Weather History

This Day In Weather History

In 1925, the Tri State Tornado roared into the record books. Starting in Southeast Missouri about 60 miles west of Cape Girardeau, the tornado roared across Southern Illinois before lifting in extreme Southwest Indiana 10 miles northeast of Princeton. It was on the ground for 219 miles, which remains the record for the longest continuous track. For about 100 miles of its track, it was three fourths of a mile wide. Its greatest width reached NEARLY 2 AND A HALF MILES. The average speed was 62 mph and the top speed of 73 mph was a record. It also set the record for longest time on the ground at three and a half hours. It remains the deadliest tornado on record with 695 fatalities and 2,027 injuries. At times the tornado was so wide that eyewitnesses described it as a rolling fog bank. No doubt, the tornado was an F5. Some of the worst destruction and loss of life occurred in Murphysboro as well as DeSoto and West Frankfort, Illinois.

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