Stats

Path length: 9.5 miles

Width:  150 yards

Fatalities:  0

Injuries:  3

Rating:  F3

County:  St. Louis, MO / Madison, IL

Tornado Path

Click Map To Enlarge

SPC coordinates:  Start: 38.77 / -90.22   End:  38.83 / -90.03

Corrected Coordinates based on damage reports:

Start: 38.781090/-90.216740         End: 38.853145/-90.044630     

Note:  Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.

Summary

This tornado developed 13 miles North of Downtown St. Louis in the Spanish Lake area.  It moved across the Mississippi River into Illinois causing damage in the Hartford and Roxana areas.  

In Missouri, 15 homes were destroyed with 30 others receiving major damage.  Near Hartford, three homes were destroyed with 11 others damaged.  An oil refinery was damaged at Roxana.  

There were no fatalities and at least three injuries.  Newspapers reported two children were injured. 

Newspapers reported that after the tornado passed through the Hartford and Roxana area, heavy rains developed.  A levee break occurred near Wood River.  One report reported that eight homes were flooded, a church and a school in the village of Wanda.

Discrepancies:

We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the January 1950 Climatological Data National Summary (CDNS) and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:

Path Length:

  • SPC/NCDC have a 9.5 mile path.
  • Grazulis has a length at 5 miles.
  • CDNS lists no path length.

Injury Count:

  • CDNS have no injuries.
  • Remaining sources list 3 injuries.

Sources:

The Storm Prediction Center

NCDC Storm Events Database

January 1950 Climatological Data National Summary

newspapers.com

Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Page 953.

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