Severe Weather History


County archive · 1950 — present

Ripley County, Missouri

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Ripley County, Missouri severe weather history spans 309 recorded events between 1967 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 34.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,732 nationally and #73 in Missouri.

309

Recorded events

1

Direct deaths

4

Direct injuries

$16.2M

Property damage

The record

What the Ripley County, Missouri severe weather history record shows

Across the archive, Ripley County, Missouri severe weather history averages 5.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 104 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 29 events fall before 1990 and 280 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.

The deadliest hazard in the Ripley County, Missouri record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $6.7M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.

Ripley County, Missouri severe weather history: recorded events per decade since 1950
Ripley County, Missouri severe weather history: recorded events per decade since 1950

By hazard type

Every hazard type recorded in Ripley County

HazardEventsDeathsDamageMaxSpan
Hail1050$16K2.751976–2025
Thunderstorm Wind950$2.7M871967–2024
Flash Flood390$439K01997–2024
Flood380$6.4M01998–2025
Tornado221$6.7MF31967–2025
Heavy Rain70$002003–2015
Funnel Cloud30$002006–2014
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events · dates UTC · preliminary data may revise

Decade by decade

Ripley County, Missouri severe weather history by decade

21960s
111970s
161980s
411990s
1042000s
862010s
492020s

Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.

Tornado tracks

Paths crossing this county

26 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 21 touched down inside it and 5 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.

DateScaleDeathsInjuriesPath lengthOrigin
2025-03-14EF405116.0 miCrossed in
1970-04-30EF3018.2 miTouched down here
2005-11-27EF21012.0 miTouched down here
1982-12-24EF21233.0 miCrossed in
2024-05-26EF20145.5 miCrossed in
2017-03-09EF2009.6 miTouched down here
2014-04-03EF2003.5 miTouched down here
2005-11-05EF2007.4 miCrossed in
1996-04-19EF20010.0 miTouched down here
1982-12-02EF20013.5 miTouched down here
Source: NOAA SPC SVRGIS tornado tracks · path geometry intersected with county boundaries

Significant events

Deadliest events on record in Ripley County

DateTypeLocationDeathsInjuriesDamage
Nov 28, 2005TornadoGATEWOOD10$250K
Mar 15, 2025TornadoPOYNOR01$1.4M
Mar 11, 2010TornadoOWENMONT01$200K
Jul 31, 2002Flash FloodBRIAR01$25K
Jan 18, 1973Tornado01$250K
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events · dates UTC

From the record

What the reports say

Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain

Context

Risk, population and federal disasters

Relatively Low

FEMA NRI risk rating

10,708

Population (ACS)

$120K

Median home value

23

Federal declarations

DeclaredIncidentTitleType
Jun 30, 2026Severe StormSEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODINGDR
May 21, 2025Severe StormSEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODINGDR
May 21, 2025Severe StormSEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND WILDFIRESDR
Jul 23, 2024Severe StormSEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODINGDR
Jul 9, 2020Severe StormSEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODINGDR
Mar 26, 2020BiologicalCOVID-19 PANDEMICDR
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA disaster declarations · most recent first

Within the county

Most affected places

  • Doniphan 230

Quick answers

Frequently asked

How many severe weather events have been recorded in Ripley County, Missouri?

309 events are on record between 1967 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $16.2M in property damage.

What is the most common severe weather hazard in Ripley County?

Hail, with 105 recorded events — 34.0% of everything in the archive for this county.

How many tornadoes have crossed Ripley County?

26 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 21 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.

How many federal disaster declarations cover Ripley County?

23 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Ripley County, each tied to a specific incident period.

How risky is Ripley County compared with the rest of the country?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Ripley County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 57 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.

Where does the Ripley 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

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Cite this page

“Ripley County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/ripley-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.


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