May 21-23, 2019 Severe Thunderstorms - Weather.gov
Severe Storm Tornado
www.weather.govDirect answer: The latest widely cited summaries about the St. Louis tornado outbreak of February 1959 are consistent with historical accounts that the event occurred on February 9–10, 1959, with a violent F4 tornado impacting St. Louis, causing significant damage, 21 deaths, and hundreds of injuries.
Notes and quick context:
- The outbreak involved multiple tornadoes across the Midwest and Southeast, but the St. Louis core impact was during the overnight hours, with downtown and North Riverfront areas hardest hit. This aligns with standard historical references that list 21 fatalities in St. Louis and roughly 345 injuries for that city.[1][3]
- The financial damage estimates widely cited for the St. Louis portion hover around $25 million in the 1959 dollars (roughly several hundred million in today’s dollars when adjusted for inflation), though some sources reference different totals depending on the inclusions and methods used for inflation calculations.[3][1]
- Forecasters at the Weather Bureau (now NWS) reportedly did not issue a formal tornado warning because radar capabilities at the time were limited, and the event occurred before many modern warning practices were in place. This is a common point in historical summaries of the outbreak.[1][3]
- Contemporary coverage and retrospective videos (e.g., local station retrospectives) corroborate that the storm tracked roughly from St. Louis County through downtown and across the Mississippi River, lasting on the ground for tens of miles and over an hour in some depictions.[9][3]
Citations:
- Core event details and fatalities for St. Louis in February 1959:.[3]
- Contemporary/retrospective coverage and related facts:,.[9][1]
- Additional context on outbreak scope and impacts:,.[5][1]
If you’d like, I can pull a concise timeline (time of touchdown, path, and peak intensity) or provide a map-style description of the impacted neighborhoods. I can also summarize notable memorials or archival footage references.