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EF2 tornado in St. Louis County, Missouri

Tornado May 16, 2025 · St. Louis County, Missouri

EF2

Rating

23.2 mi

Whole path

500 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$1.6B

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 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

NWS Survey determined a tornado touched down in west Clayton, twisting power poles, guttering, and trees as it tracked east. In Richmond Heights, the tornado blew out the windows of St. Mary's Hospital. It also damaged its exterior and threw insulation and metal around the area. At Washington University large fences and trees were blown over. The tornado then continued into St. Louis City.

The wider storm

During the afternoon of May 16th, numerous supercells developed ahead of a cold front and within a favorable environment for high-end severe weather. These produced widespread severe weather including 2 to 2.5 inch hail, wind damage, and two tornadoes. One of these tornadoes ripped through St. Louis County and City, resulting in over $1 billion in damages and taking the lives of 4 individuals. Another lost his life to strong winds outside of the same tornadic supercell.

Began near Clayton (38.6440, -90.3468).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF2 Iron County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1262206. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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