Tornado outbreak of September 29, 1927

On Thursday, September 29, 1927, an outbreak of at least 15 significant tornadoes, including three F3 tornadoes, killed at least 82 people in the Central United States, particularly in Missouri and Illinois. The outbreak affected a broad expanse of the Midwestern and Southern United States, including Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. The deadliest tornado was an estimated F3 which affected portions of Greater St. Louis, killing at least 79 people and injuring at least 550 others. The tornado narrowly missed Downtown St. Louis, striking north of the central business district before crossing the Mississippi River.[2][3][4][nb 2][nb 3][nb 4]

Tornado outbreak of September 29, 1927
Pile of collapsed timber and assorted bricks
Damage from an F3 tornado along Enright Avenue in St. Louis
DurationSeptember 29, 1927
Tornadoes
confirmed		15 confirmed
Max. rating1F3 tornado
Fatalities≥ 82 fatalities, ≥ 620 injuries
Damage≥ $22,000,000 (1927 USD)[1][nb 1]
≥ $371 million (2023 USD)
Areas affectedMidwestern and Southern United States
Part of the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1927

1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

Confirmed tornadoes
Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating
FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 Total
4  ?  ? 8 3 0 0 ≥ 15

September 29 event
Confirmed tornadoes – Thursday, September 29, 1927[nb 5][nb 6]
F# Location County / Parish State Time (UTC) Path length Max. width Summary
F2 NW of Checotah McIntosh OK 13:00–? 1 mile (1.6 km) 400 yd (370 m) "Small" tornado affected a couple of farmsteads, destroying several barns and farmhouses. Eight people were injured and losses totaled $23,000.[15][16]
F2 Rudy to SE of Mountainburg Crawford AR 15:29–? 7 miles (11 km) 100 yd (91 m) Tornado damaged or destroyed 30 homes and a school, the latter of which partly collapsed, injuring five students out of 106. Cultivated and forested lands were heavily damaged. 20 people were injured and losses totaled $75,000.[15][16]
F2 SE of Audubon Audubon IA 18:00–? 6 miles (9.7 km) 100 yd (91 m) Tornado affected five farmsteads, destroying several barns. Losses totaled $4,000.[15][16]
F2 Brookfield Linn MO 18:15–? Un­known Un­known Tornado destroyed a barn. Losses totaled $400.[15][16]
F3 Southern Webster Groves, MO to N of Downtown St. Louis, MO to Granite City, IL St. Louis (MO), Madison (IL) MO, IL 18:50–? 12 miles (19 km) 600 yd (550 m) 79 deaths – See section on this tornado – 550 people were injured and losses totaled $53 million.
FU Menlo Guthrie IA 19:30–? 2 miles (3.2 km) Un­known Tornado downed structures, utility wires, and trees. Losses totaled $5,000.[16]
F3 French to S of Mammoth Spring Fulton AR 20:00–? 15 miles (24 km) 150 yd (140 m) 1 death – Tornado wrecked the village of French, destroying or damaging every structure, including two stores and three homes. An eight-room home was shorn of all but a single floorboard. 25 people were injured and losses totaled $15,000.[15][16]
F2 S of Morrisonville Christian IL 20:00–? 1 mile (1.6 km) 100 yd (91 m) Tornado unroofed a home and destroyed a large barn nearby.[15]
FU Doniphan Ripley MO 21:00–? 10 miles (16 km) Un­known "Tornado-like" circulation, up to 1 mi (1.6 km; 1,600 m; 1,800 yd) wide, produced intermittent damage to crops, windows, and homes. Some homes were reportedly unroofed. Losses totaled $1,300.[16][17]
F3 Northeastern Cowden Shelby IL 21:00–? 12 miles (19 km) 200 yd (180 m) 2 deaths – Tornado destroyed a brick home, killing a couple inside. Three people were injured and losses totaled $10,000.[15][16]
F2 W of Corning, AR to Broseley, MO Clay (AR), Butler (MO) AR, MO 22:00–? 30 miles (48 km) 400 yd (370 m) Tornado destroyed or damaged 16 homes in Missouri, injuring 11 people in the state.[15]
F2 NE of Chrisman, IL to IN Edgar (IL), Vermillion (IN) IL, IN 23:00–? 12 miles (19 km) 100 yd (91 m) Tornado destroyed or damaged several barns. Three people were injured and losses totaled $15,000.[15]
FU Conlogue Edgar IL 02:30–? Un­known Un­known Tornado reported.[16]
F2 Northern Lurton Newton AR 04:00–? 1 mile (1.6 km) Un­known Pair of tornadoes reportedly destroyed timberland, a home, and a school.[15][16]
FU Cates Fountain IN Un­known Un­known Un­known Tornado formed from the same storm as the Chrisman F2. Losses totaled $65,000.[16]

St. Louis, Missouri–East St. Louis, Illinois
St. Louis, Missouri–East St. Louis, Illinois
F3 tornado
Black-and-white photograph with beige tint showing downed tree limbs and wrecked roofs
Damage on McPherson Avenue in St. Louis
FormedSeptember 29, 1927
12:50 p.m. CST (UTC−06:00)
St. Louis County, Missouri
Max. rating1F3 tornado
Fatalities72–79+ fatalities; 550+ injured
Damage$22 million (1927 USD)[15][nb 1]
$371 million (2023 USD)
Areas affectedGreater St. Louis
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The 1927 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado was a powerful and devastating tornado that struck St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday, September 29, 1927, at about 1:00 p.m. local standard time. The tornado is estimated to have reached at least F3 and possible F4 intensity on the Fujita scale. The 2nd deadliest tornado to occur in the St. Louis metropolitan area, it caused 79 deaths—though totals vary from 72 to 84—and injured more than 550 people within a 7-to-12-mile-long (11 to 19 km), 100-to-600-yard-wide (91 to 549 m) path. At one time it was the second-costliest tornado in U.S. history. More than 200 city blocks were destroyed. St. Louis University High School was hit hard. The student chapel's roof collapsed, the gym's (now main offices) roof was damaged, an entire classroom caved in on a class, and other classrooms were damaged. All the windows were smashed. Luckily, no one was killed or badly injured. The tornado caused $150,000 in damage to the school.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]

See also

Notes
  1. All losses are in 1927 USD unless otherwise noted.
  2. An outbreak is generally defined as a group of at least six tornadoes (the number sometimes varies slightly according to local climatology) with no more than a six-hour gap between individual tornadoes. An outbreak sequence, prior to (after) the start of modern records in 1950, is defined as a period of no more than two (one) consecutive days without at least one significant (F2 or stronger) tornado.[5]
  3. The Fujita scale was devised under the aegis of scientist T. Theodore Fujita in the early 1970s. Prior to the advent of the scale in 1971, tornadoes in the United States were officially unrated.[6][7] While the Fujita scale has been superseded by the Enhanced Fujita scale in the U.S. since February 1, 2007,[8] Canada used the old scale until April 1, 2013;[9] nations elsewhere, like the United Kingdom, apply other classifications such as the TORRO scale.[10]
  4. Historically, the number of tornadoes globally and in the United States was and is likely underrepresented: research by Grazulis on annual tornado activity suggests that, as of 2001, only 53% of yearly U.S. tornadoes were officially recorded. Documentation of tornadoes outside the United States was historically less exhaustive, owing to the lack of monitors in many nations and, in some cases, to internal political controls on public information.[11] Most countries only recorded tornadoes that produced severe damage or loss of life.[12] Significant low biases in U.S. tornado counts likely occurred through the early 1990s, when advanced NEXRAD was first installed and the National Weather Service began comprehensively verifying tornado occurrences.[13]
  5. All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time and dates are split at midnight CST/CDT for consistency.
  6. Prior to 1994, only the average widths of tornado paths were officially listed.[14]

References
  1. Hayes, Montrose W. (September 1927). <405:TSLTOS>2.0.CO;2 "The St. Louis Tornado of September 29, 1927". Monthly Weather Review. National Weather Service. 55 (9): 405. Bibcode:1927MWRv...55..405H. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1927)55<405:TSLTOS>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 1520-0493. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  2. Written at St. Louis. "St. Louis Tornado Dead Total 84—Injured 671". The Decatur Review. Decatur, Illinois. Associated Press. September 30, 1927. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021 – via GenDisasters.com.
  3. "WFO St. Louis CWA Tornado Climatology". National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office St. Louis, MO. St. Charles, Missouri: National Weather Service. January 5, 2011. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  4. "Violent (F4-F5)Tornadoes in the NWS St. Louis County Warning Area". National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office St. Louis, MO. St. Charles, Missouri: National Weather Service. January 7, 2012. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  5. Schneider, Russell S.; Brooks, Harold E.; Schaefer, Joseph T. (2004). Tornado Outbreak Day Sequences: Historic Events and Climatology (1875–2003) (PDF). 22nd Conf. Severe Local Storms. Hyannis, Massachusetts: American Meteorological Society. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  6. Grazulis 1993, p. 141.
  7. Grazulis 2001a, p. 131.
  8. Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage". The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC). Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  9. "Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale)". Environment and Climate Change Canada. June 6, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  10. "The International Tornado Intensity Scale". Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  11. Grazulis 2001a, pp. 251–4.
  12. Edwards, Roger (March 5, 2015). "Tornado Climatology and Data". The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC). Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  13. Cook & Schaefer 2008, p. 3135
  14. Brooks 2004, p. 310.
  15. Grazulis 1993, p. 814.
  16. USWB 1927, p. 424.
  17. Reeder 1927, p. 40.
  18. Brooks & Doswell III 2001, pp. 168–76.
  19. Grazulis, Thomas P.; Grazulis, Doris (April 26, 2000). "The United States' Worst Tornadoes". The Tornado Project. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Environmental Films. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  20. "September 29, 1927 (Tornado)". Archived from the original on October 27, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  21. O'Neil, Tim. "Sept. 29, 1927: The 2nd deadliest storm to ever hit St. Louis". Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  22. "Weather Trivia". National Weather Service. March 24, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  23. "septrivia". National Weather Service. March 18, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  24. "Missouri Climate Center". climate.missouri.edu. Retrieved September 15, 2017.

Sources


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