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Caldwell County, Missouri severe weather history spans 219 recorded events between 1955 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 46.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,325 nationally and #104 in Missouri.
219
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$3.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Caldwell County, Missouri severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Caldwell County, Missouri severe weather history averages 3.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 75 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 31 events fall before 1990 and 188 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Caldwell County, Missouri record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $3.1M in reported property damage. In total, 5 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Caldwell County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 102 | 0 | $80K | 4.25 | 1955–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 84 | 0 | $236K | 75 | 1958–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 13 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2021 |
| Tornado | 11 | 1 | $3.1M | F4 | 1955–2021 |
| Flood | 9 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2016–2021 |
Decade by decade
Caldwell County, Missouri severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
12 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 8 touched down inside it and 4 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975-04-23 | EF4 | 1 | 3 | 11.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1955-03-14 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 9.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1973-04-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-10-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 2015-05-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1982-05-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-12-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-03-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 27.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2018-10-09 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2009-06-07 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Caldwell County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 1975 | Tornado | 1 | 3 | $2.5M | |
| Mar 14, 1955 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A storm survey team from the National Weather Service Office in Pleasant Hill, MO reported straight line wind damage in Polo and Braymer. Several sheds were damaged in Polo. On County Road KK along the southeast side of Braymer, a doublewide mobile home was destroyed. Diagonally across the street from the destroyed mobile home, a barn, a chicken house and a grain bin were destroyed on a farmsted. A horse on this property was killed by flying debris.
This tornado developed just east of Interstate 35 in Clinton County, MO. It quickly crossed into Caldwell County, MO where it damaged several trees and a few buildings. The tornado dissipated just east of Goose Creek and State Route D.
This is a continuation of the tornado that formed in Ray County and moved into Caldwell County. A supercell that produced a tornado near Sibley formed a second tornado in northern Ray County, and did some EF-1 damage to some outbuildings before crossing into Caldwell County. The tornado dissipated just north of the county line about a couple miles east of Polo.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
8,927
Population (ACS)
$167K
Median home value
24
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2021 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 26, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jul 9, 2019 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 7, 2015 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 23, 2011 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Caldwell County, Missouri?
219 events are on record between 1955 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $3.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Caldwell County?
Hail, with 102 recorded events — 46.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Caldwell County?
12 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 8 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Caldwell County?
24 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Caldwell County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Caldwell County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Caldwell County as very low risk, placing it in the 14 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Caldwell County, Missouri severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Butler County 518
- Callaway County 485
- Buchanan County 491
- Camden County 636
- Boone County 830
- Cape Girardeau County 624
Cite this page
“Caldwell County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/caldwell-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.