Great St. Louis Tornado of 1896 Blew Steamboats Out of the River

Missouri has seen some historic and tragic tornadoes, but few can rival a twister that tore through St. Louis in the Spring of 1896. It was so fierce it even blew steamboats out of the river.

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Love Exploring shared this interesting factoid about what happened in the St. Louis area on May 27, 1896. A tornado with an estimated wind speed of over 260 miles per hour carved a path of devastation through what was then a growing river town.

This lithograph from the Library of Congress shows images showing the damage this huge twister caused.

According to their share, 255 people were killed and at least 1,000 were injured in less than an hour when this massive vortex was on the ground. The most jaw-dropping fact they mentioned was the tornado was spotted "blowing steamboats out of the Mississippi River". Incredible.

Yes, Missouri has had other tragic twisters with the Great Tri-State tornado of 1925 and Joplin in 2011. But none that I can find documentation of can ever claim it blew steamboats out of the Mississippi River like this one. No one that was alive in St. Louis then is alive now, but history tells the story of this infamous Missouri weather moment.