National Weather Service says 4 tornadoes hit the metro-east on Easter night
The National Weather Service confirmed Monday that four tornadoes hit the metro-east Sunday night, including a seven-mile long tornado with wind speeds up to 110 mph in the Waterloo area, when a line of thunderstorms rolled through the region.
Three other tornadoes with shorter paths were reported with one in northern Monroe County off EE Road, one off Schwab Road in between Millstadt and Smithton in St. Clair County and one near Baldwin Road in Randolph County, according to preliminary storm assessment reports from the National Weather Service.
No injuries were reported in the storm damage survey posted by the weather service.
The path of damage in Monroe County started north of Maeystown off Koch Road, extended northeast to Waterloo and ended near Illinois 156.
Buildings and power poles were damaged and trees were snapped at the trunk or uprooted during the tornado.
The tornado damages were rated as EF-0 and EF-1 along the path of the tornado, which struck at about 8 p.m. Sunday.
Kevin Deitsch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in St. Louis, said the Monroe County tornado was seven miles long and 100 yards wide. He noted that the same tornado can have two different measurements on the agency’s wind scale.
The tornado near EE Road southeast of Columbia Monroe County was rated as EF-0 and EF-1 and caused some building and tree damage at about 8:13 p.m. Sunday.
Building damage was reported in the EF-0 tornado at about 8:14 p.m. Sunday off Schwab Road in St. Clair County.
A “weak” tornado rated as an EF-1 hit the Baldwin Road area in Randolph County at 8:25 p.m. Sunday. There was tree and building damage caused by this tornado.
Here is the Enhanced Fujita Scale the National Weather Service uses to classify wind speeds in tornadoes:
- EF0.....65 to 85 mph
- EF1.....86 to 110 mph
- EF2.....111 to 135 mph
- EF3.....136 to 165 mph
- EF4.....166 to 200 mph
- EF5.....>200 mph
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 2:44 PM.
