Tri-State Tornado

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Tornadoes are devastating atmospheric events that affect the ecology and the lives of people in their paths. Tornadoes are defined as “a violently rotating column of air, in contact with the ground, either pendant from a cumuliform cloud or underneath a cumuliform cloud, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel cloud” (Glossary of Meterology, 2011). The Tri-state tornado was the most deadly tornado in the United States. It stayed on the ground for a total of 219 miles through areas of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killed a total of 695 people, and an estimated $16.5 million in damages (National Weather Service, 2011). Luckily, the tornado’s path was largely rural farmland with scattered small towns between them.

Figure 1. Path of the Tri-State Tornado.

The beginnings of such a storm started around 1:00 p.m. northwest of Ellington, Missouri on March 18, 1925. It moved northeast towards the towns of Annapolis and Leadanna before hitting two school houses. Before the tornado even reached Illinois it had claimed 11 lives (National Weather Service, 2011). The tornado then crossed into Gorham, a city that was entirely demolished, and continued along its path clocking the fastest speed at 73 mph. Murphysboro was one of, if not the most, devastated cities during the path. The Tornado killed 234 people, which is the record for a single community (National Weather Service, 2011). The total death toll for Illinois was at least 613 people. The next town, Griffin, Indiana, was entirely demolished. The last town to actually be hit by the tornado was Princeton. About 10 miles northeast of Princeton was where the Tornado receded back into the cloud (National Weather Service, 2011).

While there was no...

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...rieved March 3, 2011, from USA Immigration Services: http://www.geographic.org/climate/c.html

National Weather Service. (2011, March 3). Tri-State Tornado Web Site. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from NOAA: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/?n=1925tor

NOAA. (2011, March 3). Enhanced Fujita Scale. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from NOAA: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/efscale/

NOAA. (2007, December 14). History of Tornado Forecasting. Retrieved March 4, 2011, from NOAA: http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/magazine/tornado_forecasting/welcome.html#knowledge

USA Today. (2005, December 28). 1925 Tri-state tornado was worst in U.S. history. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tri-state-tornado.htm

USA Today. (2000, May 4). Tornado chase 2000. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tornado/2000/chase/chat/wclimoqna.htm

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