On This Day
F5Missouri · Illinois · Indiana

Tri-State Tornado of 1925

March 18, 1925 · 1:01 p.m. CST

Deaths
695
Injuries
2,027
Path length
219 mi
Peak wind
300 mph
Damage
$16.5M

Fast Facts

Date
March 18, 1925
Time (local)
1:01 p.m. CST (touchdown)
Rating (retrospective)
F5 on the Fujita Scale
Deaths
695
Injuries
2,027
States affected
Missouri, Illinois, Indiana
Path length
219 miles (longest confirmed US tornado path)
Maximum width
~1 mile
Duration on ground
3 hours, 33 minutes
Forward speed
62 mph average (unusually fast)
Damage (1925)
$16.5 million
Rank
Deadliest single US tornado on record

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center; NWS post-event damage survey.

Path Map

Hover or tap any marker for details
Touchdown
Significant damage point
Dissipation

The Event

The Tri-State Tornado remains the deadliest and longest-tracked tornado in recorded US history. It formed on the afternoon of March 18, 1925, during a powerful mid-March storm system that produced severe weather across seven states. The tornado first touched down at 1:01 p.m. CST in rural Reynolds County, Missouri, about three miles north-northwest of Ellington. For the next three and a half hours it tracked east-northeast at an average forward speed of 62 mph — extraordinarily fast for a tornado — carving a 219-mile path through southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwestern Indiana before dissipating near Princeton, Indiana, at approximately 4:30 p.m.

Path and Destruction

The tornado's path crossed three states and at least eight towns that suffered significant or total destruction: - **Ellington, MO** and **Annapolis, MO**: touchdown and early intensification - **Biehle, MO**: destroyed - Crossed the Mississippi River near Gorham, Illinois - **Gorham, IL**: 34 dead; nearly every structure destroyed - **Murphysboro, IL**: 234 dead — the highest single-town death toll from a tornado in US history - **De Soto, IL**: 69 dead, including 22 children when the schoolhouse collapsed - **West Frankfort, IL**: 148 dead, largely among miners' families - **Parrish, IL**: virtually erased from the map - Crossed the Wabash River into Indiana - **Griffin, IN**: destroyed - **Princeton, IN**: severe damage before dissipation At its maximum width the tornado exceeded a mile. Witnesses described it not as the classic funnel shape associated with modern tornado photography, but as a rolling, black, fog-like mass that occasionally revealed internal rotation when lit by lightning.

The Warning Gap

In 1925, the US Weather Bureau (predecessor of the National Weather Service) did not issue tornado warnings. The word "tornado" had been effectively banned from Weather Bureau forecasts since the 1880s out of concern that it would cause panic; that policy did not change until 1938, and the first experimental tornado forecast was not issued until 1948. No radar network existed; no siren systems were in place; telephone communication between towns was intermittent. Residents of De Soto, Murphysboro, and West Frankfort had no formal warning beyond what they could see with their own eyes, and the tornado's fast forward motion and rain-wrapped appearance gave many victims only seconds. The Tri-State Tornado and the subsequent decades of similarly high death tolls helped build the political case for the modern tornado warning system that emerged after World War II.

The Single-Tornado Question

For decades, meteorologists debated whether the Tri-State event was a single continuous tornado or a series of distinct tornadoes from the same parent supercell. Early analyses by Thomas P. Grazulis and others suggested the possibility of brief lifts. A 2013 peer-reviewed paper by Maddox, Howard, Finley, and others in the journal Monthly Weather Review applied detailed damage-path reconstruction, witness-account timing analysis, and forward-speed consistency tests. Their conclusion — now the working consensus — is that the Tri-State event was overwhelmingly likely to be a single, continuous tornado. A damage gap of up to 15 miles is possible in at least one segment but does not fit the pattern of a typical tornado family cycling between parent supercell occlusions.

Legacy

Nearly a century later, the Tri-State Tornado remains the reference point against which all other US tornadoes are measured. Its 695-death toll is the benchmark. Its 219-mile path remains unmatched. Every statement about "the deadliest tornado since the Tri-State" — including those made about Joplin in 2011 — reflects how thoroughly this event defined the upper bound of what a US tornado can do. Historical markers stand today at Murphysboro, De Soto, Griffin, and Princeton.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did the Tri-State Tornado happen?

The Tri-State Tornado touched down at 1:01 p.m. CST on Wednesday, March 18, 1925, near Ellington, Missouri. It remained on the ground for 3 hours and 33 minutes, dissipating at approximately 4:30 p.m. near Princeton, Indiana.

How many people died in the Tri-State Tornado?

The Tri-State Tornado killed 695 people, making it the deadliest single tornado in recorded US history. More than 2,027 people were injured. The highest town death tolls were Murphysboro, Illinois (234), West Frankfort, Illinois (148), and Gorham, Illinois (34).

How long was the Tri-State Tornado's path?

The Tri-State Tornado traveled 219 miles from southeastern Missouri through southern Illinois and into southwestern Indiana. It remains the longest continuous tornado path ever officially confirmed in the United States, and modern researchers estimate the actual path may have been slightly longer when damage segments beyond the confirmed track are included.

What rating would the Tri-State Tornado get today?

The Tri-State Tornado predates both the Fujita (1971) and Enhanced Fujita (2007) scales. Meteorologist Tetsuya Fujita retrospectively rated it F5 in 1971 based on damage photographs and witness accounts. Modern researchers generally agree that at its peak intensity the tornado would rate EF5, with estimated peak winds above 300 mph based on the scale of damage at Murphysboro and Griffin.

Why was the Tri-State Tornado so deadly?

Several factors contributed: the tornado's exceptional 219-mile path and 62 mph forward speed gave little warning; no formal tornado warning system existed in 1925; the word "tornado" was discouraged by the US Weather Bureau for fear of panic; the funnel was often obscured by rain and dust, appearing as a rolling black cloud; and it struck during school hours, killing 69 children in De Soto, Illinois alone, where the school took a direct hit.

Was the Tri-State Tornado a single tornado?

This remained an open question for decades. A 2013 peer-reviewed study by Maddox, Howard, and others using retrospective analysis of damage path continuity, witness accounts, and forward-speed patterns concluded that it was most likely a single, continuous tornado along the entire 219-mile track. Some earlier analyses suggested it may have been a tornado family with brief lifts; the modern consensus favors a continuous event.

Sources

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