With the spring equinox only weeks away, Rockwood Summit students feel the full range of Missouri’s weather. Only two weeks ago on Feb. 16, the greater St. Louis area received (4-7)’ of snow. But this week, on the 27th, there is a high of 80°, with the 28th below freezing again.
Missouris’s bipolar weather dates back hundreds of years. Nov. 11, 1911, is known for the most drastic recorded temperature drop in state history. The high for the 11th was 79° with a low of 18°. The temperature was recorded to be 75° at 6:10 PM, and within only ten minutes it had fallen to 49°. The heat change was so jarring that according to St. Louis University, a man died on the 11th from the heat and a different man died on the 12th from the cold.
To partner with the drastic temperature changes Missouri is experiencing right now, it also hasn’t rained for several weeks. Because of this, the government has issued a fire weather warning. This means that the St. Louis area is in critical fire danger, and they are warning residents that vegetation is easily flammable. While Missouri isn’t known for wildfires like some western states, if you get the wrong mix of heat and dryness, even the most humid state can catch on fire.
In the Spring of 2012, the Midwest was experiencing the worst drought observed in decades, causing Missouri, of all places, to have a Wildfire. Because of the drought, vegetation moisture leaves were at an all-time low creating the perfect scenario for fire to spread from tree canopy to tree canopy, ultimately, burning 10,000 acres.
Feb 27. saw 22 mph winds, but on April 3, 1981, St. Louis withstood 83 mph winds, a historic high. That same day Missouri faced a tornado that injured 32 people and generated 25 million dollars in damages.
Thankfully, Missouri is just narrowly out of Tornado Alley, but that doesn’t stop deadly tornadoes from passing through on occasion. The most destructive tornado in US history is the Tri-State tornado, which passed through three states, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. With 300 mph winds and an F5 on the Fujita Scale, it claimed 700 lives and 15,000 homes. The Tri-State tornado had a 219-mile path of destruction. The 1925 tornado generated 1.4 billion dollars in damages for the three states.
Overall Missouri can have a high of 79° and a low of 18° all in one day. The state can have 83 mph winds and F5 tornadoes, droughts, floods, and fires; but at least we will never have to worry about hurricanes, hopefully.