The tornado outbreak sequence of May 1896 was a series of violent and deadly

tornado outbreak A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same Synoptic scale meteorology, synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least ...

s that struck much of the Central and

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from May 15 to 28, 1896. It is considered one of the worst tornado outbreak sequences on record with tornado expert

Tom Grazulis Thomas P. Grazulis (born August 17, 1942) is an American meteorologist who has written extensively about tornadoes and produced documentaries as head of ''The Tornado Project''. Biography Early career Thomas Grazulis grew up in Worcester, M ...

stating that the week of May 24–28 was "perhaps the most violent single week of tornado activity in United States history". There were four particularly notable

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

outbreaks during the two-week period. It produced three F5 tornadoes as well as the third deadliest tornado ever in

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history. A total of at least 484 people were killed during the entire outbreak sequence by at least 38 different tornadoes which struck

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and

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Confirmed tornadoes

The ratings for these tornadoes were done by tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis and are not official ratings.

May 15 event

May 17 event

May 18 event

May 19 event

May 20 event

May 24 event

May 25 event

May 27 event

May 28 event

Sherman, Texas

On the first day of the outbreak sequence, most of the fatalities came from a single supercell thunderstorm that traveled from Denton to Sherman. The tornado began in the Pilot Point area, where farm homes were shifted off of their foundations. The tornado widened and strengthened into a very violent F5 and swept away numerous farms west of Farmington and Howe. Later along the path, the tornado narrowed to around wide as it tore through Sherman. 50 homes were destroyed in town, 20 of which were obliterated and swept away. An iron-beam bridge was torn from its supports and twisted into pieces, and one of the beams was driven several feet into the ground. Bodies were found up to from their home sites, and a trunk lid was carried for . Headstones at a cemetery were shattered, and a 500-pound stone was carried for 250 yards. Trees in the area were completely debarked with some reduced to stumps, and grass was scoured from lawns in town. At least 200 people were injured, and bodies of the victims were transported into the courthouse and a vacant building. Several bodies were recovered from a muddy creek. 73 people were killed by this single tornado, one of the worst on record in

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and the

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region, in particular the Texoma region. Additional killer tornadoes were recorded north of

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in McPherson County and further south in

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, also in the Texoma region.Tornadoes in the Past

Seneca–Oneida, Kansas/Falls City, Nebraska

A powerful F5 tornado, estimated to have been more than wide, tore through the towns of Seneca, Oneida, Reserve and

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. In Seneca, the tornado destroyed the courthouse and a new schoolhouse, and the opera house was completely leveled and swept away. Damage in Seneca alone was estimated at $250,000 (1896

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) where most of the homes, the fairgrounds and other small structures sustained at least heavy damage, if not complete destruction. The damage path was two miles wide at Reserve, and only three buildings were left undamaged at that location. The tornado damaged 50 homes and destroyed 20 others on the north side of Sabetha. Many farms were entirely swept away along the path as well, some of which were reportedly left "as bare as the prairie". The tornado continued into

, where four people died and damage occurred on the south side of Falls City. At least 200 people were injured.

Ortonville–Thomas–Oakwood, Michigan

Late during the evening hours of May 25, an F5 tornado touched down in

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and moved northeast for about . The tornado affected portions of

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, Lapeer and Livingston Counties northwest of

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. Towns affected included

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, Ortonville, Oakwood, and Whigville just after 9:00 pm. Homes were leveled or swept away, and fatalities occurred along the path. Entire farms were leveled, and debris from homes was found up to away. Trees were completely debarked along the path as well, with even small twigs stripped bare in some cases. Homes were swept away in Thomas, including one that was obliterated with the debris scattered up to 10 miles away. A piano from that residence was found 200 yards away from the foundation, with one end "pounded full of grass". Weather Bureau inspectors reported that grass in the center-most part of the circulation was "pounded down into the earth, as if it had been washed into the earth by a heavy flow of water." At least 100 people were injured. With 47 deaths, this is the second-deadliest tornado ever in

trailing only the Flint Tornado of 1953 which killed 116 in Genesee County just outside

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

. Twenty-two people were killed in Ortonville, ten in Oakwood, three in Thomas, four north of

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and three in Whigville with others in rural areas. Nine of the fatalities were in a single home in Ortonville.The United States' Worst Tornadoes
Other killer tornadoes on that day touched down in

Ogle County, Illinois Ogle County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 51,788. Its county seat is Oregon, and its largest city is Rochelle. Ogle County comprises Rochelle ...

(two different tornadoes) and Macomb & Tuscola Counties in Michigan. Several homes and farms in the Mount Clemens area were wiped out and others were moved from their foundations. The recently completed Colonial Hotel was leveled. Thirty homes were leveled in total, and two people were killed.

St. Louis, Missouri/East St. Louis, Illinois

The third deadliest tornado in United States history struck the Greater St. Louis area in both

and

. This violent tornado killed at least 255 people (though one estimate placed the death toll at greater than 400), injured at least 1,000 more, and caused more than $10 million in damages. At the time, this was the costliest tornado ever recorded in the United States. It was one of at least 18 tornadoes to occur that day At least 137 people died as the tornado traversed the core of the downtown area, leaving a continuous, one-mile-wide (1.6 km) swath of destroyed homes, schools, saloons, factories, mills, churches, parks, and railroad yards in its wake. A few of the destroyed homes were all but completely swept away. Numerous trees were downed at the Lafayette Park, and a barometer recorded a drop to 26.74

inHg Inch of mercury (inHg, ″Hg, or in) is a non- SI unit of measurement for pressure. It is used for barometric pressure in weather reports, refrigeration and aviation in the United States. It is the pressure exerted by a column of mercury in h ...

(906

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) at this location. After devastating the city of St. Louis, the tornado crossed the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

and struck the

Eads Bridge The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, St. Louis, Lacled ...

, where a wooden plank was found driven through a wrought iron plate. Uncounted others may have died on boats on the river, which could have swept their bodies downriver where they could not be recorded in the official death toll. The tornado continued into East St. Louis, Illinois, where its path was narrower, but its strength became even more intense. Homes and buildings along the river were completely swept away and a quarter of the buildings there were damaged or destroyed. An additional 118 people were killed, 35 of whom were at the Vandalia railroad freight yards.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

1896 Killer tornadoes courtesy of the Tornado History Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:1896-05 Tornadoes

Tornadoes A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

19th-century tornadoes Tornadoes, 05 Tornadoes in Texas Tornadoes in Oklahoma Tornadoes in Kansas Tornadoes in Nebraska Tornadoes in Kentucky Tornadoes in Iowa Tornadoes in Illinois Tornadoes in Michigan Tornadoes in Missouri Tornadoes in Pennsylvania Tornadoes in New Jersey Tornadoes in Maryland F5, EF5 and IF5 tornadoes Tornado outbreaks in the United States