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St. Charles County, Missouri severe weather history spans 816 recorded events between 1954 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 45.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #276 nationally and #14 in Missouri.
816
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
111
Direct injuries
$337.1M
Property damage
The record
What the St. Charles County, Missouri severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, St. Charles County, Missouri severe weather history averages 11.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 253 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 97 events fall before 1990 and 719 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the St. Charles County, Missouri record is flood, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $224.1M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in St. Charles County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 367 | 1 | $2.7M | 100 | 1958–2026 |
| Hail | 344 | 0 | $224.1M | 4 | 1959–2026 |
| Tornado | 43 | 1 | $94.3M | F3 | 1954–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 40 | 0 | $11.5M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Flood | 11 | 2 | $4.0M | 0 | 2007–2019 |
| Lightning | 6 | 0 | $502K | 0 | 1996–2014 |
| Heavy Rain | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2001–2005 |
Decade by decade
St. Charles County, Missouri severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
49 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 38 touched down inside it and 11 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967-01-24 | EF4 | 3 | 216 | 25.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2021-12-10 | EF3 | 1 | 2 | 27.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2013-05-31 | EF3 | 0 | 8 | 31.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2013-05-31 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 10.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1988-11-15 | EF3 | 0 | 10 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-04-07 | EF3 | 0 | 15 | 7.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-10-24 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 21.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1966-10-14 | EF3 | 0 | 26 | 2.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-03-25 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 21.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-03-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in St. Charles County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2019 | Flood | ORCHARD FARM | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Dec 11, 2021 | Tornado | FEMME OSAGE | 1 | 2 | $3.4M |
| Jul 10, 1986 | Thunderstorm Wind | 1 | 2 | $0 | |
| Nov 27, 1990 | Tornado | 0 | 30 | $25.0M | |
| Oct 15, 1966 | Tornado | 0 | 26 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 19, 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | ST PETERS | 0 | 10 | $100K |
| Nov 16, 1988 | Tornado | 0 | 10 | $2.5M | |
| Jun 1, 2013 | Tornado | DEFIANCE | 0 | 8 | $50.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The Mississippi River went into Major flood at Grafton, IL on May 3rd and remained at those levels through May 16th. During this period, numerous roads were flooded. Two people were in a vehicle that drove into the flood waters somewhere near the intersection of Sioux Drive and Hideaway Harbor Drive. They drowned in this location. The car and bodies of a 20 year old man and a 19 year old woman were not recovered til the 24th of May once the water receded a bit.
The tornado developed about a third of a mile northeast of the intersection of Highway 94 and Osage Ridge Road in southwestern St. Charles County around 7:32 PM CDT. As it moved to the northeast, two houses sustained minor damage and one outbuilding was destroyed on Highway T, just north of intersection with Hemsath Road. The tornado continued northeast and strengthened as it approached Highway F, northwest of Defiance. Multiple homesteads and farms suffered varying degrees of property damage along Highway F to Highway 94. Two homes were completely destroyed. The first home was 110 years old and did not appear to have any anchoring to the concrete foundation. The second home just 100 yards east of the first was swept clean to the subfloor, which was still anchored to the concrete foundation. One fatality and two injuries occurred at this location. The damage was rated EF3 with winds to 165 mph. The tornado continued northeast, crossing the Missouri River and Howell Island before entering St. Louis County in Chesterfield Valley. Dollar amount damage is estimated around $3.4 million.
A wide swath of very large hail fell along the I-70 corridor in St. Charles County. The largest hail stones were around three inches in diameter. The cities that the large hail affected were Wentzville, Saint Paul, O'Fallon, Lake St. Louis, Flint Hill, Saint Peters, Cottleville, and Saint Charles. Numerous vehicles sustained hail damage including thousands of individual cars and at 12 car dealerships. One dealership alone had 450 cars damaged from the large hail. Also, hundreds of homes and businesses sustained roof and siding damage. One school sustained damage to skylights.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
414,535
Population (ACS)
$321K
Median home value
28
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 8, 2022 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS 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 |
| 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in St. Charles County, Missouri?
816 events are on record between 1954 and 2026, causing 4 direct deaths and $337.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in St. Charles County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 367 recorded events — 45.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed St. Charles County?
49 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 38 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover St. Charles County?
28 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include St. Charles County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is St. Charles County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates St. Charles County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 93 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the St. Charles 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
- Ripley County 309
- St. Clair County 412
- Ste. Genevieve County 202
- Reynolds County 192
- St. Francois County 378
- Ray County 296
Cite this page
“St. Charles County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/st-charles-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.