Over its history, the St. Louis area has been a tornado hotbed, with numerous funnels making their presence known. Dating back as far as the early 1870s to 2025, many proved deadly and catastrophic, while others were only a footnote in history. In this summary, we discuss the sixteen twisters officially documented within St. Louis proper.
A violent twister, spawned by the same supercell as the Albion F4 tornado, tracked for 28 miles through Erie, Warren, counties in northwestern PA, and Chautauqua County, NY. At its widest point, the funnel reached 2100 yards (1.20 miles), causing injuries to 19 people and inflicting severe damage on multiple farms.
On May 31, 1985, a violent tornado swept through northwestern Pennsylvania, leaving a trail of devastation across Warren, McKean, and Elk Counties. The storm reached its peak intensity in the Tionesta Scenic Area, where it leveled vast swaths of forest before continuing eastward into the town of Kane, causing widespread destruction to homes, schools, and businesses. With wind speeds reaching high-end F4 levels, the tornado obliterated entire neighborhoods, leaving behind heartbreaking scenes of loss, including the tragic deaths of four people. Over 100 homes were damaged or destroyed, and the storm caused an estimated $15 million in damage, equivalent to $71 million today.
Main Writer Nick Wilkes documents the violent tornado outbreak that hit parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario on May 31, 1985.
On May 31, 1985, an F2 tornado tore through Pymatuning State Park near Linesville, cutting a nine-mile path from Pymatuning Lake through the End of the Road Campground. The tornado resulted in one fatality and injured at least 20 others as it passed through the area.
An F3 tornado ripped through southern Warren County on the evening of May 31, 1985, causing severe damage in and around Tidioute and the Allegheny National Forest. The tornado, spawned by the same supercell that produced the Kane F4 twister, left a path of destruction nearly 19 miles long, injuring eight people and destroying 32 structures. Despite the significant damage, it is relatively overshadowed.
An intense tornado began about 3 miles west of Winterburn in Clearfield County. It tracked mainly east and east-northeast for 73.4 miles before lifting in far western Lycoming County. During its long journey, the twister went through the Moshannon State Forest, felling 35,000 trees per minute as it crossed various mountains and river valleys. The massive funnel’s peak width was 2.57 miles. Despite its incredible violence and large path, it remained over mostly uninhabited areas, resulting in only 13 homes being destroyed and there was one injury.
Per the Storm Prediction Center, 7 tornadoes occurred on May 4, 1950. The strongest was an F4 that tracked over 30 miles through parts of Pawnee and Barton Counties in KS. The max width was 150 yards. There were 30 injuries reported.
On the evening of May 15, 2013, a regional outbreak of 20 tornadoes took place in Texas and Oklahoma. Most of these twisters proved harmless and weak (rated EF0 and EF1). However, the southwestern fringes of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex saw two, rated EF3 and EF4, which accounted for most of the outbreak’s property losses and injuries. The latter, and the focus of this summary, only needed 2.5 miles to devastate the community of Granbury, TX, where six people lost their lives.
During the afternoon of May 24, 2011, Oklahoma was impacted by one of the state’s most infamous outbreaks. Twenty-two tornadoes tracked across areas west of and into the Oklahoma City metro. This summary will examine a short-lived and powerful EF3 that tore through areas west and north of Lookeba.
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