1973 San Justo tornado
Plan of the city of San Justo. The striped part shows the area most affected by the tornado. | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 10 January 1973, 2:15 p.m. ART (UTC-03:00) |
| Dissipated | 10 January 1973, 2:25 p.m. ART (UTC-03:00) |
| Duration | 10 minutes |
| F5 tornado | |
| on the Fujita scale | |
| Highest winds | >261 mph (420 km/h) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 63 |
| Injuries | 350 |
| Damage | ~$60,000 (~$420,000 in 2025 USD) |
| Areas affected | San Justo, Santa Fe, Argentina |
Part of the tornadoes of 1973 | |
The 1973 San Justo tornado was an extremely powerful and deadly F5 tornado which struck San Justo, a town in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, on January 10, 1973. At least 63 people were reported dead and 350 were reported injured as it cut a 330-yard-wide (300 m) swath through the town. It was the most violent tornado ever recorded in South America, and also the entire Southern Hemisphere. This tornado was widely considered to have been an F5 on the Fujita Scale, and in 2017, it received its official F5 rating. The tornado had an economic cost of about $60,000 and was the deadliest tornado in Argentina's history. The tornado is also the only F5 tornado to have been reported in Argentina and in South America.