Mid-Mississippi Valley Tornado Outbreak of March 1890

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Memorial to the 1890 tornado, on Main Street in downtown Louisville; images of the destruction, furnished by The Filson Historical Society, ring the structure at pedestrian level

The Mid-Mississippi Valley Tornado Outbreak was a major tornado outbreak occurring in the middle United States on March 27, 1890. To this day, this outbreak is still the 25th most deadly storm in U.S. history. At least 24 significant tornadoes were recorded to have spawned from this system.

The most notable of the spawned tornadoes was one measuring F4 on the Fujita scale, which visited Louisville, Kentucky. The tornado carved a path from the Parkland neighborhood all the way to Crescent Hill, destroying 766 buildings ($2 1/2 million worth of property) and killing an estimated 74 to 120 people. At least 55 of those deaths occurred when the Falls City Hall collapsed. This is one of the highest death tolls due to a single building collapse from a tornado in U.S. history.

The day after the destruction, the Louisville Courier-Journal labeled the tornado "the whirling tiger of the air".

Due to the fast pace of reconstruction, there was almost no sign of this tornado having occurred just one year later.

[edit] References

Yater, George H. (1987). Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio: A History of Louisville and Jefferson County, 2nd edition, Filson Club, Incorporated.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Whirling Tigers of the Air: A Century of Louisville Tornadoes — Historical tornado damage images and narrative from the University of Louisville Photographic Archives
"The Great Cyclone of 1890: Tragedy Struck Louisville" — Article by Civil War historian/author Bryan S. Bush

v • d • e 25 deadliest US tornadoes
Rank	Name (location)	Date	Deaths
1	"Tri-State"	March 18, 1925	695
2	Natchez, MS	May 6, 1840	317
3	St. Louis and East St. Louis	May 27, 1896	255
4	Tupelo, MS	April 5, 1936	216
5	Gainesville, GA	April 5, 1936	203
6	Woodward, OK	April 9, 1947	181
7	Amite, LA and Purvis, MS	April 24, 1908	143
8	New Richmond, WI	June 12, 1899	117
9	Flint, MI	June 8, 1953	116
10 - - -	Waco, TX Goliad, TX	May 11, 1953 May 18, 1902	114 114
12	Omaha, NE	March 23, 1913	103
13	Mattoon, IL	May 26, 1917	101
14	Shinnston, WV	June 23, 1944	100
15	Marshfield, MO	April 18, 1880	99
16 - - -	Gainesville and Holland, GA Poplar Bluff, MO	June 1, 1903 May 9, 1927	98 98
18	Snyder, OK	May 10, 1905	97
19	Natchez, MS	April 24, 1908	91
20	Worcester, MA	June 9, 1953	90
21	Starkville, MS and Waco, AL	April 20, 1920	88
22	Lorain and Sandusky, OH	June 28, 1924	85
23	Udall, KS	May 25, 1955	80
24	St. Louis, MO	September 29, 1927	79
25	Louisville, KY	March 27, 1890	76
Source: Storm Prediction Center