Quad-State Tornado May Be Longest-Lasting Ever

The monster tornado that destroyed the town of Mayfield, Ky., during last weekend’s deadly outbreak in the Midwest and Southeast may have traversed four states without ever lifting off the ground.

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Paducah, Ky., confirmed to the Weather Channel this week that the ‘Quad-State Tornado’ carved a continuous path of 128 miles through the office’s region of responsibility (which covers southeastern Missouri, western Kentucky, southern Illinois and the southernmost tip of Indiana) last Friday.

Offices with bordering jurisdictions are analyzing whether the tornado went on to cover a total of 250 miles across Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky. If it did so, it would break a record set on March 18, 1925, when the Tri-State Tornado ripped across 219 miles of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

From touchdown to dissipation, the Quad-State Tornado may have spent a stunning four hours on the ground. Most tornadoes survive for no more than 10 to 20 minutes, says John Allen, a meteorologist and climate scientist at Central Michigan University.