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Every state, in the United States, has reported a tornado. Even Yellowstone National Park had a tornado at an altitude of 10,000 feet on July 21, 1987. This F4 tornado had a path length of 24 miles and a path width of 1.4 miles. 15,000 acres of trees were downed.
The average tornado moves from southwest to northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction. The average forward speed is 30 mph but can vary from nearly stationary to 70 mph.
The “Tri-state Tornado” on March 18, 1925, was one of the worst tornadoes on record. This F5 tornado had a path length of 219 miles, had an average forward speed of 62 mph and was on the ground for about 3 1/2 hours. The tornado started in southeast Missouri, roared through southern Illinois and ended in southwest Indiana. There were 695 deaths. 234 deaths occurred in the town of Murphysboro, IL, which made it the largest death toll within a single city, in U.S. history.
A listing of tornadoes, by state, can be found at the website of the National Climatic Data Center at www.ncdc.noaa.gov/. There is an extensive tornado database for Middle Tennessee at our website: |
