I just watched this video and it's fantastic. It focuses much more on the consequences than on the tornado itself, giving much more attention to the victims of the event.

Since Ethan is an engineer, I knew he would accurately describe the true damage the hospital suffered, instead of spreading the false news that it was displaced from its foundation or had its upper floors twisted. He went even further and showed some flaws in the structure and how it failed to withstand the winds; this was one of the main factors that caused its demolition.

This is one of the best videos about Joplin I've seen on YouTube

This footage was taken from a relatively rare angle of this tornado, where it is filmed as it moves away.

This is a little-known video and is one of the close-up videos of the beast at that moment; it basically covers the entire screen and has an incredibly loud roar.

It's always interesting to see these little-known videos.

Filmed by storm chaser Kannon Kalton, this is one of the clearest videos of tornado destruction. We clearly see a house far from the tornado's core having its roof torn off and two houses being directly hit by the core, their pieces flying like confetti. Incredibly, there were no victims.; possibly the second violent tornado of the year that caused no fatalities.

The Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925, is one of the most famous tornadoes of all time, but for those unfamiliar, here's a brief summary: This was the deadliest tornado in United States history; a more recent analysis points to over 800 deaths. Besides the loss of life, it was also one of the most powerful tornadoes in history, and it also holds the record for the longest path ever recorded, 219 miles, lasting 3 hours and 50 minutes.

After the summary, let's return to the main question: was it in fact a continuous tornado? The reason for this questioning is the age of the event, which occurred 101 years ago, at a time when radar did not exist and tornado damage analysis was rudimentary. To answer these questions, we can analyze the tornado's path. It was constructed using all the information we know about the wind, with precise coordinates—a fantastic piece of work done by the user MotherFisherman2372, an academic who dedicated himself to studying this tornado and updating the analyses, since the last one was done in 2013.

The map in question: https://significanttornadoes.wordpress.com/2024/07/02/the-great-tri-state-tornado-of-1925/

Now, let's finally analyze the path.

The first sighting of the tornado was by Helen Thompson. It's important to note that at that time, the tornado was located in a very sparsely populated area and was crossing practically uninhabited forests, which made reporting the damage more difficult. After its first appearance, there is a gap of approximately 5 miles until the next reported damage. It's important to mention that the damage that was reported was only to residences or was close to one, which may be a sign that the damage was only reported in this way due to limitations of the time.

The second major gap is observed immediately after the second wave of reported damage; this reported damage also consists solely of damage around a residence. The gap is approximately 5.92 miles until the next wave of reported damage.

The third gap is observed after the wave of reported damage, when the tornado was sighted by Mr. Neel; the gap is approximately 2.22 miles. At this point, a pattern is already noticeable: the damage that was occurring was only reported when it was close to residences, or that were spotted by people who were nearby, which leaves open the question of whether or not the tornado was on the ground while crossing uninhabited areas. Is it possible that the tornado was cycling? It could be a hypothesis, but it could also be that the tornado did not cycle at this point. Neither hypothesis has proof, in addition to the limitations of reporting the damage at the time.

The tornado continues through an uninhabited forest.

The next gap begins right after the damage wave; it's approximately 2.22 miles long.

https://preview.redd.it/x5s0hhg4fszg1.png?width=1772&format=png&auto=webp&s=8ae577c061de882e56e767dfb890d335ca661891

After this gap, the path becomes a little more continuous, the gaps begin to get smaller, the path remains in this stage for approximately 14.31 miles, the largest gap in this stage is 1.33 miles, while the tornado was still in a relatively uninhabited area, at this stage it is likely that the tornado was continuous, the shortening of the gaps along with the alignment are evidence that the tornado was continuous at this time.

The biggest gap in the path at this stage is marked in red.

What certainly seems like a continuous path

After this part of the path, a gap of 3.72 miles is observed; the tornado was over an uninhabited area.

The only two reported damage points were on a farm, which seems to strongly indicate that only residential damage was being reported at that location; the tornado likely caused damage to the forest before impacting the farm.

After the damage to the farm, a huge gap is observed, 6.49 miles long; at this point the tornado was passing through an uninhabited area. A strange damage was reported, located 1.11 miles down the path; it's unknown if it was caused by the tornado. This is a confusing section of the path that lacks a definitive answer. The only damage reported along the path before the next gap is also from a farm; the damage there was severe, likely in the F-3 range. This indicates that there was indeed widespread damage in the area that went unreported because it was in uninhabited areas.

Unusual damage is marked in red, and damage to the farm is marked in blue.

The next gap is 4.12 miles long, also in an uninhabited area; it's possible the tornado is causing vegetation damage at this point.

https://preview.redd.it/2a0q1hyvkszg1.png?width=1339&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb811e87e99c98ae3c3002e0eacce1f780d88274

After the gap, the next reported damage is to a school in Central that was completely destroyed, in addition to damage to other structures in the same area. The intense nature of the damage shows that the tornado was already intense before hitting the structures, which almost confirms that the tornado was in fact destroying the uninhabited forest before reaching Central. After leaving the area, there is a 1.74-mile gap where there is a forest, before the next reported damage is to another farm.

https://preview.redd.it/r7pper33mszg1.png?width=1668&format=png&auto=webp&s=202bfa80fc67903dd9d93eb299b31abbbf4975c0

This was the last significant gap before the tornado actually became continuous. At this point, the damage begins to become increasingly catastrophic, the gaps become even smaller, and the reported damage continues to be intense. The tornado remained in this stage for an impressive 174 miles—that's right, 174 miles of intense and violent damage. At one point, the tornado appears to grow to as much as 2 miles wide, which is unbelievable. It is at this point that hundreds of deaths begin to occur, and it is at this point where the tornado is at its peak intensity.

Below are some images of the path at this point.

https://preview.redd.it/rn2zpodanszg1.png?width=1845&format=png&auto=webp&s=33dbd94606f49b8db5f07afa5ae07400e70bc12d

https://preview.redd.it/u5l8y47pnszg1.png?width=1862&format=png&auto=webp&s=dae49227607ceafb77ee75b92656662afb7235aa

https://preview.redd.it/hm7i8kawnszg1.png?width=1884&format=png&auto=webp&s=68e93b25293b88091ba9a81cb7094396b318f1f3

After this rampage, the tornado finally begins to weaken, and before dissipating, there is a gap of approximately 4.31 miles in its path. Unlike the initial parts of the path, here the damage was being observed in more detail, and it is possible to deduce that at this point there is a small cycle before the tornado dissipates completely.

https://preview.redd.it/pdfyhyhjoszg1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=43cec980d14c0187901502285c4f1f07575f2abe

In conclusion, the path observed in this detailed map, including all gaps, is 220 miles. Removing all the large gaps, we have a path of 174 miles. The 174-mile path is almost certainly a continuous tornado; the gaps are too small, and the damage is extreme and violent most of the time. We can also almost conclude that at some point the tornado became continuous before the initial gaps ended, as shown previously. In short, this event has a much higher chance of having been formed by a dominant tornado that remained on the ground for an impressive amount of time, and if there was any cycling, it occurred in the initial stages or during the dissipation of the vortex.