EF3 Tornado — Madison, Missouri

2021-10-24 · near Oak Grove, Madison, Missouri

Event narrative

The tornado touched down near the St. Francis River approximately 5.5 miles to the WSW of Fredericktown, MO, where it topped or snapped the trunks of several trees. The tornado continued to the northeast along the river and began impacting homes as it approached Fredericktown. Here the tornado ripped half of the roof off of one home, rolled a manufactured home onto its side, pulled roofing material from another home, and continued to cause considerable tree damage. The tornado widened to about 1/2 mile as it approached MO Highway 72 from the southwest, damaging multiple homes and businesses. A business on the south side of Highway 72 is where the only known injury took place, where an individual was hurt climbing out of the debris after the tornado had exited the area. The tornado strengthened as it moved north of Highway 72, completely destroying a number of homes. It was determined that the frames of these homes were largely only toe-nailed into their foundation, which precluded a higher rating than a low-end EF-3. The tornado then impacted the Black River Electric Co-op. Here the tornado ripped a well-built canopy from between two small warehouses, completely destroyed one of these small warehouses, and then completely destroyed a larger steel warehouse attached to the main office. The steel warehouse was very well constructed, with steel I-beams approximately 1 foot in width, bolted into the concrete foundation roughly every 20 feet. These beams spanned the roof of the structure and supported a thick, crimped sheet metal exterior. This is believed to be where the tornado reached peak intensity, with approximately 150 mph winds. The attached office fared notably better, sustaining mainly roof damage and the loss of several windows. The office was very well constructed, consisting of brick and concrete walls. The tornado then crossed US highway 67 and continued to cause considerable damage. Two newly built self-storage buildings with north facing bay doors were completely destroyed, while a third identical building with south facing doors was damaged, but remained standing. Two more homes were also impacted in this area. The roof was completely ripped from one of these homes, though most of the walls, which were bolted into the concrete foundation, were left standing. Only a few interior walls remained on the second home, though it appeared that the frame of this home was only toe-nailed into the foundation. The poor construction of the second home, and the lack of hurricane clips on the roof of the first, precluded a higher rating than EF-2 in this area. As the tornado continued northeast, it moved through additional residential areas, damaging several more homes and businesses. The tornado may have begun to weaken somewhat at this point, as the walls largely remained standing on most of these buildings. The tornado then began to move into more rural areas to the northeast of Fredericktown, where it caused consistent tree damage for several more miles, ripped most of the roof from one home, and completely destroyed a barn. The tornado may have briefly lifted as it moved into northeastern Madison County before coming back down and causing considerable tree damage along Madison county road 252. Along the Madison/Perry county line, where it moved into WFO Paducah's County Warning Area, the width was about 1/2 of a mile wide with numerous trees snapped and uprooted. The portion of the tornado path in Madison County was rated EF3 overall with a path length of 14.83 miles and a max path width of 880 yards. There was one injury and no deaths in Madison County. Overall, the tornado (Madison/Perry Counties) was rated EF3 with a path length of 18.95 miles and a max path width of 880 yards. There was one injury and no deaths with this tornado.

Wider weather episode

Numerous severe thunderstorms formed ahead of an approaching cold front across southeast Missouri during the evening hours of Sunday, October 24th, 2021. As the storms moved northeastward, they moved into a moist, energy-rich environment with substantial wind shear in the low and mid-levels. They quickly intensified, remaining somewhat isolated as they moved through southeast Missouri and into southwest Illinois. The environment was very favorable for tornadic development, and these storms produced several tornadoes and wind damage as they moved through the area. Two storms produced tornadoes that remained on the ground for significant distances. The tornado that moved through Fredericktown, MO, passing through Madison County into Perry County, was on the ground for 18.9 miles. Another tornado moved from St. Francois County through St. Genevieve County in Missouri into Randolph County in Illinois, staying on the ground for over 40 miles.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.5425, -90.3921)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 988886. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.