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Tornado outbreak of September 29, 1927

Damage from an F3 tornado along Enright Avenue in St. Louis
Duration	September 29, 1927
Tornadoes confirmed	15 confirmed
Max. rating	F3 tornado
Fatalities	≥ 82 fatalities, ≥ 620 injuries
Damage	≥ $22,000,000 (1927 USD) ≥ $386 million (2024 USD)
Areas affected	Midwestern and Southern United States
Part of the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1927 Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

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.

Confirmed tornadoes

September 29 event

St. Louis, Missouri–East St. Louis, Illinois

St. Louis, Missouri–East St. Louis, Illinois

F3 tornado
Damage on McPherson Avenue in St. Louis
Formed	September 29, 1927 12:50 p.m. CST (UTC−06:00) St. Louis County, Missouri
Max. rating	F3 tornado
Fatalities	72–79+ fatalities; 550+ injured
Damage	$22 million (1927 USD) $386 million (2024 USD)
Areas affected	Greater St. Louis
Most 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.

See also

• List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
  • List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• List of tornadoes striking downtown areas of large cities
• 1871 St. Louis tornado
• 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado
• St. Louis tornado outbreak of February 1959
• St. Louis tornado history

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.
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. While the Fujita scale has been superseded by the Enhanced Fujita scale in the U.S. since February 1, 2007, Canada used the old scale until April 1, 2013; nations elsewhere, like the United Kingdom, apply other classifications such as the TORRO scale.
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. Most countries only recorded tornadoes that produced severe damage or loss of life. 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.
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.

References

1. Hayes, Montrose W. (September 1927). <405:TSLTOS>2.0.CO;2 "The St. Louis Tornado of September 29, 1927". Monthly Weather Review. 55 (9). National Weather Service: 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

• Brooks, Harold E. (April 2004). "On the Relationship of Tornado Path Length and Width to Intensity". Weather and Forecasting. 19 (2). Boston: American Meteorological Society: 310–19. Bibcode:2004WtFor..19..310B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019<0310:OTROTP>2.0.CO;2.
• Brooks, Harold E.; Doswell III, Charles A. (February 2001). "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890–1999". Weather and Forecasting. 16 (1). American Meteorological Society: 168–76. Bibcode:2001WtFor..16..168B. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2.
• Cook, A. R.; Schaefer, J. T. (August 2008). Written at Norman, Oklahoma. "The Relation of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to Winter Tornado Outbreaks". Monthly Weather Review. 136 (8). Boston: American Meteorological Society: 3135. Bibcode:2008MWRv..136.3121C. doi:10.1175/2007MWR2171.1.
• Grazulis, Thomas P. (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-03-1.
• Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001a). The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0.
• Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001b). F5-F6 Tornadoes. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films.
• U.S. Weather Bureau (September 1927). "Severe local storms, September 1927". Monthly Weather Review. 55 (9). Boston: American Meteorological Society: 424. Bibcode:1927MWRv...55..424.. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1927)55<424:SLSS>2.0.CO;2.
• Reeder, George (September 1927). Written at Columbia, Missouri. "Special Storm Notes". Special Weather Summary. Climatological Data. Missouri. 31 (9). Asheville, North Carolina: National Climatic Data Center: 40.

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