The December 10, 2021 tornado
EF3Madison County, Illinois
An EF3 tornado on a 4.2-mile path that killed 6 and injured 1. It was one of 33 tornadoes recorded in the U.S. that day, 5 of them rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Watch how it happenedEF3 tornado · December 10, 2021
How it happened
Follow the tornado’s path, minute by minute.
The tornado
- Rating
- EF3
- Enhanced Fujita scale
- Path length
- 4.2 mi
- Width up to 300 yards
- Killed
- 6
- Along the whole path
- Injured
- 1
- Along the whole path
- Date and time
- Friday, December 10, 2021
- 8:27 PM CST
The National Weather Service account
Written by the local Weather Service office after its damage survey.
The tornado began on the south side of I-270 around three-quarters of a mile west of the I-270/I-255 interchange at 8:27 PM CST. Damage in this area consisted of several downed highway signs and a bent light pole. The tornado moved northeast and intensified rapidly after crossing I-255, striking an Amazon warehouse. The west-facing walls of the warehouse collapsed inward, which was followed by multiple structural failures as the tornado moved through the complex, including the collapse of additional walls and the loss of a large segment of the roof. This was the worst damage along the entire tornado track rated EF-3. Cars in the rear of the building were strewn eastward and power lines and several large high tension towers were also destroyed. There was one person injured and 6 fatalities at the Amazon facility. The tornado weakened as it moved northeast across Sand Road, where it destroyed an unanchored mobile home and an outbuilding, snapped trees, and downed power poles. Damage in this area was rated EF-1. Further northeast, the tornado crossed South University Drive where it snapped a power pole and downed additional trees. It then crossed into the Sunset Hills Country Club subdivision. Throughout a portion of the subdivision, there were downed trees, snapped branches, and superficial home damage consisting of missing shingles or small portions of roof covering. The tornado weakened further as it moved northeast, and lifted just west of Butler Boulevard at 8:35 PM CST. Noteworthy is debris from the Amazon warehouse was found along the entire track of this storm, tens of miles to the northeast of the warehouse. Overall, the tornado was rated EF3 with a path length of 4.22 miles and max path width of 300 yards. Six deaths and one injured were reported.
The storm system that day
Numerous severe thunderstorms formed ahead of an approaching cold front during the late afternoon and evening of Friday December 10th, 2021. Large hail, damaging winds and five tornadoes occurred across central and eastern Missouri as well as south central Illinois. Unfortunately two of the tornadoes were very strong (rated EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale) and responsible for 7 fatalities (one near Defiance, Missouri and six at an Amazon Facility near Edwardsville, Illinois). The Defiance, MO tornado tracked within one mile of the NWS St. Louis office in the Missouri Research Park near Weldon Spring, MO leading to the staff sheltering while NWS Kansas City provided service backup. This is only the third time in the office's existence that the staff had to shelter. The damage from the Defiance, MO EF3 tornado was estimated at $684,186 and is unknown for the remaining tracks at this time but early estimates are well into the millions due to the damage sustained at the Amazon facility near Edwardsville, IL.
NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
Counties on its path
Other notable tornadoes that day
- EF4, Craighead County8 killed
- EF4, Obion County57 killed
Storm Prediction Center severe weather database. Path drawn as a straight line from the recorded start to end point.