May 1957 Central Plains tornado outbreak sequence
The May 1957 Central Plains tornado outbreak sequence was a tornado outbreak sequence that took place across the US Central Plains from May 19 to May 21, 1957.[nb 1][nb 2] The most destructive tornado of the outbreak was rated at F5, the highest level, and is often called the Ruskin Heights tornado. The worst of the damage occurred in Ruskin Heights, a suburb and housing development south of Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 57 tornadoes were reported from Colorado to the Mississippi Valley and 59 people were killed during the outbreak, including 44 in the Ruskin Heights tornado.
| State | Total | County | County total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 7 | Franklin | 3 |
| Miami | 4 | ||
| Missouri | 52 | Carter | 7 |
| Jackson | 37 | ||
| St. Francois | 8 | ||
| Totals | 59 | ||
| All deaths were tornado-related | |||
 Map of tornadoes on May 21, 1957. | |
| Type | Tornado outbreak |
|---|---|
| Duration | May 19–21, 1957 |
| Tornadoes confirmed | 57 confirmed |
| Max. rating1 | F5 tornado |
| Duration of tornado outbreak2 | ~54 hours |
| Damage | Not available |
| Casualties | 59 fatalities; 341 injuries |
| Areas affected | Great Plains, Midwestern United States |
Part of the tornado outbreaks of 1957 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado | |
Tornado table
| FU | F0 | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | F5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 57 |
The F5 Ruskin Heights tornado near Spring Hill, Kansas.
Confirmed tornadoes
May 19 event
| List of confirmed tornadoes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | ESE of West Park | Fresno | CA | 1622 | 0.1 mile | |
| F1 | NW of Bayard | Scotts Bluff | NE | 0130 | 1.7 miles (2.7 km) |
A home was pushed off of its foundation and had its roof torn off. Outbuildings were destroyed as well.[2] |
| F2 | N of Northport | Scotts Bluff | NE | 0330 | 5.1 miles (8.2 km) |
Low-end F2 tornado destroyed two outbuildings and partially unroofed a farmhouse. The tornado was not listed as significant by Grazulis.[2] |
| F1 | W of Gurley | Cheyenne | NE | 0400 | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
|
| Source: Tornado History Project - May 19, 1957 Storm Data | ||||||
May 20 event
| List of confirmed tornadoes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | ||||||
| F0 | SW of Burlington to NW of St. Francis, KS | Kit Carson, Sherman (KS), Cheyenne (KS), Rawlins (KS) | 1700 | 70.1 miles (112.2 km) |
||
| Kansas | ||||||
| F0 | Phillipsburg area | Phillips | 1755 | 1 miles (1.6 km) |
||
| F0 | N of Downs | Osborne | 1915 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F0 | SW of Hunter | Mitchell | 1925 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F1 | N of Burr Oak | Jewell | 2005 | 5.7 miles (9.1 km) |
||
| F4 | E of Glasco to N of Morrowville | Cloud, Republic, Washington | 2050 | 44.6 miles (71.4 km) |
Wedge tornado produced "near-F5" damage on several farms and was observed with multiple satellite tornadoes. Several different tornadoes may have produced the damage, perhaps a tornado family.[2] | |
| F2 | NW of Aurora | Cloud | 2050 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
Satellite tornado to the Glasco tornado. A barn was leveled.[2] | |
| F2 | W of Huscher (1st tornado) | Cloud | 2050 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
Satellite tornado to the Glasco tornado. One barn was destroyed.[2] | |
| F2 | W of Huscher (2nd tornado) | Cloud | 2050 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F3 | NE of Rice | Cloud | 2050 | 6.1 miles (9.8 km) |
Tornado destroyed one barn east of Hollis. May have been only F2 in intensity. Was a satellite tornado to the Glasco tornado.[2] | |
| F0 | S of Hartford | Lyon | 2345 | 0.5 miles (0.8 km) |
||
| F0 | NW of Madison | Greenwood | 0015 | 1 miles (1.6 km) |
||
| F5 | SW of Williamsburg to E of Raytown, MO | Franklin, Miami, Johnson, Jackson (MO) | 0015 | 69.4 miles (111 km) |
44 deaths – See section on this tornado – 207 people were injured. | |
| F3 | Homewood area | Franklin | 0137 | 5.6 miles (9 km) |
||
| Nebraska | ||||||
| F0 | N of Red Cloud | Webster | 2015 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F1 | NE of Broken Bow | Custer | 2017 | 2.7 miles (4.3 km) |
||
| F0 | E of Guide Rock | Nuckolls | 2020 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F1 | SW of Anselmo | Custer | 2100 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F2 | W of Reynolds to E of Palmyra | Thayer, Jefferson, Saline, Lancaster | 2200 | 75.3 miles (120.5 km) |
Homes had their roofs torn off near Alexandria and multiple outbuildings were destroyed. Over 500 turkeys were killed on one farm.[2] | |
| F2 | Doniphan to NE of Phillips | Hall, Hamilton | 2300 | 18.2 miles (29.1 km) |
Three farms were damaged by the tornado. | |
| F2 | NE of Friend to N of Emerald | Saline, Gage, Lancaster | 2320 | 23.9 miles (38.2 km) |
Barns were destroyed on two farms.[2] | |
| South Dakota | ||||||
| F1 | N of Rockerville | Pennington | 2100 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| Missouri | ||||||
| F2 | W of Weatherby | DeKalb | 2300 | 9.8 miles (15.7 km) |
Barns and outbuildings were destroyed. | |
| F2 | SW of Richmond | Jackson, Ray | 0137 | 12.8 miles (20.5 km) |
||
| Oklahoma | ||||||
| F0 | N of Pawnee | Pawnee | 2300 | 0.5 miles (0.8 km) |
||
| F2 | NE of Hominy | Osage | 2345 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F2 | NW of Prague | Lincoln | 0000 | unknown | Tornado damaged eight farms near Prague. | |
| F0 | NW of Kiefer | Creek | 0100 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F0 | E of Hogshooter | Nowata | 0100 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F1 | Broken Arrow area (SE Tulsa) | Tulsa | 0130 | 3.6 miles (5.8 km) |
Tornado moved through the town causing roof damage to at least 200 homes, one of which lost its roof entirely.[2] | |
| F0 | SW of Beggs | Okmulgee | 0204 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F1 | W of Chelsea | Rogers | 0430 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
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| F1 | NW of Centralia | Craig | 0500 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
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| F1 | NE of Vinita | Craig | 0500 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| F3 | NW of Garland to NE of Sallisaw | Mayes, Delaware | 0510 | 20.4 miles (32.6 km) |
Barns were destroyed by the tornado. 40 buildings were damaged in and around Spavinaw. One home was destroyed near Lone Chapel as well.[2] | |
| Source: Tornado History Project - May 20, 1957 Storm Data | ||||||
May 21 event
| List of confirmed tornadoes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | ||||||
| F1 | NE of Staples | Todd, Cass | 1800 | 3.8 miles (6.1 km) |
A barn and a garage were destroyed. Pine trees were snapped as well.[2] | |
| F4 | E of Rush City | Chisago | 1900 | 9.2 miles (14.7 km) |
Eight barns and four homes were destroyed. One home was completely swept away with near-F5-level damage.[2] | |
| Missouri | ||||||
| F3 | E of Doss | Dent | 2100 | 10.2 miles (16.3 km) |
Three homes were destroyed, one of which was leveled. Two other homes were damaged.[2] | |
| F2 | S of Squires | Taney, Douglas | 2115 | 14.5 miles (23.2 km) |
Homes and one school was destroyed. The teacher and 11 students survived by driving to a farmhouse with a basement.[2] | |
| F1 | NE of Mill Spring | Wayne | 2130 | 13 miles (20.8 km) |
Homes had their roofs torn off and buildings were damaged on four farms.[2] | |
| F1 | S of Centerville | Reynolds | 2145 | 0.2 miles (0.32 km) |
||
| F3 | SW of Sunlight to Desloge | Washington, St. Francois | 2145 | 22.2 miles (35.5 km) |
8 deaths Multiple homes and 24 barns were destroyed. 20% of the town of Belgrade was destroyed.[2] | |
| F4 | Fremont area | Carter | 2153 | 9.1 miles (14.6 km) |
7 deaths - Fremont was devastated, with homes, businesses, and schools destroyed on the east side of town. Damage also occurred on the south side of Van Buren. May have been an F5.[2] | |
| F2 | N of Burfordville | Cape Girardeau | 2300 | 5.1 miles (8.2 km) |
Several farms were damaged by the tornado. Barns were destroyed and a house had its roof torn off.[2] | |
| F2 | E of Lewistown | Lewis | 2330 | 7.4 miles (11.8 km) |
Struck the northwest side of Monticello. Four homes were destroyed and a three-story apartment building was badly damaged.[2] | |
| F1 | E of Cardwell to N of Deering | Dunklin, Pemiscot | 0545 | 23.7 miles (37.9 km) |
Tornado caused roof and barn damage. | |
| F2 | W of Kennett | Dunklin | 0545 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
||
| Illinois | ||||||
| F2 | S of Columbia to SE of Shiloh | Monroe, St. Clair | 2150 | 19.7 miles (31.5 km) |
||
| F2 | SE of Claremont | Richland | 2300 | 3.6 miles (5.8 km) |
Four farms were struck by the tornado.[2] | |
| F3 | S of Makanda | Union, Jackson | 0007 | 8.5 miles (13.6 km) |
25 structures and over 5,000 fruit trees were destroyed.[2] | |
| F3 | N of Good Hope | McDonough | 0140 | 13.7 miles (21.9 km) |
Two homes were destroyed on the southeast edge of Colmar. | |
| Iowa | ||||||
| F2 | W of Stockton | Cedar, Muscatine, Scott | 2300 | 8.9 miles (14.2 km) |
Several barns and a grain elevator were destroyed. | |
| Indiana | ||||||
| F2 | SW of Pelzer | Warrick | 0203 | 0.1 miles (0.16 km) |
A home was spun 150 feet (50 yd) off its foundation. The roof was carried 500 feet (170 yd). Two people were injured.[2] | |
| Kentucky | ||||||
| F2 | W of English | Carroll | 0700 | 0.8 miles (1.3 km) |
||
| Source: Tornado History Project - May 21, 1957 Storm Data | ||||||
Williamsburg−Spring Hill, Kansas/Ruskin Heights–Raytown, Missouri
| F5 tornado | |
|---|---|
 The F5 Ruskin Heights tornado in formative stage in Kansas. | |
| Max. rating1 | F5 tornado |
| Casualties | 44 fatalities, 207 injuries |
| 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale | |
This violent, long-tracked F5 tornado began near Williamsburg, and moved NE through several counties. Major damage occurred in rural areas near Ottawa and Spring Hill, where homes were completely leveled and several fatalities occurred. The tornado continued into the southern suburbs of Kansas City, tearing through Martin City, Raytown, Hickman Mills, and Ruskin Heights. Entire blocks of homes were completely leveled, many of which were swept cleanly away with debris wind-rowed long distances through nearby fields. Some homes had their anchor-bolted subflooring ripped away, leaving only basements behind. Many businesses including a grocery store, a shopping center, and restaurants were completely destroyed. A few of the businesses at the shopping center sustained F5 damage. Vehicles were thrown through the air and destroyed, and the steel-reinforced Ruskin Heights High School was badly damaged. A canceled check from Hickman Mills was found 165 miles away in Ottumwa, Iowa.[2][3]
References
- Schneider, Russell S.; Harold E. Brooks; Joseph T. Schaefer. "Tornado Outbreak Day Sequences: Historic Events and Climatology (1875-2003)" (PDF). Norman, Oklahoma: Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- Grazulis, Thomas P (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-03-1.
- "55th Anniversary of the Ruskin Heights-Hickman Mills Tornado". Crh.noaa.gov. Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
Bibliography
- Caught in the Path, (ISBN 0-9655774-0-6) by Carolyn Glenn Brewer.
Notes
- 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) modern records that began in 1950, is defined as, at most, two (one) consecutive days without at least one significant (F2 or stronger) tornado.[1]
- All damage totals are in 1957 United States dollars unless otherwise noted.
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