It's certainly been a taxing week for the Channel 5 crew, and more importantly the people of southeast Missouri and southern Illinois as they pick up the pieces after multiple tornadoes tore through the region Tuesday night.
We first saw the potential for severe weather on Tuesday as early as late last week as the upper level pattern shifted into a volatile spring-like setup. The Storm Prediction Center put out an outlook on Saturday, highlighting parts of the area for the possibility of severe storms across the bi-state on Tuesday.
The threat still looked like a safe bet as Tuesday approached, and eventually just about our entire viewing area was upgraded to a moderate (4/5) risk Tuesday afternoon. The tornado risk was also particularly high. In my nearly 5 years covering Missouri weather I have never seen that high of a tornado risk in my coverage area. In hindsight I'm very happy we highlighted how rarely this happens around here in order to hopefully get people to take action.
The first storms started popping up in southern Missouri around 2:00 p.m. and quickly became severe. Storms continued to fire and race northeast into St. Louis between 5 and 6:00 p.m., producing hail between 1-2" in diameter, particularly causing damage to homes in the Metro East.
Photo by Jason Astel of Festus
Supercell thunderstorms continued to develop south of St. Louis, and one in particular, in Shannon County, caught our eye as it began to show signs of low level rotation, and eventually a tornado warning was issued. Not long after, that warning was extended into Reynolds County, which was in our coverage area. That initial warning came out shortly after 6:30 p.m., and we tracked that same storm continuously through nearly 10:00 p.m. That storm eventually produced the deadly tornado in Perry County, MO at around 8:00 p.m. We later learned that storm also produced tornadoes in Reynolds and Madison counties before crossing into Perry and killing a 24-year-old man as the tornado crossed I-55 outside Perryville.
Learning of that man's death was also a first for me in my short career in weather. We got the confirmation shortly after it was confirmed the tornado was actually on the ground and doing damage in Perryville and spotters could see power flashes. It was an instant lump in my throat that didn't go away the whole night of coverage. You always want to do more. His family and friends are in our continued prayers.
After learning the magnitude of the situation, we got more serious with our wording as we watched the storm continue to maintain strength and track into other communities in Illinois. That same tornado was on the ground for at least 50 miles, and the same storm produced multiple tornadoes as it continued into Indiana. A second long-track tornado also killed one person in Crossville, Ill. and was on the ground for 44 miles.
That second long track, violent tornado was classified as an EF-3 with maximum wind speeds of 152 miles per hour. It damaged a home that took a direct hit from the historic Tri-State Tornado of March 1925, that is still known as the deadliest and longest tornado on record!
Photo courtesy of NWS Paducah
This storm took an eerily similar path as the Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925
Once those storms moved out of our viewing area, we had a bit of a break until about midnight, when the storms along the cold front arrived. 70 mile per hour winds were reported just outside St. Louis in Sauget, IL at 2:10 a.m.
Once those storms passed the metro area, we had to worry about yet ANOTHER tornado-warned supercell tracking over Perryville shortly before 4 a.m. Luckily, that close call did not produce another tornado over the same area that was devastated just hours earlier.
Photos by Rick Meyer/KSDK
We are still waiting on the official word on the Perryville tornado ranking, but a preliminary survey gave it an EF-3 ranking. Folks we talked to had amazing stories of survival, including one woman who found a ring engraved with "believe in miracles" sitting perfectly still on her dresser that was surrounded by rubble when she emerged from shelter.
You can find more information about helping out storm victims at ksdk.com.
That brings us to today, with below average temperatures! The quiet pattern luckily continues through the weekend, though we warm up big time with a warm front Saturday. Temperatures will be in the 60s both days, with more clouds on Sunday. We hope you all have a relaxing weekend!