Start date March 27, 1890 | ||
Similar Enigma tornado outbreak, 1924 Lorain–Sandusky tornado, 1974 Super Outbreak, March 1913 tornado o, 2008 Super Tuesday t | ||
The middle 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 one of the most deadly tornado events in U.S. history. At least 24 significant tornadoes were recorded to have spawned from this system, and at least 146 people were killed by tornadoes that day.
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 ($2½ million worth of property) and killing an estimated 76 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. In addition, it was one of the 25 most deadly tornadoes in U.S. history until May 22, 2011. It was relegated to 26th when the May 22, 2011, tornado in Joplin, Missouri, killed 158.
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.