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 rare winter tornado plowed through the city of St. Louis, MO, in the dead of night on February 10, 1959. It traveled close to 28 miles at an estimated 50-60 mph speed, leaving behind collapsed buildings and littered streets. Sadly, 21 precious souls lost their lives, and 345 were injured.
In 2021, many of us watched as storms tore apart lives and communities across Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, and Kentucky. After events of this magnitude, images depicting seas of wreckage where homes and businesses once stood can blind us to the true nature of the loss at hand. Ranging from six days to 98 years of age, a total of 92 people lost their lives during the tornado event. They were cherished as friends or family by thousands. This article details the stories of every one of those people, as well as all of the 23 significant tornadoes that formed during this event.
On December 1, 2018, a regional outbreak unfolded across Illinois, resulting in 29 total tornadoes in the late afternoon and evening hours. Of the twisters that occurred, one was rated EF3, with three more being rated EF2. This summary will focus on the EF3 tornado that struck Taylorville, IL, with the most intense damage being southwest of the city in the unincorporated community of Hewittsville.
12 tornadoes hit parts of Northern Illinois on June 22, 2015. The strongest was rated EF3 with max winds of 160mph. It went through the Coal City and Braidwood areas.
An outbreak of tornadoes occurred on April 21, 1967 across parts of the Midwest states. Per The Storm Prediction Center, there were 46 tornadoes. 5 were given a rating of F4: 1 in MO, 1 in MI and 3 in IL. This summary will focus on the 3 Illinois F4s. It is considered Northern Illinois’ Worst Tornado Disaster.
An outbreak of 35 tornadoes occurred across 6 states on February 29, 2012. During the early morning, a squall line with embedded supercells pressed through parts of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. The strongest tornado of the day occurred between 451am and 504am CT.
A total of 25 tornadoes occurred on December 17, 1957, all in Illinois or Missouri. Two were later rated F4 and 1 was given an F5 rating. In this summary, we look at an F4 that traveled close to 30 miles through parts of Jackson, Williamson and Franklin Counties in Illinois. Per Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes, the path followed closely to a section of the great Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925.
A major tornado outbreak occurred on November 13, 2013. In total, 74 tornadoes were produced, 7 were rated EF3 and 2 were rated EF4. This summary documents a significant tornado that devastated Washington, IL.
This devastating tornado began on I-64 just over 4 miles SW of New Minden. A tractor-trailer was blown off the interstate and the driver had minor injuries. Per the NWS Storm Data summary, the worst damage was 2 miles west-southwest of New Minden. A farm took a direct hit and the damage was rated EF4. Only the foundation of the farm remained.
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