1896 St. Louis – East St. Louis tornado

1896 St. Louis-East St. Louis tornado

F4 tornado
Damage at Jefferson and Allen Avenues
Type	Tornado outbreak
Max rating1	F4 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	Unknown
Damage	$4.3 bil. (2015 US$) [$3.9 billion (2009 US$)]
Casualties	255+ fatalities; many injured
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado Part of the May 1896 tornado outbreak sequence

¹Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale ²Time from first tornado to last tornado

The 1896 St. Louis – East St. Louis tornado was a historic tornado that occurred on Wednesday, May 27, 1896, as part of a major tornado outbreak across the Central United States that day, continuing across the Eastern United States on the 28th. One of the deadliest and most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history, this large and violent tornado was the most notable of an outbreak which produced other large, long-track, violent, killer tornadoes. It caused over $10,000,000 in damage in 1896 ($4.35 billion in today's dollars). 255 people died, and over a thousand were injured. More than 5000 people were homeless and lost all of their possessions.

While a cyclone had been predicted for the later days in May, many disregarded the warning or felt that St. Louis city would not be affected. The day started quietly, with people going about their daily business. The weather in the morning did not indicate any severe threat of a tornado. The local weather bureau predicted thunderstorms, but nothing more serious. Around noon, the clouds began to appear more ominous and the barometric pressure dropped, alarming those who knew that was an indication of a tornado.

Into the afternoon, the skies started to darken, but the Weather Bureau Observatory was not overly concerned. Many residents, however, fled to their homes, anticipating severe weather. At 4:30, the temperature fell rapidly and black and greenish clouds approached the city. Near 5:00 pm, it was as dark as it would otherwise be 3 hours later in the day. As the thunderstorm approached St. Louis, the western portion of the city was particularly affected. The winds were initially around 37 miles per hour, but they quickly increased to almost 80 miles per hour.

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 pm. 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.