Campus Alert Archive
SLU

A 23-Mile EF3 Cuts Through North St. Louis and the Central West End as SLU's Frost Campus Shelters at 2:35 PM CDT

MOtornadoemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the afternoon of Friday, May 16, 2025, an EF3 tornado with peak winds of 152 mph tracked 23.3 miles across Greater St. Louis, passing within roughly a mile of the Saint Louis University Frost Campus and damaging the Central West End and Forest Park immediately west of campus. SLU activated its emergency alert system, and the tornado killed five people and injured 38 city-wide.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Saint Louis University
Private R1 · MO
~15,000 studentsSLU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstructionSLU Campus Emergency Procedures page documenting that the SLU Alert system is connected to NWS and an alert is issued automatically when a tornado warning is issued for any segment of the city including the main campus property207 chars
SLU Alert: Tornado Warning issued for St. Louis City. Take shelter immediately on the lowest floor, interior room. Stay away from windows. Move to designated shelter areas now. Avoid all glass-walled spaces.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed; the timestamp matches the National Weather Service's documented tornado warning issuance time of approximately 2:30 PM CDT on May 16, 2025
SLU's emergency procedures explicitly state that the SLU Alert system is connected to NWS and triggers automatically when a tornado warning covers the campus area — eliminating the human-in-the-loop delay common at other private universities
The 'avoid all glass-walled spaces' language is consistent with the published SLU procedures for the Frost Campus, where many academic and dorm buildings have large glass facades
The EF3 tornado reached its peak intensity shortly after this alert issued, as it tracked through the Greater Ville and Fountain Park neighborhoods north of campus
UPDATESMS+20 min
Approximate reconstructionWikipedia summary documenting that the EF3 tornado reached peak intensity and caused damage in the Central West End between approximately 2:45 and 2:55 PM CDT on May 16, 2025190 chars
SLU Alert: Tornado has been confirmed on the ground in the City. Remain sheltered. Do not exit your shelter location. Do not attempt to drive. Severe damage reported in the Central West End.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed; the timing matches Wikipedia's documentation that the tornado caused 'extensive damage in north St. Louis and the Central West End' as it tracked across the city in roughly 27 minutes
The Central West End is immediately west of SLU's Frost Campus, separated only by Grand Boulevard — naming it specifically in the update tells students that the tornado is within a mile of campus
Continuing to direct students to remain sheltered (rather than declaring an all-clear) was critical: the worst damage occurred during the minute-by-minute window of this update, with the tornado at peak EF3 intensity
ALL CLEARSMS+50 min
Approximate reconstructionSTLPR coverage confirming the tornado had moved across the city by approximately 3:00 PM CDT and that the warning expired shortly thereafter183 chars
SLU Alert: The tornado warning has expired. SLU campus reports no major damage. Remain indoors and away from glass. Do not approach areas with downed power lines. Updates will follow.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed; the timing matches public reporting that the tornado was on the ground for 27 minutes starting at approximately 2:35 PM CDT and that the warning expired shortly after the tornado dissipated near the Mississippi River
The 'no major damage' framing for SLU specifically contrasts with the catastrophic damage immediately to the north and west — a remarkable outcome given the tornado's proximity
Subsequent SLU communications announced the [Chaifetz Arena Disaster Assistance Center](https://www.slu.edu/news/2025/june/chaifetz-arena-dac.php) and the [tornado recovery resources for SLU employees](https://www.slu.edu/human-resources/benefits/tornado-recovery.php) impacted by the storm in their neighborhoods
Context

Background

Saint Louis University is a private R1 Jesuit university in midtown St. Louis, with about 15,000 students and the historic Frost Campus immediately east of the Central West End. On the afternoon of Friday, May 16, 2025, the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado on radar around 2:30 PM CDT as a supercell moved east across the city. The tornado intensified to EF3 with peak winds of 152 mph, tracked 23.3 miles, and was on the ground for 27 minutes, passing through Forest Park, the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood, the Central West End, and the Greater Ville before crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois. SLU's emergency alert system is connected directly to the National Weather Service and issues an automatic SLU Alert when a tornado warning covers any segment of the city including the main campus. The tornado's path passed roughly a mile north of the Frost Campus, with the heaviest damage in the Greater Ville and Fountain Park neighborhoods on St. Louis's north side. Five people died, 38 were injured, and more than 5,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed — total damage estimated at $1.6 billion. In Forest Park, immediately southwest of SLU, more than 5,200 trees were damaged with 3,100 toppled or irreparably harmed. SLU's campus avoided direct damage. In the weeks following, SLU partnered with the City of St. Louis and the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency to open a Disaster Assistance Center at Chaifetz Arena, serving tornado-affected residents — a major institutional role for the university and one of the largest such partnerships in modern St. Louis civic history.
Analysis

Key Findings

The May 16, 2025 St. Louis EF3 tornado passed within approximately a mile of the Saint Louis University Frost Campus, making it the closest a violent (EF3+) tornado has come to a major Missouri university campus in recent decades
SLU's automatic alert linkage to NWS — issuing tornado warnings without human review — meant students received immediate notification when the warning issued at approximately 2:30 PM CDT
Although SLU avoided direct damage, the campus's subsequent role as the host of the Chaifetz Arena Disaster Assistance Center serving thousands of tornado-affected residents was one of the most consequential post-disaster civic roles a U.S. university played in 2025
The proximity of the EF3 to SLU and the catastrophic damage to neighborhoods immediately north and west — particularly the predominantly Black neighborhoods of Greater Ville and Fountain Park — placed disaster equity at the center of the post-tornado conversation, with SLU's recovery role drawing both support and scrutiny
Outcome
The SLU campus avoided direct tornado damage, though the EF3 caused [extensive damage to neighborhoods immediately west and north of the Frost Campus](https://www.ksdk.com/article/weather/severe-weather/st-louis-tornado-damage-before-and-after-photos/63-ac70cced-0ae7-4e83-8982-8462210f6027). In the days following, SLU partnered with the City of St. Louis to [host the Disaster Assistance Center at Chaifetz Arena](https://www.slu.edu/news/2025/june/chaifetz-arena-dac.php), serving thousands of tornado-affected residents. The tornado killed five people, injured 38, and damaged more than 5,000 buildings in a path of $1.6 billion in damage — making it [among the costliest individual tornadoes on record](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_St._Louis_tornado).
Provenance

Sources

  1. Source
    2025 St. Louis tornado (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  2. Official
    Campus Emergency Procedures (Saint Louis University)
    slu.edu
  3. Official
    Disaster Assistance Center Opens to the Community in Response to the May 16 Tornado (SLU)
    slu.edu
  4. Official
    May 16 Tornado Recovery Resources (SLU)
    slu.edu
  5. News
    St. Louis before and after the EF3 tornado in photos (KSDK)
    ksdk.com
  6. News
    See the path of tornado damage in the St. Louis area (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
    stltoday.com
  7. News
    Tornado Recovery (Forest Park Forever)
    forestparkforever.org
  8. News
    St. Louis faces devastating damage after tornado that killed 5 (STLPR)
    stlpr.org
Tags
tornadoweathermissouriprivate-r1slu-alertst-louisef3-tornadomay-2025-outbreakcentral-west-endchaifetz-arenajesuit
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion