EF3 tornado, Fremont to Gravelton, Missouri, March 14, 2025

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mphthis tornado

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF3

Date

March 14, 2025

Touchdown

10:28 PM CDT (03:28 UTC)

Lifted

10:57 PM CDT (03:57 UTC)

On the ground

29 minutes

Path length

30.6 miles (49.2 km)

Path width

325 yards (297 m)

Deaths

2

Injuries

0

Property damage

$3.5 million

Counties

Carter and Wayne counties

Touchdown point

36.910, -91.020

Lift-off point

37.157, -90.559

Record number

2503142128-01

173 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LSX and NWS PAH and NWS SGF, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 165 mph.

• 2 fatalities out in the open camping spot in a camper which was thrown into the river.
• Good convergent signature with these upper trees
• Highly concentrated area of hundreds of snaps or uprooted
• Along green Mountain Road there large scale convergence is very evidence on either side of the road. Trees all pointing one way on one side of the road with trees, pointing the opposite way on the other side of the road

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A major outbreak of severe storms including tornadoes, damaging winds, and very large hail occurred across southeast Missouri in the late evening of the 14th and into the very early morning hours on the 15th. A strong negative-tilt 500mb trough moved northeast from Kansas to the Upper Midwest through the day and into the evening on the 14th. The associated 978mb surface low followed a similar track, and led to a rapid increase in low-level moisture just ahead of a trailing dry line that moved eastward across southeast Missouri in the late evening. The moisture return was sufficient for 1000-2000J/kg of CAPE to develop. Wind fields were extremely strong, with storm relative helicity in the 0-1km layer of 300m2/s2 and above, and 600m2/s2 in the 0-3km layer. The significant tornado parameter was 10 which supported strong and long-track tornadoes. In addition, steep mid-level lapse rates around 8C/km supported very large hail. Eleven tornadoes caused approximately 170 miles of destruction across southeast Missouri, which resulted in tens of milions of dollars worth of damage and immeasurable damage to the Mark Twain National Forest where thousands of trees were downed. Only Cape Girardeau and Mississippi Counties were spared from the onslaught. There were five EF-3 tornadoes, three EF-2, and three EF-1 tornadoes. Seven people died in the tornadoes, three in Gads Hill, two in Leeper, one in Poplar Bluff, and one in rural northeast Wayne County. Fremont, Gads Hill, Leeper, and Poplar Bluff sustained EF-3 damage due to homes being completely destroyed. The Poplar Bluff tornado had a prolonged path of EF-2 damage through the northwest side of the city. A church and a large mobile home park were destroyed and numerous homes, businesses and other structures sustained significant roof damage. Perryville also suffered significant damage due to an EF-2 tornado. Several homes and businesses and a school sustained major damage. An EF-2 tornado that moved northeast across southeast Ripley County and into western Butler County, had a history of producing EF-4 damage in Arkansas. The total length of that EF-4 tornado was 93.5 miles. In addition, hail up to 1.5 in diameter was reported in New Madrid and near Grassy in Bollinger County, and the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport (KCGI) measured a 77 mph gust.

An EF-3 tornado tore a path of destruction across western and northern parts of Carter County. This tornado started just northeast of Brandsville in Oregon County, then moved northeast clipping the southeast corner of Shannon County and then into Carter County southwest of Fremont. Significant tree damage occurred along Green Mountain Road with hundreds of trees uprooted or snapped, along with at least a couple trees that were debarked. A steel trailer was picked up and lofted several hundred yards. Several homes were completely destroyed along the path from Green Mountain Road and northeast towards the town of Fremont and further north along County Highway Y. The tornado continued northeast and produced additional tree damage along Highway M and Highway D as it moved into far northern Carter County. It then crossed into Reynolds County to the southwest of Grady. The estimated peak wind was 165 mph. The total path length of the tornado was just over 58 miles.

An EF-3 tornado touched down 4 miles northeast of Garwood in Reynolds County and proceeded northeast into northwest Wayne County southwest of Gads Hill. Thousands of trees were uprooted or snapped along its path through northwest Wayne County. Significant damage occurred in Gads Hill, where three houses and several manufactured homes and camper/trailer homes were destroyed or sustained significant damage. The estimated peak wind was 155 mph. Three people were killed when their homes were destroyed. The tornado continued to produce extensive tree damage as it progressed northeast to the Iron County line just southwest of Des Arc. The tornado passed through Iron County and into Madison County before lifting. The total path length of the tornado was 38 miles.

An EF-3 tornado touched down just northeast of Eastwood in Carter County and moved quickly northeast to the Wayne County line just southwest of Leeper. The tornado destroyed 3 homes in Leeper, including completely wiping the slab clean on one. A nearby house had its roof mostly removed and another had some broken windows. Three manufactured homes and one barn were destroyed, as well. Two people died when their camper home was thrown into the Black river. The tornado did extensive tree damage with thousands either snapped or uprooted along its path. It continued northeast from Leeper until it dissipated at County Road 361 just west of Maddox Lake. The estimated peak wind was 165 mph. The total path length was around 31 miles.

An EF-2 tornado touched down northeast of Greenville and moved northeast doing profound and extreme tree damage along its path. Thousands of trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado directly impacted the River Valley Campground on Hidden Valley Road near the Castor River, killing one person and severely injuring another. The most severe structural damage occurred near the campground where a home lost its roof and had most of its exterior walls collapsed in. Several vehicles were tossed 50 to 100 feet. Another nearby home also suffered heavy damage. Numerous outbuildings were destroyed and a wooden power pole was snapped. The estimated peak wind was 134 mph. From the campground the tornado continued northeast and quickly entered Bollinger County where it did EF-3 damage. The total path length was 28.6 miles.

The deaths

6 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

16 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:12 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:39 UTC and running to 07:01 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 179 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

53 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.