Tornadoes · United States · Missouri

1958 tornadoes in Missouri

31 tornadoes touched down in Missouri in 1958, 11 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 10.

1957 1959 The whole country in 1958

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Missouri in 1958

April 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 52:40 PM GMT-6F1Perry1.0201$500 to $5,000

April 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2311:10 PM GMT-6F1Saint Louis0.5150$500 to $5,000

May 3 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 32:15 PM GMT-5F1Saint Louis0.320$50 to $500
May 34:20 PM GMT-5F1Saint Charles0.210$50 to $500

May 31 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 311:00 AM GMT-5F1Saint Charles6.8331$5,000 to $50,000
May 3110:00 PM GMT-5F2Vernon6.4367$50,000 to $500,000
May 3112:15 AM GMT-5F2Newton0.520$5,000 to $50,000

June 10 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 105:55 PM GMT-5F0Howard0.210under $50
June 106:00 PM GMT-5F0Saline0.210under $50
June 109:10 PM GMT-5F2Saint Charles0.533$50,000 to $500,000

June 13 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 136:50 PM GMT-5F2Lafayette4.1440$50,000 to $500,000
June 138:00 PM GMT-5F0Saint Charles0.210under $50

June 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 155:30 PM GMT-5F1Mercer0.510$5,000 to $50,000

June 24 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 2410:35 PM GMT-5F1Lafayette0.533$5,000 to $50,000
June 2411:30 PM GMT-5F1Lafayette0.533$5,000 to $50,000

July 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 71:30 AM GMT-5F1Daviess0.210$5,000 to $50,000

July 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 139:45 PM GMT-5F1Vernon5.233$5,000 to $50,000

July 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 178:30 AM GMT-5F2Ray2.033$50,000 to $500,000

July 27 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 273:07 AM GMT-5F1Atchison0.110$500 to $5,000

July 31 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 315:00 AM GMT-5F1Livingston0.210$500 to $5,000

September 16 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 161:40 PM GMT-5F1Texas0.3100$500 to $5,000
September 162:30 PM GMT-5F1Jasper0.5100$500 to $5,000
September 164:30 PM GMT-5F2Cedar2.350$50,000 to $500,000
September 165:50 PM GMT-5F1City of Saint Louis0.320$50,000 to $500,000

October 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 88:05 PM GMT-5F3Worth23.130027$50,000 to $500,000

November 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 165:50 PM GMT-6F1Nodaway0.2100$500 to $5,000

November 17 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 1711:30 AM GMT-6F3Barton30.24001$50,000 to $500,000
November 171:30 PM GMT-6F1Putnam2.750$5,000 to $50,000
November 171:30 PM GMT-6F2Webster12.8127$5,000 to $50,000
November 171:45 PM GMT-6F2Grundy14.950$50,000 to $500,000
November 172:00 PM GMT-6F2Harrison4.1100$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in MissouriThe live radar over Missouri

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.