Abstract This paper describes the causes and mechanisms of tornadoes in general, with a focus on the 1925 Tri-State Tornado, and briefly touches on media coverage of the tornado. The paper looks at how the Great Tri-State Tornado, an F5 that devastated eastern Missouri, Southern Illinois and Southwestern Indiana on March 18, 1925, stands out as a distinct statistical rarity and how it has remained the single deadliest tornado in history, even after decades of record keeping. The paper also touches on media coverage of the tornado at the time.
From the Paper "The week prior to the tragic date of March 18 was unusually warm across the Midwest. A cold front was expected to bring showers and thunderstorms and cooler temperatures from Canada. On the 18th, temperatures rose into the 70s, about 10 degrees warmer than normal for that time of year (NOAA News). Severe thunderstorms formed just behind the approaching cold front over southeast Missouri in the early afternoon. This cold-front helped create the tornado's parent thunderstorm that was centered over northwestern Arkansas, as shown in the Weather Bureau's daily weather map issued that morning. The same parent thunderstorm originally developed within a low pressure area that was centered over western Montana two days before the tornado hit (Potter)."
