Looking back 3 years since the “Quad-State Tornado”, one of longest tornadoes on record

On this date, December 10-11, 2021, a powerful storm system moved across the central United States. This system resulted in widespread devastation with dozens of tornadoes touching down including a long-track tornado which ripped across four states.

This outbreak produced 71 tornadoes across several states with the most significant tornado being referred to as the “Quad State Tornado”. The National Weather Service determined a long-track EF-4 tornado traveled through parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky. The path length of that tornado was 165.7 miles, which is one of the longest-tracked tornado in United States History. The damage was catastrophic across Cayce, Mayfield, Benton and many other towns across west Kentucky. Sadly, 89 people died during the tornado outbreak with over 600 injured.According to the National Weather Service, “The tornado was the deadliest in U.S. history to occur in the month of December. Its path length of 165 miles was the ninth longest tornado path ever recorded in the U.S. The tornado outbreak that took place this night over the western Kentucky region resulted in damage costs up to $3.5 billion.”