St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado

Infobox tornado outbreak|name=St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado Outbreak
date=May 27-28, 1896
image location=St Louis Jefferson-Allen Damage.jpg


duration=Unknown
fujitascale=F4
tornadoes=Unknown
total damages (USD)=$3.4 billion (2005 USD)
total fatalities=284+
areas affected=Central-Eastern United States

The "St. Louis - East St. Louis Tornado" is a historic tornado event that occurred on Monday, May 27, 1896, as part of a major tornado outbreak across the Central United States on the 27th, continuing across the Eastern United States on the 28th.cite book |last=Grazulis |first=Thomas P. |authorlink=Thomas P. Grazulis |title=Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events |publisher=The Tornado Project of Environmental Films |month=July | year=1993 |location=St. Johnsbury, VT |isbn=1879362031 ] One of the deadliest and most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history, this very large, long-track, and violent tornado was the most notable of an outbreak which produced other large, long-track, violent, killer tornadoes.

May 27 outbreak

The first significant tornado of the day formed near Bellflower, Missouri and killed a woman. Three students died and sixteen were injured when the Dye School in Audrain County, Missouri was hit at around 6:15 P.M. The same tornado killed one student and injured 19 others at the Bean Creek school a few minutes later. At 6:30, two supercell thunderstorms produced two tornadoes. One decimated farms in New Minden, Hoyleton, Richview, and Irvington, Illinois.

Twenty-seven more people died in the other Illinois tornadoes of this outbreak.

St. Louis - East St. Louis tornado

The tornado spawned from the other supercell became the third deadliest and the most costly tornado in United States history. It touched down in St. Louis, Missouri, then one of the largest and most influential cities in the country. 137 people died as the tornado traversed the core of the city leaving a mile wide (1.6 km) continuous swath of destroyed homes, schools, saloons, factories, mills, churches, parks, and railroad yards. More people probably died on boats on the Mississippi River as the bodies may have gone downriver. When the tornado crossed the river and hit East Saint Louis, Illinois, it was smaller but more intense. An additional 118 people were killed. The confirmed death toll is 255, with some estimates above 400. More than 1,000 were injured. The tornado was later rated F4 on the Fujita scale. Adjusted for wealth and inflation (1997 USD), it is the costliest tornado in U.S. history at an estimated $2.9 billion.cite journal |last=Brooks |first=Harold E. |authorlink=Harold E. Brooks |coauthors=Charles A. Doswell III |title=Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890–1999 |journal=Weather and Forecasting |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=168–76 |publisher=American Meteorological Society |month=February | url=http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1175%2F1520-0434(2001)016%3C0168%3ANDFMTI%3E2.0.CO%3B2 |doi=10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2 |format=abstract |year=2001 ] Enough damage was done to the city that there was some question that St. Louis might not be able to host the 1896 Republican National Convention in June.

In perspective

St. Louis tornado history

It is somewhat rare for the core of a large city to be hit directly by a tornado (due to their relatively small area and the relative lack of large cities in the highest tornado threat region)--especially a large intense tornado--yet several other tornadoes have tracked through the City of St. Louis and several of these tornadoes were also very deadly and destructive. Among these events are: 1871 (9 killed), 1890 (4 killed), 1904 (3 killed, 100 injured), 1927 (79 killed, 550 injured, 2nd costliest in US history), and 1959 (21 killed, 345 injured).cite web |last=Przybylinski |first=Ron |authorlink=Ron Przybylinski |coauthors=et al |title=St. Louis City Tornadoes |work= [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/climate/torcli/torcli.php St. Louis Tornado Climatology] |publisher=National Weather Service |url=http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/climate/torcli/city.php |accessdate=2007-06-17 ] This makes St. Louis the worst tornado afflicted urban area in the U.S.cite web |last=Edwards |first=Roger |authorlink=Roger Edwards |coauthors=Joe Schaefer |title=Downtown Tornadoes |work=Online Tornado FAQ |publisher=Storm Prediction Center |url=http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/downtown.html |accessdate=2007-06-17 ] Additionally, the Greater St. Louis area is the scene of even more historically destructive and deadly tornadoes.

Other May 1896 tornadoes

: "Main article: May 1896 tornado outbreak sequence"In what was apparently an intense tornado outbreak sequence, other major tornado outbreaks occurred on May 15, May 17, and May 24 - 25, with other smaller outbreaks during the month as well. The middle to end of May was extremely active but sparse records preclude knowing much detail. Tom Grazulis has stated that the week of May 24 - 28 was "perhaps the most violent single week of tornado activity in US history".cite web |last=Grazulis |first=Tom |authorlink=Thomas P. Grazulis |coauthors=Doris Grazulis |title=1896 Tornadoes |publisher=The Tornado Project |url=http://tornadoproject.com/past/pastts95.htm#1896 |accessdate=2008-03-24 ]

1896 tornado season

The 1896 tornado season has the distinction of being the deadliest in United States history. There were at least 40 killer tornadoes spanning from April 11 to November 26; including this one, the only one to kill more than 100 people in two separate cities.

See also

* List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
* List of tornadoes striking downtown areas
* List of tornado-related deaths at schools

References

*

Further reading

*cite book |title=The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, May 27, 1896 |last=Curzon |first=Julian |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1997 |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |location=Carbondale |isbn=0809321246 |pages=

External links

* [http://www.tornadoproject.com/toptens/3.htm St. Louis/East St. Louis Tornado of 1896] (Tornado Project)
* [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/vortex/1896.htm St. Louis, Missouri Tornado] (National Weather Service St. Louis)
* [http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/nws/tornado.html Great Cyclone at St. Louis, May 27, 1896] (NOAA) [http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/nws/torn3.html Photos]
* [http://previous.slpl.org/libsrc/CYCLONER.HTM The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, May 27, 1896] (St. Louis Public Library)
* [http://genealogytrails.com/ill/stclair/tornado.htm The 1896 Tornado!] (Illinois Genealogy Trails History and Genealogy)
* [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/cyclone.htm The St. Louis Cyclone of 1896] (US Genealogy Network)
* [http://www.gendisasters.com/data1/mo/tornadoes/stlouis-tornadomay1896.htm St. Louis, Missouri Tornado May 28, 1896]