2017 Perryville tornado
Clockwise: View of the tornado in Jackson County, Illinois; EF4 damage to a relatively new home outside of Perryville, Missouri; aerial view of ground scarring left behind around Moore Drive and North Kingshighway Street; EF3 damage to a home in Vergennes, Illinois, a Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) scan of the tornado; . | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | February 28, 2017 7:51 p.m. CST (UTC–06:00) |
| Dissipated | February 28, 2017 8:57 p.m. CST (UTC–06:00) |
| Duration | 1 hour, 6 minutes |
| EF4 tornado | |
| on the Enhanced Fujita scale | |
| Max width | 1,100 yards (0.63 mi; 1.0 km) |
| Path length | 53.47 miles (86.05 km) |
| Highest winds | 180 mph (290 km/h) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 1 |
| Injuries | 12 |
| Damage | $14.8 million (2017 USD) |
| Areas affected | Perryville, Missouri; and near Ava, Vergennes, Elkville and Mulkeytown, Illinois, United States |
Part of the Tornado outbreak of February 28 – March 1, 2017 and Tornadoes of 2017 | |
Just after nightfall on February 28, 2017, a violent tornado struck just outside of the city of Perryville, Missouri, causing devastating damage to multiple homes and neighborhoods before crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois, where many rural communities and farmsteads were impacted. The tornado was part of a prolific and widespread winter outbreak that impacted much of both the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys. One person was killed and a dozen others were injured in its wake, with damage estimates totaling nearly $15 million. The tornado tracked a long path of 53.47 miles (86.05 km), and at a maximum width of 1,100 yards (0.63 mi; 1.0 km) from Perry County, Missouri, to Franklin County, Illinois, during its over hour-long lifetime before dissipating southwest of Christopher, Illinois.
The tornado was rated at mid-range EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with estimated winds of 180 mph (290 km/h) by the National Weather Service weather forecasting office (WFO) in Paducah, Kentucky. It's one of the few violent (F4/EF4+) rated tornadoes to occur near the path of the 1925 Tri-State tornado, which took place nearly 92 years prior.