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St. Louis County, Missouri severe weather history spans 1,454 recorded events between 1950 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 45.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #42 nationally and #3 in Missouri.
1,454
Recorded events
29
Direct deaths
436
Direct injuries
$1.5B
Property damage
The record
What the St. Louis County, Missouri severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, St. Louis County, Missouri severe weather history averages 19.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 437 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 249 events fall before 1990 and 1,205 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. Louis County, Missouri record is tornado, responsible for 15 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $858.5M 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. Louis County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 660 | 0 | $858.5M | 4.5 | 1957–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 632 | 3 | $2.1M | 104 | 1956–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 68 | 7 | $50.9M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 57 | 15 | $331.7M | F4 | 1950–2026 |
| Lightning | 16 | 4 | $395K | 0 | 1996–2021 |
| Flood | 13 | 0 | $235.3M | 0 | 2001–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 8 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2001–2025 |
Decade by decade
St. Louis County, Missouri severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
56 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 49 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959-02-10 | EF4 | 21 | 345 | 23.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1956-02-24 | EF4 | 6 | 36 | 77.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-01-24 | EF4 | 3 | 216 | 25.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-22 | EF4 | 0 | 5 | 21.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-12-10 | EF3 | 1 | 2 | 27.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2010-12-31 | EF3 | 1 | 6 | 6.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 2013-05-31 | EF3 | 0 | 8 | 31.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 2013-05-31 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 10.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-04-07 | EF3 | 0 | 15 | 7.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1967-10-24 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 21.8 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in St. Louis County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 1959 | Tornado | 10 | 170 | $25.0M | |
| Jan 25, 1967 | Tornado | 3 | 216 | $25.0M | |
| Sep 14, 2008 | Flash Flood | CLAYTON | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| Nov 5, 2024 | Flash Flood | BRENTWOOD | 2 | 0 | $200K |
| Dec 31, 2010 | Tornado | ST LOUIS WEISS ARPT | 1 | 6 | $1.0M |
| May 16, 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | GRAVOIS | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 1, 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | SOUTH BELLEFONTAINE | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 26, 2022 | Flash Flood | (SUS)SPIRIT/ST LOUIS | 1 | 0 | $50.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The remnants of Hurricane Ike moved through the midwest dumping between 3 and 6 inches of rain in just under 6 hours on already saturated soils. This caused widespread flash flooding over St. Louis County. One of the hardest hit areas was University City. Two people drowned in University City when trying to move their vehicles away from the rising flood waters. Another person was killed when a large tree limb that was struck by lightning fell on her in Ladue. Other areas affected by the flash flooding were Hazelwood, Ferguson, Brentwood, Maplewood, Rock Hill, Webster Groves, and Florissant. Over 600 homes, apartments and business were affected by the flooding. Numerous water rescues had to be performed when people drove their vehicles into flooded roadways and became stuck in the flood waters.
Heavy rain caused numerous road closures with vehicles stranded in St. Louis County. Multiple water rescues were reported from cars driving through flooded roadways. At Bayless and I-55, flash flooding from heavy rain and overflow from Gravois Creek resulted in two fatalities.
Up to 10 inches of rain fell in a period of 8 hours causing catastrophic flooding in portions of St. Louis County. Numerous roads were flooded. There were multiple swift water rescues and scores of flooded interstates and homes across the St. Louis metropolitan area. One fatality was reported in Hazelwood where a 39 year old man drowned attempting to flee his flooded truck. His body was found about half a mile down stream from the semi truck. St. Louis-Lambert International Airport also observed a new all-time record for daily precipitation: 8.64 of rain fell since midnight Central Standard Time (Daylight Savings Time is not used for climatological record-keeping). This value broke the previous record of 6.85, which occurred on August 20th, 1915 due to the remnants of the Galveston 1915 Hurricane. The storm-total rainfall was 9.07, but spans two days. Several hundred homes and businesses sustained minor to major flood damage. A large number of unoccupied vehicles were damaged/destroyed due to the flooding as well. Dollar amount damage so far is estimated around $50 million.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively High
FEMA NRI risk rating
995,569
Population (ACS)
$277K
Median home value
34
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 9, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| May 21, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND WILDFIRES | DR |
| Aug 8, 2022 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in St. Louis County, Missouri?
1,454 events are on record between 1950 and 2026, causing 29 direct deaths and $1.5B in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in St. Louis County?
Hail, with 660 recorded events — 45.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed St. Louis County?
56 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 49 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover St. Louis County?
34 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include St. Louis County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is St. Louis County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates St. Louis County as relatively high risk, placing it in the 99 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the St. Louis 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
- St. Francois County 378
- Ste. Genevieve County 202
- St. Clair County 412
- St. Charles County 816
- Saline County 353
- Ripley County 309
Cite this page
“St. Louis County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/st-louis-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.