TornadoLookup

Home / Missouri / Washington

EF1 tornado in Washington County, Missouri

Tornado April 29, 2025 · Washington County, Missouri

EF1
Rating
4.2 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
$50K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

A brief tornado touched down just west of Bates Creek Camp near Potosi during the afternoon. Here, the tornado caused building and tree damage. Most notably it destroyed the garage of a home in Bates Creek Camp. The tornado then moved northeast into southern Potosi, causing tree damage along the way. It then lifted near Washington County Memorial Hospital where it caused minor tree damage. The tornado was rated EF-1 with a path length of 4.24 miles and a maximum path width of 150 yards.

The wider storm

During the afternoon of April 29th, a QLCS from Oklahoma and southern Kansas entered southeast Missouri. Although the QLCS had been decaying up to this point, it was still capable of producing severe weather. This system produced an EF-1 tornado in Washington County which impacted a school while it was in session. Luckily, no injuries or fatalities were reported.

Began near Springtown (37.9004, -90.8390).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1242830. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.