Dark clouds and an ominous shelf cloud hung over the St. Louis area on Monday, April 27, as severe storms loomed over Missouri and the National Weather Service warned that tennis-ball-sized hail, several tornadoes and widespread gusts up to 75 mph were possible.
Footage taken by Tommy DiMaggio showed the sky darkening in Fenton, southwest of St. Louis, on Monday afternoon, and he wrote on X, “Should be an interesting evening.” A tornado watch remained in effect for the St. Louis area until 9 pm.
The warning covered more than one hazard at once, a sign that the weather threat was not limited to a quick burst of rain. Hail large enough to cause serious damage, tornadoes and wind strong enough to bring down trees or power lines were all on the table as the system moved through the region.
That combination is what made Monday different for people in and around St. Louis. Fenton sat directly in the path of the darkening sky, and the broader watch kept the region under a threat that could change fast before the 9 pm deadline expired.
The question for the rest of the evening was not whether the weather would look severe. It already did. The question was whether the storms would deliver the hail, wind and tornado risk the National Weather Service said could arrive before the watch ended.
