1896 — May 27, Tornadoes, St. Louis, MO/137 and East St. Louis, IL/169 — 306

–400 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 221.*
–306 Agee and Asai. Cloud Dynamics: Proceedings of a Symposium… Aug, 1981. 1982, 202.
–306 Blanchard tally from IL and MO breakouts below.
–306 Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 93.
–306 National Weather Service. Famous Large Tornado Outbreaks in the United States. 2005
–306 Nunn. “Tornadoes, With Special Reference To Those…in Tennessee” Nov 25, 1921.
–306 O’Neil in Curzon
–305 Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 485.
–255 Brooks and Doswell. 2000, p. 170.
–255 Grazulis. Significant…, 1993, 271, 485. (St. Louis, MO and St. Clair County, IL.)
–255 Grazulis. The Tornado. (St. Louis (137) and East St. Louis, IL (118). 2001, p. 293.
–255 Gunn 2007, 160
–255 NWS WFO, Paducah KY. NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado Web Site. “Gen. Info.”
–255 National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, St. Louis. 2005.
–255 Storm Prediction Center. The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes. Norman, OK. NOAA.

*“According to most reports, more that 250 people died in St. Louis and another 150 were killed across the river. (Other authorities claim total deaths of no more than 30 in both cities.)”

Illinois (169)
— 14 Washington, Jefferson Counties (18:20 tornado). Grazulis 1993, 271, 485, 676-677.
— 11 New Minden, Wash. Ct., Gazette, Stevens Point. “Thirty Persons Killed…,” 6-12-1907.
–128 East St. Louis (18:30) Grazulis, Tornado Project. Tornadoes in the Past. 1999.
–118 “ Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 676-677.
–118 “ Gunn 2007, 160.
–113 “ NWS WFO Central IL. Severe Weather Climatology. Top 10 IL Tornado Disasters.
— 24 St. Clair and Clinton Counties (18:45) Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 485, 677.
“ NWS WFO Central IL. Severe Weather Climatology. Top 10 IL Tornado Disasters.
— 03 Washington, Jefferson Counties (20:30) Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 485, 677.
“ NWS WFO Central IL. Severe Weather Climatology. Top 10 IL Tornado Disasters.
Other Estimates for Illinois:
— 42 Centralia, IL vicinity. Newark Daily Advocate, “The Death Roll…” May 29, 1896.
–250 East St. Louis, IL. Newark Daily Advocate, “The Death Roll…” May 29, 1896.
–150 “ Brown. “Twister on the Town,” p. 94 in Kartman, Disaster! 2007.
— 15 Mexico, IL. Newark Daily Advocate, “The Death Roll…” May 29, 1896.

Missouri (137)
— 1 Montgomery and Lincoln Counties. Grazulis 1993, 485, 676.
— 6 Audrain County (15:15) Grazulis 1993, 485, 676.
— 2 Osage County (18:15) Grazulis 1993, 485, 676.
–137 St Louis Grazulis. Tornado Project. Tornadoes in the Past. 1999.
“ Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes. 1993, 676.
“ Gunn 2007, 160.
Other Estimates for Missouri:
–~250 St. Louis, MO Brown. “Twister on the Town,” p. 94 in Kartman, Disaster! 2007.
— 200 “ Newark Daily Advocate, “The Death Roll…” May 29, 1896.

Narrative Information

Grazulis: “This tornado, which was to be one of the deadliest in US history, touched down about 6 miles west of the Eads Bridge in St. Louis. From the northwest edge of Tower Grove Park, this complex combination of tornado and downburst widened to over a mile and moved due east. It collapsed or swept away portions of houses, factories, saloons, hospitals, mills, railroad yards, churches, and caused a total of over $10,000,000 in damage. In most areas, roofs and trees were not carried away, but thrown to the ground. In other areas, homes were swept away. The 36-acre Lafayette Park was turned into “a wasteland of stripped trees and stumps.” On the east end of the Eads Bridge (built as tornado proof after the 1871 event in the same place) a 2-inch by 10-inch white pine plank was driven through the 5/16″ thick wrought iron plate. No significant damage was done to the steel span of the bridge, but this remains a remarkable example of a tornado’s ability to generate missiles. There were 137 people killed at St. Louis. The tornado was apparently at maximum intensity when it crossed the Mississippi River into East St. Louis, Illinois. Buildings and homes along the river were completely swept away, and about a quarter of the buildings in the town were destroyed or damaged. A much smaller area of damage occurred at East St. Louis, with a damage total of about $2,000,000, but the great intensity resulted in 118 deaths. As many as 35 people died in the Vandalia railroad freight yards at East St. Louis. The death total probably does not include the loss of life to people living on shanty boats, whose bodies were washed down river.” (Grazulis. “Descriptions of the Top Ten US Killer Tornadoes #3: The St. Louis/East St. Louis Tornado of 1896.”)

Grazulis: “What may have been the first tornado of the day killed a woman near Bellflower, Missouri. At 3:15 PM, three students died and sixteen were injured in the destruction of the Dye School in Audrain County, Missouri. A few minutes later, the same tornado killed one student and injured nineteen at the Bean Creek School. At 6:15 PM, two children died on a farm in Osage County, Missouri. At about 6:30 PM, two tornadoes touched down almost simultaneously from separate storms. One leveled entire farms near New Minden, Hoyleton, Richview, and Irvington, Illinois. The other was the third deadliest tornado in US history, taking a total of at least 255 lives. In Saint Louis, Missouri, people died in homes, factories, saloons, hospitals, mills, railroad yards, and churches, as a half-mile-wide swath was cut across the center of the city. At least 137 people died at Saint Louis. Other people living on shanty boats may have perished in the Mississippi River, but were not counted because their bodies were washed downstream. At East Saint Louis, Illinois, the funnel had narrowed but may have also intensified. Devastation there was more complete, and 118 people were killed. Twenty seven more people died in other Illinois tornadoes this day.” (Grazulis. Tornado Project. Tornadoes in the Past. 1999.)

Gunn: “At 6:30 P.M., May 27, 1896, two F4 tornadoes touched down near and on St. Louis, Missouri, almost simultaneously. One passed over the city and moved in a southeasterly direction, leveling entire farms in such communities as Richview and Irvington sixty miles east of St. Louis. The other, a much more powerful tornado, was…responsible for the deaths of 255 people on both sides of the river before it finally petered out in East St. Louis, Illinois….People living on shanty boats may have perished in the Mississippi River, but were not counted because their bodies were washed downstream.” (Gunn 2007, 160)

“Many steamboats went to the bottom of the river….Congressman Joy introduced a resolution in Congress, arranging for the use of army tents for those who were homeless.” (Gunn 2007, 161)

US SIS: “May 27. — The following named steamers were destroyed in the tornado at St. Louis, MO:

Libbie Conger
Isabella
J.J. Odil
Bald Eagle
Arkansas City
City of Cairo
Andrew Christy
Jay Gould
Dolphin No. 2
City of Quincy
Gazelle
City of Monroe

“The following named steamers were damaged in the same storm:

Pittsburgh
Benton
Cherokee
Grey Eagle
Belle of Calhoun
S.B. Wiggins
Napoleon Mullikin
George A. Maddill
Henry Sackman
Henry L. Clark
S.C. Clubb
Exporter
Harvester
Polar Wave
Charlotte Boeckeler
City of St. Louis harbor boat, Louis Houck
City of Providence
City of Vicksburg
Jack Frost
Austria. (U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1897, p. 37.)

Sources

Agee, Ernest M. and Tomio Asai. Cloud Dynamics: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the Third General Assembly of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, Hamburg, West Germany, 17-28 August, 1981. Springer, 1982. Google preview at: http://books.google.com/books?id=gobh8VMiobYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Brooks, Harold E. and Charles A Doswell III (NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory). “Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890-1999.” Revised manuscript submitted as Note to Weather and Forecasting, Vol. 16, 9 p., Sep 2000. Accessed 11-25-2017 at: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/users/brooks/public_html/damage/tdam1.html

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Curzon, Julian. The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, May 27, 1896. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1997.

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

Grazulis, Thomas P. The Tornado: Nature’s Ultimate Windstorm. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001, 324 pages.

Gunn, Angus M. Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental Catastrophes and Human Tragedies (Volume 1). Westport CT and London: Greenwood Press, 2007.

Gunn, Angus M. Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental Catastrophes and Human Tragedies (Volume 2). Greenwood Press, 2007.

Kartman, Ben. Disaster! Read Books, 2007. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=lynBIKvEDBQC&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

National Weather Service. Famous Large Tornado Outbreaks in the United States. 2005. [Broken link.]

National Weather Service, Central Illinois Weather Forecast Office. Severe Weather Climatology. “Top 10 Illinois Tornado Disasters.” 9-3-2009 update. Accessed at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ilx/svrclimo.php

National Weather Service, Paducah, KY Weather Forecast Office. NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado Web Site. “General Information.” Accessed at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/1925/gi_body.php

Nunn, Roscoe. “Tornadoes, With Special Reference To Those That Have Occurred in Tennessee” (Paper delivered before the Tennessee Academy of Science). Nov 25, 1921. Accessed at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bna/research/tornadoes.htm

Storm Prediction Center. The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes. Norman, OK: SPC, National Weather Service. NOAA. Accessed 10-12-2008 at: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/killers.html

The Gazette, Stevens Point, WI. “Thirty Persons Killed By Wind and Cloudburst.” 6-12-1907, p. 1. Accessed 5-2-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/stevens-point-gazette-jun-12-1907-p-6/

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1897. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1897, 274 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=Z1YpAAAAYAAJ