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EF3 tornado in Iron County, Missouri

Tornado March 14, 2025 · Iron County, Missouri

EF3

Rating

29.9 mi

Whole path

800 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$5.1M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Reynolds County → Wayne County → Iron County → Audrain County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

In Iron County the tornado caused some of its most significant damage in Des Arc where residences were significantly damaged. Two injuries were confirmed here. The tornado continued to track northeast beyond Des Arc where it caused damage to a few more residences, an outbuilding, and numerous trees. It then exited into Madison County. In Iron County the tornado was rated EF-3 with a path length of 7.64 miles and a maximum path width of 800 yards.

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 Des Arc (37.2745, -90.6587).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Carter County EF2 Franklin County EF2 St. Louis County EF2 Jefferson County EF1 Franklin County EF1 Franklin County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1241385. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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