EF1 tornado in St. Louis County, Missouri

A weak tornado touched down on Valley Drive at 619 PM CDT just south of Lucie Avenue, snapping off several trees and causing minor roof damage to a couple of houses. It then moved northeast crossing Highway 141 about a third of a mile south of the I-44/Highway 141 interchange. As it continued to the northeast paralleling I-44, it caused minor damage to trees, roofs and light posts. As the tornado approached Bowles Avenue, it began to move in an easterly direction across a light industrial area, but still paralleling I-44. Damage in this area remained minor with roof and tree damage. As it crossed the Meramec River, about half a mile south of I-44, it tracked in a more east southeasterly direction through Tapawingo National Golf Course causing damage to numerous trees and minor structural damage. The tornado lifted and dissipated near the intersection of West Watson Road and Bond Place. Overall the tornado was rated EF1 with a max wind speed of 100 mph. The path length was 4.47 miles with a max path width of 100 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.

Several strong to severe thunderstorms moved into eastern Missouri in the afternoon hours of April 15th. These storms were initially producing copious large hail, but rapidly transitioned into tornadic storms. The first tornado was associated with a supercell ahead of a congealing line of convection moving rapidly toward the Mississippi River. A portion of this line of storms rapidly surged eastward, resulting in numerous tornadoes in Jefferson county in Missouri, and Monroe, Madison, St. Clair, and Washington counties in Illinois. In total, 12 tornadoes have been identified, including 3 EF-1s, 6 EF-0s, and 3 tornadoes of unknown intensity that produced no damage.