Weather Insider: Remembering the Tri-State Tornado
Beginning around 1:00 PM on March 18, 1925, a tornado touched down in Southern Missouri. This was the beginning of the Tri-State Tornado. Before the sun had set, nearly 700 people would lose their lives and more than 2,000 others would be injured. The tornado spanned over 200 miles and moved through more than a dozen counties in Southern Missouri, Southern Illinois, and Southern Indiana.
After touching down near Ellington, MO, the tornado raced northeast, destroying at least 90% of the town of Annapolis. It later moved through the towns of Biehle and Gorham, completely destroying them both and taking more than 40 lives. By far, the most substantial loss of life came in Southern Illinois. The town of Murphysboro saw more than 230 people lose their lives. Next was De Soto and West Frankfort which saw another more than 200 people lose their lives. Tragically, this included more than 30 children who were trapped in a collapsed school in De Soto. Eventually, the tornado dissipated about 10 miles northeast of Princeton, Indiana.
When everything was said and done, the twister claimed 695 lives and left more than 2,000 injured. Thankfully, these storms are incredibly rare, but they do happen from time to time. Thankfully, our ability to forecast storms like these is infinitely better than it was a century ago. We can detect tornado-prone conditions days in advance and modern tornado warnings provide people in the path of tornadoes up to several minutes notice of an approaching twister.
