50
Recorded events
37
Direct deaths
195
Direct injuries
$11.6M
Property damage
Tornado in Jackson County, Missouri: 50 recorded events between 1952 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F5. That places the county #372 nationally and #5 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Jackson County, Missouri: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Jackson County is the 2010s, when 12 of the county's 50 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 Jackson County archive, tornado makes up 3.1% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #372 for this hazard and #5 within Missouri, putting it in the 86.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Jackson County with 15 recorded events, while Feb 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.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957-05-20 | EF5 | 69.4 mi | 440 yd | Crossed in |
| 1977-05-04 | EF4 | 12.0 mi | 400 yd | Touched down here |
| 1967-01-24 | EF3 | 14.5 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1964-04-12 | EF3 | 19.5 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 2017-03-06 | EF3 | 17.7 mi | 400 yd | Touched down here |
| 2022-06-08 | EF2 | 9.6 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2015-05-16 | EF2 | 10.0 mi | 250 yd | Touched down here |
| 2014-05-10 | EF2 | 12.6 mi | 500 yd | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-26 | EF2 | 4.9 mi | 500 yd | Touched down here |
| 1965-09-20 | EF2 | 1.5 mi | 30 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 1957 | F5 | 37 | 176 | $2.5M | |
| Mar 7, 2017 | TARSNEY LAKES | EF3 | 0 | 12 | $0 |
| May 26, 1965 | F2 | 0 | 4 | $250K | |
| Sep 20, 1992 | F1 | 0 | 1 | $25K | |
| Jun 15, 1981 | F1 | 0 | 1 | $250K | |
| May 23, 1952 | F2 | 0 | 1 | $250K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 3, 2025 | EAST INDEPENDENCE | EF1 | $0 |
| Jun 3, 2025 | LEEDS | EF0 | $0 |
| May 7, 2024 | LEVASY | EF0 | $0 |
| May 7, 2024 | BLUE SPGS | EF1 | $0 |
| Jun 8, 2022 | RIPLEY | EF2 | $0 |
| Jun 8, 2022 | RED BRIDGE | EF1 | $0 |
| Jun 4, 2020 | LAKE TAPAWINGO | EF0 | $0 |
| Sep 22, 2019 | COCKRELL | EF0 | $0 |
| May 25, 2019 | COCKRELL | EF0 | $0 |
| May 25, 2019 | VALE | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Jackson County
- Thunderstorm Wind 692
- Hail 669
- Flash Flood 143
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
On the evening of June 26 a line of storms pushed through the Kansas City Metro area. As these storms exited the metro they produced a tornado that impacted the Lake Lotawana area. The extent of the damage was to trees, as well as to vehicles and lakeside docks and boats. No one was injured by the EF-0 tornado.
An F0 torrnado briefly touched down a mile east of Oak Grove. A Jackson County resident saw and reported the tornado. Damage was done to aluminum siding of a house and 3 to 4 inch diamter trees were knocked down at their base.
Ahead of the advancing QLCS a supercell formed and produced a tornado in northern Jackson County. It formed just southwest of Sibley, Missouri and barely missed the main part of the city just to the west. Although it remained mostly in rural parts of Jackson County it did impact some outbuildings and did plenty of tree damage to areas just west of Sibley. The tornado then moved across the Missouri River, into Ray County where it dissipated northwest of Orrick.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Jackson County, Missouri?
50 tornado events are recorded in Jackson County between 1952 and 2025, causing 37 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Jackson County?
The strongest tornado on record in Jackson County measured F5.
Where does the tornado data for Jackson 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
“Tornado in Jackson County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/jackson-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.