Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2025

EF1 tornado, Seymour to Fuson, Missouri, March 14, 2025

From Seymour to Fuson, this EF1 tornado ran 19.8 miles across Webster and Wright counties on March 14, 2025, touching down at 6:40 PM CDT and reaching 400 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $275,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  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 mphthis tornado

    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 mph

    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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
March 14, 2025
Touchdown
6:40 PM CDT (23:40 UTC)
Lifted
7:02 PM CDT (00:02 UTC)
On the ground
22 minutes
Path length
19.8 miles (31.8 km)
Path width
400 yards (366 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$275,000
Counties
Webster and Wright counties
Touchdown point
37.200, -92.790
Lift-off point
37.367, -92.498
Record number
2503141740-01

The damage survey

21 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS SGF, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.

  • Damage to out buildings. Start point of tornado.
  • Barns destroyed, trees depicting cyclonic pattern.
  • Roof off home and several barns destroyed. Eyewitness reported tornado approaching before taking shelter.
  • Cell tower collapsed. Nearby trees cyclonic debris pattern including some snapped.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms occurred during the late afternoon and evening hours of March 14th. Seven tornadoes occurred east of Springfield including an EF-3 tornado in Bakersfield, Missouri. Large hail to the golfballs and damaging winds also occurred with these storms.

An EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph started 5 miles north of Seymour and tracked northeast into Wright County. In Webster County the tornado ripped the roof off of a home, destroyed numerous barns, collapsed a train communication tower, and snapped trees.

An EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph continued into Wright County near Duncan. In Wright County the tornado uprooted numerous trees and damaged outbuildings. The tornado ended near Highway Z north of Hartville.

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

The warnings

7 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:33 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:53 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:03 UTC and running to 04:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:00 UTC17:28 UTCFire Weather WatchSGF
15:00 UTC11:00 UTCRed Flag WarningSGF
15:00 UTC07:39 UTCWind AdvisorySGF
15:00 UTC06:00 UTCHigh Wind WarningSGF
21:03 UTC04:00 UTCTornado WatchSGF
22:40 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
22:59 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
23:11 UTC23:58 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
23:33 UTC23:53 UTCTornado WarningSGF
23:40 UTC00:10 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
23:43 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
00:41 UTC01:37 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:58 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 air that afternoon

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.

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

11.7 hours before the tornado, 111 km from the path. March 14, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2025-03-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -90139, lifted condensation level 2350 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2025-03-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 368 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-90139 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2350 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
368 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
423 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

0.3 hours after it, 111 km from the path. March 15, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2025-03-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 166 joules per kilogram, CIN -51, lifted condensation level 1136 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2025-03-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 96 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
166 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Surface CAPE
404 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1136 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
96 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
209 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
0.6
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:40 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
20:57 UTCNON-TSTM WND GST 64LebanonLaclede, MOMesonet station FW2552 Lebanon.
21:11 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMG1 Ne FooseDallas, MO65 hwy 5 south of Buffalo. Multiple tree limbs down. Commercial power is off. 18 inch healthy willow tree uprooted.
21:31 UTCNON-TSTM WND GST 596 Sse WillardGreene, MOASOS station KSGF Springfield ASOS.
22:16 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMGOzarkChristian, MOCorrects previous non-tstm wnd dmg report from Ozark. Tree Down blocking NB Lane between Riverside and Greenbridge Road.
22:16 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMGOzarkChristian, MOTree Down blocking NB Lane between Riverside and Greenbridge Road.
22:22 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N SpringfieldGreene, MOI have a report of 2 large tree limbs down near High and Roberson in Springfield. One limb is blocking High, the other is on Roberson.
22:54 UTCHAIL 1.251 N SpringfieldGreene, MOReport from mPING, Half Dollar, 1.25 in.
23:00 UTCHAIL 1.25OzarkChristian, MO
23:01 UTCHAIL 11 Ne SpringfieldGreene, MOReport from mPING, Quarter 1.00 in.
23:06 UTCHAIL 2.751 Nne HighlandvilleChristian, MObaseball sized hail went through the Highlandville area.
23:08 UTCHAIL 11 Sse OzarkChristian, MOQuarter and dime hail in Ozark at godfathers pizza.
23:10 UTCHAIL 12 Ssw OzarkChristian, MONickel to quarter sized hail at 15th St and Daniels in Ozark.
23:11 UTCHAIL 1.251 W OzarkChristian, MOOzark 65 and HWY 14, half dollar sized hail, and extremely heavy rain.
23:12 UTCHAIL 11 Sw OzarkChristian, MOReport from mPING, Quarter, 1.00 in.
23:12 UTCHAIL 1.751 Ne OzarkChristian, MODime to golf ball sized. Ended at 625 pm.
23:12 UTCHAIL 1.751 Ssw OzarkChristian, MOGolf ball sized hail at 15th St and Daniels in Ozark.
23:12 UTCHAIL 1.75OzarkChristian, MOHuge hail backed by Strong winds destroyed window.
23:13 UTCHAIL 11 Ne NixaChristian, MOIn Nixa high winds, heavy rain, and quarter sized hail. On east side of Nixa in forrest heights subdivision.
23:13 UTCHAIL 11 Sw OzarkChristian, MOReport from mPING, Quarter, 1.00 in.
23:14 UTCHAIL 1StraffordGreene, MONickle to quarter sized hail reported Strafford.
23:16 UTCHAIL 13 W SpartaChristian, MOReport from mPING, Quarter, 1.00 in.
23:17 UTCHAIL 1.252 W NixaChristian, MOHalf dollar size hail, 1.25 inch. Via contact.
23:32 UTCHAIL 13 Ssw FordlandWebster, MOQuarter sized hail. 5 mile east of rogersville on 60 at the new RV park.
23:40 UTCTORNADO5 N SeymourWebster, MODamage included a roof torn off of home, numerous barns destroyed, a collapsed cell phone tower, and snapped trees laying in a cyclonic pattern. Tornado tracked northeast toward Odin.
23:40 UTCTORNADO5 N SeymourWebster, MOEstimated maximum winds 90 to 100 mph. Damage included a roof torn off of home, numerous barns destroyed, a collapsed cell phone tower, and snapped trees laying in a cyclonic pattern. Tornado tracked northeast toward Odi
23:43 UTCTORNADO5 N SeymourWebster, MOCorrects previous tornado report from 5 N Seymour for width. Corrects previous tornado report from 5 N Seymour to add track length and adjust start time. NWS storm survey indicates an EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds
23:43 UTCTORNADO5 N SeymourWebster, MOCorrects previous tornado report from 5 N Seymour to add track length and adjust start time. NWS storm survey indicates an EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph started 5 miles north of Diggins and tracked nort
23:45 UTCTSTM WND GST 621 Ene SeymourWebster, MOMesonet station FW9032 Seymour.
23:48 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 S RaderWebster, MOLarge hail, trees down, holes in siding reported 7 Miles east of Niangua. Possible tor.
23:50 UTCHAIL 12 Se ChestnutridgeTaney, MOQuarter sized hail at 176 and 65 HWY. Taney-Christian line.
23:50 UTCHAIL 12 Se LebanonLaclede, MOReport from mPING, Quarter 1.00 inch hail.
23:50 UTCHAIL 1BrunerChristian, MOLargest hail was quarter sized.
23:54 UTCHAIL 1.5SeymourWebster, MOPing pong sized hail Seymour. 1.5 inch.
00:00 UTCHAIL 1.53 Nw GarrisonChristian, MOReport from mPING, Ping Pong Ball , 1.50 inches.
00:12 UTCTORNADO3 W LynchburgLaclede, MONWS storm survey concluded that an EF1 tornado with peak winds around 90 mph started just west of Lynchburg and tracked northeast through southern Pulaski County. The tornado lifted near the Pulaski and Phelps County lin
00:15 UTCHAIL 1.51 E ElkheadChristian, MOOn Hwy 14 AT DOUGLAS and CHRISTIAN COUNTY LINE. JUST STARTED WITH PEA TO PING PONG SIZED HAIL. 1.5 inch hail.
00:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 S Fort Leonard WoodPulaski, MOReports of tree damage. Possible tornado on the ground.
00:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGHartvilleWright, MOStructural damage and trees down and power lines down Hartville proper.
00:36 UTCHAIL 13 N RobyTexas, MOReport from mPING, Quarter, 1.00 inch hail.
00:36 UTCHAIL 14 N RobyTexas, MOReport from mPING Quarter, 1.00 inch hail.

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

This ground now

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

The other tornadoes of March 14, 2025

53 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 147:12 PM CDTEF1Laclede, MO22.3200$320,000
March 147:42 PM CDTEF1Phelps, MO10.2400$25,000
March 147:50 PM CDTEF2Phelps, MO10.35001$2.5 million
March 148:29 PM CDTEF1Franklin, MO19.8100$148,000
March 148:33 PM CDTEF1Franklin, MO5.6220$35,000
March 148:34 PM CDTEF3Baxter, AR to MO35.51,20034$7.0 million
March 148:49 PM CDTEF0Cedar, IA1.950
March 148:52 PM CDTEF2Franklin, MO17.8644$6.5 million
March 149:11 PM CDTEF4Larkin tornado, Arkansas and Missouri116.01,4005$2.8 million
March 149:11 PM CDTEF3Oregon, MO to AR57.2800$2.5 million
March 149:16 PM CDTEF2Saint Louis, MO20.7880$1.2 million
March 149:18 PM CDTEF2Jefferson, MO25.3850$905,000
March 149:36 PM CDTEF3Oregon, MO23.5800$800,000
March 149:38 PM CDTEF2Saint Louis, MO to IL11.01,320$1.1 million
March 149:52 PM CDTEF1Monroe, IL14.7275$150,000
March 1410:09 PM CDTEF1Hempstead, AR8.65252$500,000
March 1410:16 PM CDTEF3Independence, AR81.07003$300,000
March 1410:17 PM CDTEF1Clark, AR22.1150
March 1410:20 PM CDTEF3Reynolds, MO29.91,52532$5.0 million
March 1410:28 PM CDTEF3Carter, MO30.63252$3.5 million
March 1410:28 PM CDTEF1Saint Clair, IL6.8450$170,000
March 1410:28 PM CDTEF1Independence, AR3.6100
March 1410:30 PM CDTEF2Saint Clair, IL11.0700$960,000
March 1410:48 PM CDTEF1Audrain, MO6.8770$50,000
March 1410:55 PM CDTEF2Nevada, AR14.61,263$250,000
March 1411:11 PM CDTEF1Fayette, IL13.4400$110,000
March 1411:13 PM CDTEF4Diaz tornado, AR18.51,7602
March 1411:14 PM CDTEF2Humphreys, MS35.81,320
March 1411:15 PM CDTEF3Wayne, MO28.650011$4.5 million
March 1411:25 PM CDTEF2Bollinger, MO to IL33.1800$5.2 million
March 1411:27 PM CDTEF3Butler, MO17.93501$15 million
March 1411:39 PM CDTEF0Kendall, IL3.6125
March 1411:43 PM CDTEF1Jefferson, AR0.950
March 1411:47 PM CDTEF1Shelby, IL5.175
March 1411:50 PM CDTEF1Shelby, IL2.3100
March 1411:50 PM CDTEF2Woodruff, AR5.0200
March 1411:50 PM CDTEF1Stoddard, MO6.125$100,000
March 1411:53 PM CDTEF2Clay, AR9.9125$250,000
March 1411:57 PM CDTEF1Moultrie, IL4.9150
March 1412:01 AM CDTEF2Moultrie, IL12.6200
March 1412:03 AM CDTEF0Craighead, AR1.450$10,000
March 1412:03 AM CDTEF2Cumberland, IL12.93002
March 1412:05 AM CDTEF0DuPage, IL0.850
March 1412:05 AM CDTEF1Stoddard, MO4.650$500,000
March 1412:10 AM CDTEF2Jackson, IL15.2250$1.8 million
March 1412:10 AM CDTEF1Coles, IL0.675
March 1412:16 AM CDTEF2Craighead, AR13.81504$2.0 million
March 1412:17 AM CDTEF2Scott, MO6.4100$1.1 million
March 1412:18 AM CDTEF2Carroll, MS24.21,2003
March 1412:23 AM CDTEF0Poinsett, AR2.850$5,000
March 1412:40 AM CDTEF1Champaign, IL13.7450
March 1412:50 AM CDTEF1Edgar, IL6.4425
March 1412:56 AM CDTEF2Dunklin, MO19.4550$550,000

What this means

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.

Sources

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