NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cleveland, 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 Cleveland, Missouri since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 119 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 119
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
47 deaths in all
What the records show for Cleveland
The strongest of the 119 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 13 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 119, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 51 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 46. The most recent tornado was on July 11, 2025. Cleveland has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 70% of the 334 Missouri cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 144 times since 1960, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Cleveland has more hail reports within 10 miles than 66% of the 334 Missouri cities.
Compare Cleveland's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Cleveland
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s29
- 2000s13
- 1990s6
- 1980s16
- 1970s9(2 EF3+)
- 1960s26(4 EF3+)
- 1950s11(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 13 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 14 mi | 29.8 mi | 2 / 15 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 10 mi | 19.5 mi | 1 / 10 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 22 mi | 31.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 15, 1968 | F3 | 1 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1966 | F3 | 21 mi | 7.7 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Apr 15, 1960 | F3 | in town | 8.4 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 4, 2003 | F2 | 20 mi | 22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 20, 1982 | F2 | 22 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 1978 | F2 | 11 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 4, 1977 | F2 | 16 mi | 7.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1977 | F2 | 7 mi | 11.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 119, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Cleveland
The Storm Prediction Center has 144 hail reports within 10 miles of Cleveland since 1960, made on 90 separate days. Of these, 96 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on August 5, 2003. The most recent report is from June 7, 2024. May has the most reports, 37.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cleveland
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Olathe Johnson Co Exec Airport, KS, 15 miles northwest of Cleveland at 1,070 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 21°F. May is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 37.8 inches over 59 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 33 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 101 nights a year. That 37.8 inches is more than at 4 of the 134 Missouri stations used on this site (3%). Peculiar, 7 miles east, has its own station (Pleasant Hill WFO, MO): 42.7 inches a year, 4.9 more than here, and the same July average high, 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 21 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Feb | 44 | 25 | 1.4 | 3 |
| Mar | 55 | 35 | 2.3 | 5 |
| Apr | 65 | 45 | 3.9 | 7 |
| May | 74 | 55 | 5.4 | 8 |
| Jun | 83 | 65 | 5.2 | 7 |
| Jul | 88 | 69 | 4.2 | 5 |
| Aug | 87 | 67 | 4.4 | 5 |
| Sep | 78 | 59 | 3.5 | 5 |
| Oct | 67 | 47 | 3.0 | 6 |
| Nov | 53 | 35 | 2.0 | 3 |
| Dec | 42 | 25 | 1.4 | 2 |
| Year | 64 | 46 | 37.8 | 59 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Olathe Johnson Co Exec Airport, KS (1,070 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 Cleveland
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 107 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cleveland: 93 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 flash floods and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $264,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on May 17, 1997. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 115 have had fewer than Cleveland.
June 18, 2011: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Cleveland — 1 injured, $40,000 damage.
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
Cass County, which includes Cleveland, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 3 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 Cass County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for inland flooding; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $44.3 million a year, the 15th highest of 115 Missouri counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $17.5 million (39%), 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.