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St. Louis tornado history

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There is a long history of destructive tornadoes in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The third-deadliest, and the costliest in United States history, the 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado, injured more than one thousand people and caused at least 255 fatalities in the City of St. Louis and in East St. Louis. The second-costliest tornado also occurred in St. Louis in September 1927.[1] More tornado fatalities occurred in St. Louis than any other city in the United States.[2] Also noteworthy is that destructive tornadoes occur in winter and autumn, as well as the typical months of spring.[3] Additionally, damaging tornadoes occur in the morning and late at night, as well as the more common late afternoon to early evening maximum period.

In April 2011, an EF4 tornado on Good Friday caused widespread damage along a 22 mi (35 km) track across the northern part of the St. Louis metropolitan area; including significant damage to Lambert International Airport, causing a complete shutdown for over 24 hours, but no deaths.[4] Prior to that event, a F4 tornado also struck the northern metro, and killed three in January 1967.[5] Another F4 tornado struck the Granite City and Edwardsville, Illinois area in April 1981.[6] During a major outbreak in December 2021, two tornadoes in the metro area killed 7 people.[7]

City of St. Louis tornadoes

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Date Location Rating Casualties Notes
March 8, 1871 St. Louis - East St. Louis - St. Clair County, Illinois F3 9 fatalities, 60 injuries See: 1871 St. Louis tornado
March 29, 1872 7th Street F1 2 possible fatalities, 8 injuries
January 12, 1890 St. Louis - Madison County, Illinois F2 4 fatalities, 15 injuries
May 27, 1896 St. Louis - East St. Louis - St. Clair County F4 255 fatalities, 1000 injuries Costliest[1] and third-deadliest tornado in U.S. history (see: 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado)[9]
August 19, 1904 St. Louis - Madison County F2 3 fatalities, 10 injuries
September 29, 1927 Webster Groves - St. Louis F3 72-79+ fatalities, 550+ injuries 2nd-costliest.[1] and among top 30 deadliest tornado in U.S. history[10] (see: 1927 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado)
September 16, 1958 St. Louis F1 0 fatalities
February 10, 1959 Crescent - St. Louis - Madison County F4 21 fatalities, 345 injuries Very similar path to 1871, 1896, 1927 tornadoes. (see: St. Louis tornado outbreak of February 1959)
May 1, 1983 St. Louis - Madison County F2 3 injuries
March 31, 2007 Midtown St. Louis EF0 5 injuries Late-March 2007 tornado outbreak[11]
December 31, 2010 North St. Louis EF1 0 fatalities 2010 New Year's Eve tornado outbreak[12]
April 22, 2011 Riverview, St. Louis EF4 0 fatalities, some injuries 2011 St. Louis tornado during tornado outbreak sequence of April 19–24, 2011[4]
April 10, 2013 The Hill, St. Louis EF0 0 fatalities [13]
May 31, 2013 Riverview, St. Louis EF3 2 injuries St. Charles County to St. Louis County to extreme northern St. Louis City at 32.5 mi (52.3 km) over 35 min with max width 1 mi (1.6 km)[14] (see: Tornado outbreak of May 26–31, 2013)

Greater St. Louis-area tornadoes

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These tables describe the tornado history for Greater St. Louis. In Missouri, this includes the counties of St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin, and Jefferson. In Illinois, this includes the counties of Madison, St. Clair, and Monroe. Data for the independent city of St. Louis is not part of these tables unless part of the path of the tornado striking these counties also struck the city.

1870–1950

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Date Location Counties Rating Casualties Notes[15]
July 13, 1870 St. Clair
March 8, 1871 St. Louis City, St. Clair F3 9 fatalities, 60 injuries 1871 St. Louis tornado
June 30, 1877 St. Louis
May 18, 1878 St. Louis
January 12, 1890 St. Louis
March 27, 1890 St. Clair Tornado outbreak of March 27, 1890
May 27, 1896 St. Louis, East St. Louis, IL St. Louis City, Madison F4 255+ fatalities, 1000+ injuries 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado
May 27, 1896 New Baden, IL St. Clair, Clinton F4 24 fatalities, 125 injuries Tornado outbreak sequence of May 1896
May 14, 1909 St. Louis
September 29, 1927 St. Louis F3 72-79+ fatalities, 550+ injuries Tornado outbreak of September 29, 1927
September 1, 1931 St. Louis
March 15, 1938 St. Clair
March 15, 1938 St. Clair
May 21, 1949 St. Louis
May 21, 1949 St. Louis

1950s

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Date Location Counties Rating Casualties Notes
January 3, 1950 St. Louis F3
May 24, 1952 St. Clair Tornado outbreak of May 21–24, 1952
March 25, 1954 St. Louis
October 6, 1955 St. Clair
October 6, 1955 St. Clair
February 24, 1956 Pacific, MO, Lebanon, IL St. Louis, St. Clair F4 6 fatalities, 36 injuries Traveled 77.6 miles (124.9 km).
February 25, 1956 Pacific, MO St. Clair F1 None
August 30, 1956 St. Louis
September 15, 1956 St. Clair
April 25, 1957 St. Clair
May 9, 1957 St. Louis
May 21, 1957 St. Clair May 1957 Central Plains tornado outbreak sequence
May 22, 1957 St. Louis
April 5, 1958 St. Clair
April 23, 1958 St. Louis
May 3, 1958 St. Louis
May 3, 1958 St. Clair
May 31, 1958 St. Clair
June 1, 1958 St. Clair
February 10, 1959 Southeastern Flourissant, MO St. Louis F0 None St. Louis tornado outbreak of February 1959: Minor damage to homes.
February 10, 1959 Sherman, MO, Warson Woods, MO St. Louis F4 21 fatalities, 345 injuries St. Louis tornado outbreak of February 1959: Damaged or destroyed numerous structures, ripped part of the roof of the St. Louis Arena, and blew down a TV tower before causing catastrophic damage in Downtown St. Louis.
May 10, 1959 St. Clair

1960–1980

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Date Location Counties Rating Casualties Notes
March 29, 1960 St. Clair
September 24, 1961 St. Clair
January 24, 1967 St. Louis F4 3 deaths, 216 injured Fourth-worst tornado in history to hit the St. Louis Metropolitan Area, last F4 tornado to affect St. Louis County or City until April 22, 2011. See 1967 St. Louis tornado outbreak.[5]
August 3, 1967 St. Clair
October 24, 1967 St. Louis
April 3, 1968 St. Clair
May 15, 1968 St. Clair Tornado outbreak of May 1968
August 15, 1968 St. Louis
June 1, 1970 St. Louis
May 7, 1973 St. Louis
May 26, 1973 St. Louis
June 4, 1973 St. Clair
March 7, 1975 St. Louis
March 20, 1976 St. Clair
February 23, 1977 St. Louis
May 12, 1978 St. Louis

1980–2000

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Date Location Counties Rating Casualties Notes
April 7, 1980 St. Charles St. Charles & St. Louis F3 A tornado causing F3 damaged affected St. Louis and St. Charles counties producing 2.5 million dollars in damage
April 3, 1981 Edwardsville Madison F4
May 1, 1983 St. Clair
April 3, 1984 St. Clair
May 25, 1984 St. Clair
November 15, 1988 St. Clair
November 15, 1988 St. Clair
November 26, 1990 St. Clair
May 10, 1991 St. Clair
May 11, 1991 St. Clair
July 4, 1992 St. Clair
May 9, 1995 St. Clair Tornado outbreak sequence of May 6–27, 1995
May 18, 1995 St. Clair
May 18, 1995 St. Clair
April 19, 1996 St. Clair Tornado outbreak sequence of April 1996
June 10, 1996 St. Louis
April 13, 1998 St. Louis
April 15, 1998 St. Clair, Madison Tornado outbreak of April 15–16, 1998
April 15, 1998 St. Clair

2000—present

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Date Location Counties Rating Casualties Notes
June 24, 2000 St. Clair
April 10, 2001 St. Louis Costliest hailstorm in U.S. history. 4 in (100 mm) dia. hail in Florissant.[16]
April 27, 2002 St. Clair Tornado outbreak of April 27–28, 2002
June 10, 2003 St. Clair
June 10, 2003 St. Clair
June 10, 2003 St. Clair
June 10, 2003 St. Clair
November 27, 2005 Webster Groves, Maplewood St. Louis F0 0 Late-November 2005 tornado outbreak[17]
January 2, 2006 Creve Coeur St. Louis F1 0
March 11, 2006 Festus, Missouri Jefferson F3 0 Part of a three-day tornado outbreak across Missouri[18]
April 2, 2006 Fairview Heights, O'Fallon, Illinois St. Clair EF2 1 Tornado outbreak of April 2, 2006[19]
July 23, 2006 Troy, Illinois Madison F1 0 Part of the July 2006 derechoes event[20]
June 8, 2009 St. Clair EF2 [21]
December 31, 2010 Byrnes Mill Jefferson 2010 New Year's Eve tornado outbreak
December 31, 2010 Fenton St. Louis
December 31, 2010 Ballwin St. Louis
December 31, 2010 Sunset Hills, Missouri St. Louis EF3 1
February 27, 2011 Troy, Illinois Madison EF1 0
April 22, 2011 Foristell, New Melle, Maryland Heights, Bridgeton, St. Ann, Edmundson, Kinloch, Berkeley, Ferguson, Dellwood, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Moline Acres, Riverview, St. Louis, Pontoon Beach, Granite City St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Louis City, St. Clair, Madison EF4 0 fatalities, some injuries Main article: 2011 St. Louis tornado. Significant damage in North St. Louis County in Maryland Heights, St. Ann, Bridgeton, Berkeley, and Ferguson. Lambert International Airport (EF2[22]) closed due to widespread damage, windows blown out, and the destruction of Concourse C.[4]
April 10, 2013 St. Albans Franklin EF1 0 fatalities [13]
April 10, 2013 Bridgeton, Hazelwood, Florissant St. Louis EF2 0 fatalities [13]
May 31, 2013 Harvester, Earth City, Bridgeton, Ferguson, Bellefontaine Neighbors, St. Louis St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Louis City EF3 2 injuries Tornado outbreak of May 26–31, 2013[23]32.5 mi (52.3 km) path over 35 min and 1 mi (1.6 km) max width[14]
May 31, 2013 South Roxanna Madison EF3 0 Tornado outbreak of May 26–31, 2013[14]
May 31, 2013 Byrnes Mill, Scotsdale Jefferson EF1 0
May 31, 2013 Franklin EF1 0
April 3, 2014 Olivette, University City St. Louis EF1 0 At ~5:20 am, about 100 buildings damaged over 0.6-mile (0.97 km) path length and 100-yard (91 m) path width[24]
June 7, 2014 St. Peters St. Charles EF0 0 Roof damage to an Arby's and a Club Fitness[25]
June 28, 2015 St. Charles EF2 0 Destroyed an outbuilding and damaged multiple homes, one at EF2 strength.[26]
April 26, 2016 WSW of New Melle St. Charles EF0 0 Damaged the roof of an outbuilding.[27]
March 6, 2017 Wentzville St. Charles EF1 0 fatalities, 3 injuries Tornado outbreak of March 6–7, 2017: Tornado caused minor damage to several businesses.[28]
April 29, 2017 Orchard Farm St. Charles EF0 0 Tornado outbreak and floods of April 28 – May 1, 2017: Several homes sustained minor roof damage.[29]
May 21, 2019 Augusta Franklin, St. Charles EF1 0 Tornado outbreak sequence of May 2019: Caused extensive tree damage.[30]
March 27, 2021 Highland Madison EF1 0 Tornado outbreak sequence of March 24–28, 2021: Minor roof damage to homes, and a shed was completely destroyed.[31]
December 10, 2021 Defiance, Chesterfield, Maryland Heights St. Charles, St. Louis EF3 1 fatality, 2 injuries Tornado destroyed 2 homes at high-end EF3 strength east of Defiance.[32] Part of the Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021.
December 10, 2021 Pontoon Beach, Edwardsville Madison EF3 6 fatalities, 1 injury[33] Destroyed an Amazon warehouse, killing 6 people. Part of the Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021.
May 19, 2022 Kirkwood St. Louis EF0 0[34]
May 19, 2022 Frontenac St. Louis EF0 0[35]
May 19, 2022 Creve Coeur St. Louis EF0 0[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Brooks, Harold E.; Charles A. Doswell III (February 2001). "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890–1999". Weather Forecast. 16 (1): 168–76. Bibcode:2001WtFor..16..168B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2.
  2. ^ Smith, Mike (2010). Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather. Austin, TX: Greenleaf. pp. 134–5. ISBN 978-1608320349.
  3. ^ Tornadoes in St. Louis, Mo. (1950-2011)
  4. ^ a b c April 22 Tornadic Supercell Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area, National Weather Service, St. Louis, Missouri. April 23, 2011.
  5. ^ a b F4 St. Louis County Tornado, 24 January 1967, National Weather Service, St. Louis, Missouri
  6. ^ Violent (F4-F5) Tornadoes in the NWS St. Louis County Warning Area
  7. ^ "December 10th 2021 Tornado Outbreak". National Weather Service Office St. Louis. Dec 2021. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  8. ^ NWS list of tornadoes in City of St. Louis
  9. ^ May 1896 St. Louis Tornado
  10. ^ A Look Back: Tornado in 1927 kills 78 in St. Louis
  11. ^ Bow Echo Event over the city of St. Louis, Missouri March 31st, 2007
  12. ^ New Years Eve Tornado Outbreak December 31 2010, National Weather Service, St. Louis, Missouri.
  13. ^ a b c Severe Weather Event - Squall Line St. Louis Metropolitan Tornadoes April 10 2013
  14. ^ a b c Severe Thunderstorms Produce Straight Line Wind Damage and Nine Tornadoes May 31 2013
  15. ^ St. Louis Area Tornado Climatology
  16. ^ The April 10, 2001 Historic Hailstorm and Supercell, National Weather Service, St. Louis, Missouri.
  17. ^ November 27, 2005 Severe Weather Event Downburst Winds and an Isolated Tornado in Maplewood, Missouri, National Weather Service, St. Louis, Missouri.
  18. ^ 11 March 2006 - Tornado Outbreak, National Weather Service, St. Louis, Missouri
  19. ^ 2 April 2006 - Severe Thunderstorm Outbreak, National Weather Service, St. Louis, Missouri
  20. ^ Largest Power Outage in the History of St. Louis, National Weather Service, St. Louis, Missouri.
  21. ^ June 8, 2009 EF2 Tornado St. Clair County, Illinois, National Weather Service, St. Louis, Missouri.
  22. ^ "ArcGIS Web Application". apps.dat.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  23. ^ St. Louis tornado: Twister moves 32 miles, was on ground for 35 minutes, KSHB.
  24. ^ Olivette/University City EF1 Tornado April 3rd 2014
  25. ^ "SPC Severe Weather Event Review for Saturday June 07, 2014".
  26. ^ "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  27. ^ "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  28. ^ US Department of Commerce, NOAA. "Preliminary Damage Survey Information for March 6, 2017". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  29. ^ "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  30. ^ "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  31. ^ By, daryl herzmann. "IEM :: PNS from NWS LSX". mesonet.agron.iastate.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  32. ^ US Department of Commerce, NOAA. "December 10th 2021 Tornado Outbreak". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  33. ^ "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information".
  34. ^ Higgins, Chris; Millitzer, Joe; Jackson, Ashleigh (19 May 2022). "EF-0 tornado touched down in St. Louis County during severe storms". FOX2 Now. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  35. ^ a b US Department of Commerce, NOAA. "May 19, 2022 Tornadoes". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
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