The deadliest tornado in US history tracked within 50 miles of Evansville back on March18,1925!

Kids were still in school that day when the tornado first formed.

Nobody in the path realized what was coming........UNTIL THEY ACTUALLY SAW IT!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Wonderful description of this event:

Tri-State tornado outbreak

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_tornado_outbreak

I was chief meteorologist at WEHT from 1982-93 and did a special story, covering this tornado in 1990(65 year anniversary).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w7_CLn8QSs

I interviewed a number of people in Griffin IN, who were in their 70's/80's then that had witnessed the event. Never forget what one lady said:

Paraphrased: "After the tornado hit, there were hundreds of  people running all over the place aimlessly and in shock. We thought several were black(colored-her term) people but they weren't. They were just covered in mud from the Wabash River"

The Wabash River is a couple of miles to the west of Griffin!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tri-State Tornado: 96 years since the deadliest tornado in U.S. history

https://www.wsiltv.com/news/news-3-this-morning/tri-state-tornado-96-years-since-the-deadliest-tornado-in-u-s-history/article_06c1ce0f-72f5-508b-a136-e9acb8d34af1.html

https://www.weather.gov/pah/Tri-StateTornadoEvent

Tri-State Tornado Commemoration Event                                                             

Commemoration Event for 100 Year Anniversary of the Tri-State Tornado: March 15, 2025

Tri-State Tornado damage path via research conducted by Robert H. Johns et al in 2013.	Save The Date Graphic for March 15, 2025 Commemoration Event

Sad anniversary date today but we should note the incredible advancement in technology that has saved tens of thousands of lives(at least) the past 50 years.

Tornadoes hard to forecast, but predictions improving

https://earthsky.org/earth/tornadoes-hard-to-forecast-predictions-improving/

+++++++++++++++++++

This article is over 2 decades old but still very informative, capturing the period that saw NEXRAD Doppler radars installed across the country(1990s).

I was the chief (and only one at the time) meteorologist at WEHT in Evansville In from 1982-1993, mostly BEFORE the NEXRAD radars. In the early days, most warnings were issued AFTER the storm was observed and reported.

The technology today is light years better!

Tornado-Warning
Performance in the Past
and Future—Another
Perspective

https://www.weather.gov/media/mdl/Glahn_2005_CommentsOnTornadoWarning.pdf

+++++++++++

Climate change has also REDUCED the number of violent tornadoes, the type that kill the most people by far.

      Re:  Re: Severe weather #2 May 7-8, 2024            

                            By metmike - May 10, 2024, 12:11 a.m.            

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++++++

US Annual Tornado Death Tolls, 1875-present

https://inside.nssl.noaa.gov/nsslnews/2009/03/us-annual-tornado-death-tolls-1875-present/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2011 below was from the Joplin, MO tornadoes. Outside of that the average loss of life from tornadoes each year is around 1,000 times less than from car accidents.

You can never know when a car accident is going to happen. However, this thread is proof that we will be able to narrow down the time frame with the CHANCE of a tornado hitting your house to within an hour or 2 when we start tracking the actual storms and they approach late on Friday.

Number of lives lost due to tornadoes in the United States from 1995 to 2023                    

https://www.statista.com/statistics/203694/number-of-fatalities-caused-by-tornadoes-in-the-us/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://www.weather.gov/cae/lgaverages.html

Most recent outbreak a few days ago:

Severe weather outbreak 3-12-25            

                            Started by metmike - March 12, 2025, 11:46 a.m.            

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/110407/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

                Tracking Severe Weather-3-14

                29 responses |        

                Started by metmike - March 14, 2025, 10:58 a.m.    

        https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/110445/

And the technology is only getting better and better!!

New weather model could increase tornado-warning times

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181001154041.htm

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

SCIENCE IMPACT: Experimental Warn-on-Forecast System yields 75-minute lead time on violent tornado

https://inside.nssl.noaa.gov/nsslnews/2024/06/science-impact-experimental-warn-on-forecast-system-yields-75-minute-lead-time-on-violent-tornado/

+++++++++++++++

New technology revolutionizing severe weather forecasting, warning lead times

https://www.cbs17.com/weather/new-technology-revolutionizing-severe-weather-forecasting-warning-lead-times/

Lead times for forecasting exact locations where tornadoes will hit are improving but have limits. We can know that conditions will be favorable for strong tornadoes over a week in advance. 

However, those same locations will require the actual storms to develop and mature before being able to pinpoint exact, potential tornado activity in the storms.

Why forecasting where tornadoes will hit is still hard to do − even though storm predictions are improving

By Chris Nowotarski, Texas A&M UniversityMarch 17, 2025

https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/why-forecasting-where-tornadoes-will-hit-is-still-20226259.php