The 1851 Sicily tornadoes were two

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

es that swept the Marsala countryside in western

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (now

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

) on December 8, 1851. The total number of victims is unknown, but is assessed at over 500. It is one of the 10 deadliest tornadoes ever, achieving the second highest death toll for a tornado event in European history after the Valletta, Malta Tornado. On 20 December 1851, the ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

'' published a report dating back to December 8 submitted by local sources in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, describing the path of two large

waterspout A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water. Some are connected to a cumulus congestus cloud, some to a cumuliform cloud and some to a cumulonimbus cloud. In the ...

s that crossed Sicilian plains from Marsala to Castellamare del Golfo, moving north-eastbound thereafter Along their path, heavy

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

and hailstorms caused additional damage to farmlands. The most stricken area was Castellamare, where half the town was destroyed and about 200 citizens perished. The city harbor sustained serious damage, with many vessels destroyed or capsized and their crews lost at sea.

References

{{10 deadliest tornadoes worldwide

Tornadoes A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alth ...

1851 meteorology 1851 in Europe 1851 natural disasters 1851 in Italy December 1851 events Tornadoes in Europe Tornadoes of 1851

See also

References