Missouri faces a wide range of natural disasters, from tornadoes and severe thunderstorms to flooding, earthquakes, ice storms, drought, and extreme heat. Between 1980 and 2024, 120 billion-dollar weather disasters affected the state, with severe storms alone accounting for 68% of those events. In 2025, Missouri had five federal major disaster declarations, more than any other state that year.
Tornadoes and Severe Storms
Severe storms are by far Missouri’s most frequent natural disaster. The state averages just over 30 tornadoes per year, with nearly half of them touching down in April and May. That spring peak happens because warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cooler, drier air masses right over the center of the country, and Missouri sits squarely in that collision zone.
Most Missouri tornadoes are relatively weak, but the state has produced some of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history. The 2011 Joplin EF-5 tornado killed at least 158 people, and 2025 was the deadliest year for tornadoes in the state since then, with 16 fatalities. Beyond tornadoes, severe thunderstorms bring damaging straight-line winds, large hail, and dangerous lightning throughout the spring and summer months. Since 1980, severe storms have caused an estimated $20 billion to $50 billion in cumulative damage across Missouri.
Flooding
Missouri is shaped by two of North America’s largest rivers. The Missouri River cuts across the state while the Mississippi River forms its entire eastern border, and dozens of smaller tributaries feed both. That geography makes flooding a persistent threat, both from major river crests and from flash floods after heavy rain.
The Great Flood of 1993 remains the benchmark event. A wet fall and winter in 1992 saturated soils across the Upper Mississippi basin, and then the spring of 1993 became the wettest on record for the region. From May through August, repeated heavy rainfall pushed rivers to levels that had no precedent. At Louisiana, Missouri, about 100 miles above St. Louis, the flood reached a magnitude estimated to occur only once every 500 years. At St. Louis itself, the recurrence interval was roughly 175 years. Since 1980, almost 60% of all record-high river stages at St. Louis have been set, suggesting that major flood events are becoming more common, not less.
Flash flooding is equally dangerous on a smaller scale. Heavy downpours can overwhelm creeks and low-water crossings within minutes, especially in hilly terrain in the Ozarks region. Three flooding deaths were recorded in Missouri in 2025 alone.
Earthquakes and the New Madrid Seismic Zone
Missouri’s southeast corner sits on top of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, one of the most active seismic areas east of the Rocky Mountains. In 1811 and 1812, a sequence of three earthquakes estimated between magnitude 7 and 8 struck the region, powerful enough to ring church bells in cities hundreds of miles away and temporarily reverse the flow of the Mississippi River.
Geologic studies have found that sequences of similar size occurred around 900 AD and 1450 AD, which points to a roughly 500-year cycle. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates a 25 to 40% chance of a magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquake in the zone within the next 50 years, and a 7 to 10% chance of a repeat of the 1811-1812 level event in that same window. Smaller earthquakes in the magnitude 2 to 4 range occur regularly and are occasionally felt by residents in the Bootheel and surrounding areas. A major quake along the New Madrid fault would affect not just Missouri but large portions of Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana.
Ice Storms and Winter Weather
Missouri records more ice storms than any other state in the southern U.S., according to a decade-long analysis of events from 2000 to 2009. A distinct band of ice storm activity stretches from southwest Texas through Oklahoma and into central and southwestern Missouri. The highest concentration of ice storms within the state falls in the far northeast counties, particularly Clark and Scotland Counties, with a secondary hot spot in the southwest near Springfield.
Ice storms coat roads, power lines, and tree branches in layers of ice that can bring down entire sections of the electrical grid. The region averages one catastrophic ice event (causing over $25 million in damage) roughly every two years. Heavy snowfall and bitter cold also affect the state, and winter storms account for about 7.5% of Missouri’s billion-dollar disaster events since 1980.
Drought and Extreme Heat
Drought doesn’t grab headlines the way tornadoes do, but it causes enormous economic damage in Missouri. Since the 1980s, 16 drought disasters exceeding $1 billion each have hit the state, with total costs estimated between $10 billion and $20 billion. Missouri’s economy is heavily agricultural, so when rain doesn’t come, the consequences ripple through cattle operations, row crops, and rural communities.
The state has dealt with drought in three consecutive recent years. In 2022, Missouri recorded its 15th-driest June through September on record. In 2023, the May through November stretch ranked as the 7th driest. And in 2024, the August through October period was the 11th driest since recordkeeping began in 1895. By late October 2024, most of southwestern Missouri was classified as extreme drought.
Extreme heat often accompanies drought. Missouri’s all-time high temperature is 118°F, recorded on July 14, 1954, in both Warsaw and Union. Summer heat waves remain a serious health risk, particularly in urban areas like St. Louis and Kansas City where pavement and buildings trap heat overnight.
Which Areas Face the Greatest Risk
Risk varies significantly depending on where you are in Missouri. The southeast Bootheel region carries the highest earthquake risk due to its proximity to the New Madrid fault. The southwest and northeast corners of the state are most vulnerable to ice storms. River communities along the Missouri and Mississippi face repeated flood threats, while tornado risk is spread broadly but concentrates in the western and central parts of the state during spring.
Southwest Missouri has been hit particularly hard in recent years by overlapping hazards: drought, tornadoes, and ice storms all affect the same region. The Springfield area, for example, sits in both a tornado-prone corridor and an ice storm maximum zone, making year-round preparedness essential for residents there.