The Joplin Tornado of May 22, 2011

On the evening of Sunday, May 22, 2011, a violent multi-vortex tornado tore through the city of Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and injuring more than 1,150. It was the deadliest single tornado to strike the United States since the modern record-keeping era began in 1950, and one of the costliest natural disasters in American history at the time.

Formation and Path

The tornado touched down at approximately 5:34 PM CDT just west of Joplin, on the Kansas–Missouri border. Over the next 38 minutes it carved a path 22 miles long and up to 1 mile wide, moving east-northeast at roughly 30 mph. It struck the southern half of Joplin — a city of about 50,000 — head-on during peak evening hours.

Damage surveys supported an EF5 rating, corresponding to estimated winds above 200 mph. The Enhanced Fujita Scale uses observed damage to estimate wind speed; an official rating is not assigned from a radar speed alone.

Damage in Joplin

The tornado destroyed or damaged more than 7,000 buildings, including:

• St. John's Regional Medical Center — a 9-story hospital shifted 4 inches off its foundation, windows blown out on every floor
• Joplin High School — completely destroyed just days before graduation
• Roughly 4,000 homes destroyed, many reduced to bare foundations
• An estimated 18,000 vehicles damaged or destroyed
• Miles of pavement scoured; ground-scouring damage indicators consistent with EF5 intensity

The economic loss was estimated at $2.8 billion, making it the costliest single US tornado on record at that time.

Warning Time

The National Weather Service in Springfield issued a tornado warning at 5:17 PM — 17 minutes before touchdown, and about 24 minutes before the tornado entered the city. Despite this lead time, casualties were extraordinarily high due to the sheer intensity, the dense population in the path, and the fact that many residents reported "warning fatigue" from earlier sirens that day.

Aftermath and Recovery

President Obama declared a federal disaster and visited the city days later. Rebuilding took years; the new Mercy Hospital replacing St. John's was built with reinforced concrete safe rooms. The Joplin tornado led to significant changes in how the NWS communicates warnings — including impact-based wording ("catastrophic damage expected") to convey urgency.

How the Joplin Tornado Compares

In its 2012 retrospective, the National Weather Service described Joplin as the deadliest U.S. tornado since modern records began in 1950 and seventh in the historical death-toll ranking. The NIST investigation described it as the costliest tornado on record, with losses approaching $3 billion. Compare historical costs using the same dollar-year basis; fatalities, damage and wind intensity measure different aspects of a disaster.