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Lawrence County, Missouri severe weather history spans 749 recorded events between 1956 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 36.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #348 nationally and #17 in Missouri.
749
Recorded events
12
Direct deaths
54
Direct injuries
$177.6M
Property damage
The record
What the Lawrence County, Missouri severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Lawrence County, Missouri severe weather history averages 10.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 211 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 82 events fall before 1990 and 667 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Lawrence County, Missouri record is tornado, responsible for 9 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $125.1M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Lawrence County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 276 | 0 | $125.1M | 5.25 | 1956–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 259 | 0 | $6.5M | 83 | 1961–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 112 | 2 | $6.2M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Flood | 47 | 1 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2025 |
| Tornado | 30 | 9 | $39.9M | F3 | 1960–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 21 | 0 | $0 | 425 | 2004–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2014 |
| Drought | 1 | 0 | $0 | — | 2026–2026 |
Decade by decade
Lawrence County, Missouri severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
31 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 24 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-05-04 | EF3 | 7 | 48 | 49.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2006-03-12 | EF3 | 1 | 8 | 42.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-03-26 | EF3 | 1 | 3 | 29.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 2002-12-17 | EF2 | 2 | 17 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-05-22 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 14.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1979-10-30 | EF2 | 0 | 9 | 24.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2018-12-01 | EF1 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-04-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-04-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 10.8 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Lawrence County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2003 | Tornado | PIERCE CITY | 5 | 33 | $27.5M |
| Dec 18, 2002 | Tornado | MT VERNON | 2 | 17 | $500K |
| Mar 13, 2006 | Tornado | VERONA | 1 | 1 | $5.0M |
| Dec 1, 2018 | Tornado | AURORA | 1 | 0 | $250K |
| Dec 27, 2015 | Flash Flood | VERONA | 1 | 0 | $1.5M |
| May 31, 2013 | Flood | MT VERNON ARPT | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 18, 2008 | Flash Flood | RED OAK | 1 | 0 | $100K |
| Mar 26, 1976 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A supercell thunderstorm that produced a tornado in Newton County, spawned a large tornado in Lawrence County approximately one mile north of Verona. The tornado damaged 46 structures and destroyed 21. One fatality occurred from flying debris striking an elderly man in his frame home north of Marionville. This tornado basically followed a similar path that another F-3 tornado tracked along during the 4 May 2003 tornado outbreak.
A 37 year old male was swept off of Farm Road 1130 due to flash flooding. The flooding occurred along a small tributary of Browning Hollow which is a tributary of the Spring River. Nearly all low water crossings across the county were flooded. There was several rural and county roads which sustained damage from flooding. This storm report will contain the damage estimates for the entire county for this event.
An EF-1 tornado developed just west of the water tower and tracked northeast to the Aurora Motel, where one fatality occurred. The tornado then tracked northward across Highway 60 and impacted Sutherlands before dissipating. Path length was near one half mile. Peak wind was estimated at 105 mph.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
38,593
Population (ACS)
$175K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 9, 2025 | 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 |
| Jun 2, 2017 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jan 21, 2016 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jan 2, 2016 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | EM |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Mt Vernon 140
- Stotts City 139
- Aurora 117
- Pierce City 109
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Lawrence County, Missouri?
749 events are on record between 1956 and 2026, causing 12 direct deaths and $177.6M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Lawrence County?
Hail, with 276 recorded events — 36.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Lawrence County?
31 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 24 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Lawrence County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Lawrence County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Lawrence County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Lawrence County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 66 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Lawrence 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
- Lafayette County 392
- Lewis County 279
- Laclede County 687
- Lincoln County 390
- Knox County 166
- Linn County 252
Cite this page
“Lawrence County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/lawrence-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.