2021 Tri-State tornado

For the tornado that struck Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana in 1925, see Tri-State tornado outbreak.
2021 Tri-State tornado
The EF4 tornado (upper-left hand corner) being illuminated by lightning during the night near Hayti, Missouri.
Meteorological history
FormedDecember 10, 2021, 7:07 p.m. CST
DissipatedDecember 10, 2021, 8:36 p.m. CST
Duration1 hour, 29 minutes
EF4 tornado
on the Enhanced Fujita scale
Highest winds170 mph (270 km/h)
Overall effects
Fatalities8 (+1 indirect)
Injuries16
Damage$13.5 million (2021 USD)
Areas affectedCraighead (AR), Mississippi (AR), Dunklin (MO), Pemiscot (MO), Lake (TN), Obion (TN) counties.
Part of the Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021

Throughout the evening hours of December 10, 2021, a large and destructive tornado, sometimes referred to as the 2021 Tri-State tornado,[1] the 2021 Leachville tornado,[2] or the 2021 Monette tornado,[3] struck areas in and around the cities and communities of Monette (AR), Leachville (AR), Braggadocio (MO), Hayti (MO), Tiptonville (TN) and Samburg (TN), killing eight people and injuring 16 others. The tornado was the second strongest and third deadliest of the tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021. The tornado reached peak intensity twice, the first time east of Braggadocio and the second time in Tiptonville, leading the National Weather Service to assign a rating of low-end EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with maximum wind speeds estimated at 170 mph (270 km/h).

Early estimates suggested that the tornado family—identified by some media outlets as a "Quad-State tornado", due to the storm's long track and similarity to the 219-mile (352 km) Tri-State tornado of 1925—might have cut a path of up to 250 miles (400 km) across the affected areas, making it the longest-tracked tornado in history.[4][5][6] However, storm surveys found that the majority of the storm's path consisted of two distinct EF4 tornadoes, with three short-lived and weak tornadoes in between them in northwestern Obion County, Tennessee. The parent supercell that produced the two EF4 tornadoes, and eleven tornadoes in total, later became known as the "Quad-State supercell".

  1. ^ "2021 Tri-State Tornado: Consumed By Darkness". YouTube. TornadoTRX. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference kait-release was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference KAIT8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Ryan Reynolds (December 11, 2021). "Kentucky tornado may have broken 1925 'Tri-State Tornado's' longest continuous path record". Evansville Courier & Press. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  5. ^ "How the 'Quad States' tornado happened". WCPO. December 14, 2021. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  6. ^ "Longest tornado ever? Deadly twister that hit 5 states may set record". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2021.