ASK THE METEOROLOGIST
“How fast can a tornado go?”
Jasmin, Kennedy Elementary
The weather question this week focuses not on the wind speed inside the tornado, but of the speed of the storm to which the tornado belongs. We call this the storm’s forward motion.
The fastest moving tornado occurred on March 18, 1925. It is now known as the Tri-State Tornado, originating in Missouri, then making the trek through Illinois and Indiana. All in all, it was on the ground for about three and a half hours over a path that stretched 219 miles.
At it’s fastest, it was traveling at a speed of 73 mph…that’s faster than you can drive on most interstates! If you were to take an average of it’s forward speed, it would rank 3rd for fastest average forward speed at 62 mph. The tornado itself was a violent one as well, with estimated wind speeds around 300 mph. With today’s ranking systems, that places it well into the EF 5 category.
Great question!
Chief Meteorologist Kate McKenna