198
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
48
Direct injuries
$1.7M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Benton County, Missouri: 198 recorded events between 1964 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 80. That places the county #1,056 nationally and #33 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Benton County, Missouri: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Benton County is the 2000s, when 53 of the county's 198 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Benton County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 35.4% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,056 for this hazard and #33 within Missouri, putting it in the 66.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Benton County with 56 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 2004 | COUNTYWIDE | 70 | 1 | 48 | $350K |
| Jun 13, 2004 | WARSAW | 70 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 2026 | WARSAW | 52 | $30K |
| Apr 17, 2026 | LINCOLN | 54 | $0 |
| Apr 17, 2026 | EDMONSON | 50 | $80K |
| Apr 17, 2026 | LAKEVIEW HGT | 52 | $0 |
| Apr 17, 2026 | LINCOLN | 61 | $25K |
| Apr 17, 2026 | WHITAKERVILLE | 52 | $0 |
| Apr 17, 2026 | WARSAW | 52 | $0 |
| Apr 17, 2026 | WARSAW | 52 | $10K |
| Apr 17, 2026 | WARSAW | 50 | $10K |
| Apr 17, 2026 | WARSAW | 52 | $80K |
Other hazards here
More from Benton County
- Hail 181
- Flash Flood 95
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A derecho swept across much of west central and central Missouri during the early morning hours of July 5th. Severe winds from this line of thunderstorms affected a campground near Truman Lake where 48 people were injured. One fatality occurred as a 47 year old man drove his boat over the lake while the storm swept through. Thirty five homes and businesses were damaged.
Two men were fishing on Truman Lake near Warsaw while a squall line rapidly pushed across the lake and swamped their boat. Vance Wiles age 40, drowned as he tried to swim to shore without a life jacket. The other passenger Mark Johnson age 37, was wearing a life jacket and survived the accident.
Numerous limbs were reported down along with several one to two foot diameter trees. Several power poles were reported leaning or broken with siding off a few homes. Winds were estimated at 60 to 70 mph lasting about 25 minutes.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Benton County, Missouri?
198 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Benton County between 1964 and 2026, causing 2 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Benton County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Benton County measured 80.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Benton County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Benton County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/benton-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.