Tornado outbreak of May 15–16, 2025

A deadly and destructive tornado outbreak spawned 60 tornadoes in portions of the Midwestern and Southeastern United States from May 15 to 16, 2025. The event occurred as a negatively-tilted trough moved into the Upper Midwest. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) first issued an enhanced risk on May 15 for portions of the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest. Several tornadoes, mostly weak, touched down that day across the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota as embedded storms within a squall line moved through, causing damaging wind gusts.

The most significant tornadic activity would take place in the Ohio Valley the following day. On May 15, the SPC issued a moderate risk of severe weather for portions of Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, effective the following day. Several dozen tornadoes were confirmed on the afternoon and evening of May 16, many of them strong to violent, including an extremely large EF3 tornado that struck the Greater St. Louis area, killing five people, and was the strongest in the area since a violent tornado in 2011. Later that evening, a violent EF4 tornado also prompted the issuance of a tornado emergency for portions of Williamson and Saline counties in Illinois, injuring 7 people . An EF3 tornado in Scott County, Missouri resulted in two fatalities. A strong EF2 tornado in Linton killed one person. A violent, long-tracked EF4 tornado also struck the cities of Somerset and London, Kentucky, killing 19 people and was the deadliest of the outbreak.

There were 27 tornadic deaths, as well as four non-tornadic deaths, associated with this outbreak, primarily from the St. Louis and London tornadoes on May 16, and was the deadliest in the state of Kentucky since 2021. Additionally, at least 168 injuries occurred as a result of the outbreak. With a total of 60 confirmed tornadoes, the outbreak received a score of 57 on the Outbreak Intensity Score (OIS), classifying it as a "major" outbreak.