05/17/2025
WashU’s Danforth Campus and surrounding areas were in the direct path of a tornado which touched down early in the afternoon of May 16. Radar from The Weather Channel confirmed the tornado struck the suburb of Clayton, where the Danforth Campus is located.
In a press release to The Source, WashU said that the campus sustained moderate damage, including to roofs, concrete areas, and numerous felled trees. No injuries were reported on campus and the University asked the community to avoid the area as much as possible as they assess damage and clean up debris.
Widespread power outages were reported in impacted areas, including on WashU’s campus, and WashU IT said that utility provider Ameren is actively working to restore power.
Josh Warner, a recent graduate and founder of WashU Weather, said he was alerted to the exceptionally dangerous nature of this storm when it was upgraded to a rare 4-out-of-5 risk level by the National Weather Service. He also noted that the storm was unusually early in the day, as severe weather normally occurs between the hours of 4 and 8 p.m.
“[A direct hit to WashU] is extraordinarily rare to the point where it’ll likely be a once in a generation event, given that tornadoes generally have a path that’s only at most yards wide, up to a couple 100 yards wide,” Warner said. “For a large, strong tornado to be on the ground at a specific geographical point in and around the school and surrounding neighborhoods is exceptionally rare, and something I never thought I would see.”
Student Life spoke to a few students and recent graduates who experienced the storm. Most of the damage reported to Student Life came from uprooted trees falling on buildings and vehicles in areas surrounding campus.
Read more at https://www.studlife.com/news/2025/05/16/washu-campus-and-surrounding-areas-sustain-tornado-damage.
✍️ Lauren Smith, Zach Trabitz, Elizabeth Stump and Sydney Tran
📷 Courtesy of Wilson Hou and Keyao Song
🔍 Additional Reporting by Nina Laser
Josh Warner was affiliated with WashU Weather published in Student Life’s newsletter, but did not contribute to the interviewing, writing or reporting of this article.
