ST. LOUIS – Several tornadoes ripped through Missouri and Illinois during Thursday’s severe weather outbreak in the St. Louis region.
The National Weather Service has confirmed at least three tornadoes in St. Louis County, in addition to several other tornadoes east and west of the county.
The most intense tornado from Thursday’s storms came out of southern Illinois, nearly 50 miles east of St. Louis. An EF1 tornado ripped through the Illinois cities of Greenville and Breese, reaching peak gusts of 110 miles per hour. The twister traveled nearly 17 miles over 19 minutes.
Franklin County also produced an EF1 tornado. A twister through the village of Leslie delivered gusts up to 100 miles per hour over 1.3 miles and two minutes.
As of Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service does not report any significant injuries from the EF1 tornadoes or others around the St. Louis area.
In St. Louis County, three EF0 tornadoes have been confirmed as of 3 p.m. Friday. The National Weather Service tracked brief tornadoes in Kirkwood, Frontenac, and Creve Couer. Each of those twisters produced gusts of at least 80 miles per hour, but none of them stayed on the ground for more than a few minutes. All of these happened shortly after 5 p.m. Friday.
In Franklin County, an EF0 tornado swept through 2.6 miles of Saint Clair, crossing Interstate 44 and lasting three minutes before it weakened. Another EF0 tornado rolled through southern Illinois near the village of Okawville. The tornado hit near I-64 before it crossed over the interstate, damaging some farm buildings and wheat fields.
The National Weather Service reports abundant tree damage and various levels of property damage from most of the areas hit by tornadoes Thursday.