NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Blue Springs, MO
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Blue Springs, Missouri since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 127 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 13 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 127
- EF3 or stronger
- 13
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
50 deaths in all
What the records show for Blue Springs
The strongest of the 127 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 7 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 127, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 58 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 51. The most recent tornado was on July 11, 2025. Blue Springs has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 75% of the 334 Missouri cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 360 times since 1956, with stones up to 5.5 inches. Blue Springs has more hail reports within 10 miles than 93% of the 334 Missouri cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Blue Springs
By decade
- 2020s11
- 2010s30(1 EF3+)
- 2000s17(3 EF3+)
- 1990s7
- 1980s9
- 1970s11(2 EF3+)
- 1960s28(5 EF3+)
- 1950s14(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 7 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 20 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 18 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 13 |
| May 4, 1977 | F4 | 14 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 20 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 22, 1952 | F4 | 24 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 6 mi | 14.5 mi | 2 / 18 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 19 mi | 26.2 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 12 mi | 19.5 mi | 1 / 10 |
| Mar 6, 2017 | EF3 | 5 mi | 17.74 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 2, 2008 | EF3 | 22 mi | 0.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 1969 | F3 | 21 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 127, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Blue Springs
The Storm Prediction Center has 360 hail reports within 10 miles of Blue Springs since 1956, made on 165 separate days. Of these, 211 were 1 inch across or larger, and 20 reached 2 inches. The largest, 5.5 inches, fell on September 18, 2010. The most recent report is from September 16, 2025. May has the most reports, 92.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Blue Springs
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lees Summit Municipal Airport, MO, 6 miles southwest of Blue Springs at 997 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 22°F. May is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 38.5 inches over 60 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 38 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 96 nights a year. That 38.5 inches is more than at 8 of the 134 Missouri stations used on this site (6%). Oak Grove, 8 miles east, has its own station (Elm, MO): 42.9 inches a year, 4.4 more than here, and the same July average high, 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 22 | 1.0 | 2 |
| Feb | 44 | 26 | 1.4 | 3 |
| Mar | 55 | 35 | 2.1 | 5 |
| Apr | 66 | 46 | 4.2 | 7 |
| May | 75 | 56 | 5.7 | 8 |
| Jun | 84 | 65 | 5.0 | 7 |
| Jul | 88 | 70 | 4.6 | 5 |
| Aug | 87 | 68 | 4.5 | 6 |
| Sep | 79 | 59 | 3.1 | 5 |
| Oct | 67 | 47 | 3.4 | 6 |
| Nov | 54 | 36 | 2.1 | 3 |
| Dec | 43 | 26 | 1.4 | 3 |
| Year | 65 | 46 | 38.5 | 60 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lees Summit Municipal Airport, MO (997 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Blue Springs
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 308 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Blue Springs: 268 thunderstorm wind reports, 23 flash floods, 10 floods, 5 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 11, and the NWS estimated $11.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 119 mph, on May 26, 1996. June has had the most flash floods, 9 of 23. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 192 have had fewer than Blue Springs.
July 5, 2018: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Blue Springs — 1 killed, 1 injured.
May 26, 1996: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Blue Springs — 9 injured, $10.0 million damage.
March 14, 2025: thunderstorm wind in Blue Springs — 1 injured.
NWS: “Local law enforcement reporting trees down in Blue Springs, including at least 1 reported on vehicle, with injuries.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Blue Springs's 2 ZIP codes have filed 27 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $261,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 15% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 172 Missouri cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 50 have fewer than Blue Springs.
Jackson County, which includes Blue Springs, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 severe storms, 7 floods, 3 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Jackson County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and hail; Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $250.6 million a year, the 3rd highest of 115 Missouri counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $109.1 million (44%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Blue Springs
- Grain Valley, MO4 mi
- Oak Grove, MO8 mi
- Independence, MO8 mi
- Buckner, MO8 mi
- Lees Summit, MO8 mi
- Raytown, MO10 mi
- Sugar Creek, MO11 mi
- Lone Jack, MO11 mi
- Bates City, MO11 mi
- Greenwood, MO12 mi
- Grandview, MO16 mi
- Kansas City, MO16 mi
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