Tornado, Lewis
- When
- April 30, 12:15 PM CST to 12:22 PM CST
- Where
- Lewis County, Ewing to Canton
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 15 mi
- Path width
- 100 yd
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Coordinates
- 40.000, -91.720
Tornado in Missouri, April 30, 1997
A tornado left an intermittant path of damage from south central Lewis County, Missouri into Adams County, Illinois. A machine shed was destroyed near Ewing where the tornado first formed.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LSX wrote it up.
A tornado left an intermittant path of damage from south central Lewis County, Missouri into Adams County, Illinois. A machine shed was destroyed near Ewing where the tornado first formed. The storm moved quickly northeast causing intermittant tree damage and some roof damage to homes and outbuildings until it approached Canton. On the northwest side of Canton 4 homes suffered major roof damage. According to emergency management officials, 10 homes suffered major roof damage, another 30 minor damage. About 20 outbuidings were destroyed. Once the tornado crossed the Mississippi River into Ilinois, the tornado weakened and only caused tree damage. There was injury near Canton. An 18 year-old man suffered some bruised when he was thrown down some stairs when the roof of his home flew off.
The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 170 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:07 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes in Illinois, April 30, 1997
- Tornadoes in Illinois, April 30, 1997
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, April 30, 1997
- Tornado in Indiana, April 30, 1997
- High Wind in Kentucky, April 30, 1997
- High Wind in Illinois, April 30, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Michigan, April 30, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, April 30, 1997
- High Wind in Iowa, April 30, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Kentucky, April 30, 1997
- Tornadoes in Illinois, April 30, 1997
- Tornado in Illinois, April 30, 1997
More
Every storm in Missouri in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Missouri, 1997Warnings in Missouri, April 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5596086.