Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, December 18, 1957

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, December 18, 1957
Start: 1957-12-18T12:20
End: 1957-12-18T17:22
Location: Missouri

December 18, 1957 · 11 events in 8 counties and zones

7 tornado, 3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 4
Injuries: 4
Property damage: $3.3 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

7 tornado, 3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Marion

When: December 18, 12:20 PM CST
Where: Marion County
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Coordinates: 39.700, -91.400

Tornado, Lincoln

When: December 18, 12:30 PM CST
Where: Lincoln County
Rating: F1
Path length: 0.3 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 39.000, -91.250

Hail, Jefferson

When: December 18, 1:04 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 38.280, -90.400

Hail, St. Francois

When: December 18, 1:25 PM CST
Where: St. Francois County
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 37.780, -90.400

Tornado, St. Francois

When: December 18, 1:50 PM CST
Where: St. Francois County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2.7 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 37.680, -90.350

Tornado, Perry

When: December 18, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Perry County
Rating: F2
Path length: 0.5 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 37.830, -89.830

Hail,

When: December 18, 3:53 PM CST
Where: County
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Coordinates: 37.880, -89.680

Tornado, Cape Girardeau

When: December 18, 4:45 PM CST
Where: Cape Girardeau County
Rating: F2
Path length: 8 mi
Path width: 700 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 37.400, -89.870

Tornado, Cape Girardeau

When: December 18, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Cape Girardeau County
Rating: F2
Path length: 7.8 mi
Path width: 700 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 37.450, -89.730

Tornado, Perry

When: December 18, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Perry County
Rating: F2
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 10 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 37.680, -89.580

Tornado, Scott

When: December 18, 5:22 PM CST
Where: Scott County
Rating: F2
Path length: 0.5 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Deaths: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 37.180, -89.670

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, St. Francois	1957-12-18				Direct

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, December 18, 195713 deaths · 269 injured · $12 million · F5 · 24 events

Every storm in Missouri in 1957 Every state in 1957 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Missouri, 1957

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10062408, 10062409, 10062410, 10062411, 10060858, 10060859, 10060860, 10060861, 10060862, 10060863, 10060864.