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EF2 tornado in St. Charles County, Missouri

Tornado March 14, 2025 · St. Charles County, Missouri

EF2

Rating

31.7 mi

Whole path

1,320 yd

Path width

$2.3M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through St. Louis County → St. Louis County → St. Charles County → Madison County, Illinois; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,320 yards (0.75 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado continued into St. Charles County after exiting St. Louis County at approximately 9:43 PM. The tornado was nearly mile wide as it entered St. Charles County. Some of the most significant damage of the track occurred as the tornado passed through West Alton. Multiple homes sustained damage in the city. The tornado then passed into Madison County, IL. In St. Charles County the tornado had a path length of 4.22 miles with a maximum path width of 1125 yards. It was rated an EF2.

The wider storm

During the late afternoon of March 14, 2025, numerous severe thunderstorms developed across central Missouri and tracked east. After sunset, these thunderstorms began producing tornadoes, some strong, causing several injuries in the St. Louis county warning area (CWA). In total, 13 tornadoes touched down in the CWA, making it one of the most active outbreaks on record for the St. Louis CWA. Seven of these tornadoes occurred at least partially in St. Louis's Missouri counties.

Began near West Alton (38.8536, -90.2582).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

6 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF3 Wayne County 3 dead EF3 Carter County EF2 Franklin County EF2 Jefferson County EF1 Franklin County EF1 Franklin County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1240514. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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