NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Festus, 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
4 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Festus, Missouri since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 128 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 4
- Tornadoes
- 128
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
22 deaths in all
What the records show for Festus
None of the 4 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Festus; the strongest was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm with 48 mph winds when its centre passed 9 miles away. The record near Festus begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Ike in 2008. Of the 4 systems, one has come since 2000. Festus has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 81% of the 334 Missouri cities on this site. The highest rating among the 128 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on June 22, 1969, came within 22 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on May 21, 1957, killed 8 people. Of the 128, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 65 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 38. The most recent tornado was on June 7, 2025. Festus has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 76% of the 334 Missouri cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 160 times since 1957, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Festus has more hail reports within 10 miles than 73% of the 334 Missouri cities.
Compare Festus's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Festus
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 20 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Festus: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Festus
By decade
- 2020s25(1 EF3+)
- 2010s18(1 EF3+)
- 2000s22(1 EF3+)
- 1990s20
- 1980s7(1 EF3+)
- 1970s9(1 EF3+)
- 1960s17(2 EF3+)
- 1950s10(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 24, 1956 | F4 | 22 mi | 77.6 mi | 6 / 36 |
| Dec 21, 1967 | F4 | 25 mi | 27.9 mi | 3 / 52 |
| Jun 22, 1969 | F4 | 22 mi | 20.2 mi | 2 / 22 |
| May 21, 1957 | F3 | 22 mi | 22.2 mi | 8 / 50 |
| Dec 31, 2010 | EF3 | 21 mi | 6.65 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Apr 22, 1981 | F3 | 2 mi | 7.1 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Apr 2, 2025 | EF3 | 23 mi | 21.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 11, 2006 | F3 | 6 mi | 5.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 18, 1975 | F3 | 23 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 9, 1984 | F2 | 23 mi | 3 mi | 1 / 15 |
| Mar 14, 2025 | EF2 | 13 mi | 25.33 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 22, 2011 | EF2 | 18 mi | 3.52 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 128, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Festus
The Storm Prediction Center has 160 hail reports within 10 miles of Festus since 1957, made on 97 separate days. Of these, 112 were 1 inch across or larger, and 11 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on April 12, 1981. The most recent report is from March 14, 2025. April has the most reports, 48.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Festus
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Festus, MO, 3 miles north of Festus at 600 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 41°F and 22°F. April is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 43.5 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 38 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 105 nights a year. Snowfall averages 9.2 inches a year, most of it in February. That 43.5 inches is more than at 61 of the 134 Missouri stations used on this site (46%). Bonne Terre, 20 miles southwest, has its own station (Farmington, MO): 45.4 inches a year, 1.9 more than here, and a July average high of 89°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41 | 22 | 2.7 | 5 | 2.1 |
| Feb | 46 | 25 | 2.5 | 5 | 2.7 |
| Mar | 56 | 34 | 4.0 | 8 | 1.1 |
| Apr | 68 | 44 | 4.9 | 8 | 0.2 |
| May | 76 | 54 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 85 | 63 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 67 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 65 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 81 | 57 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 70 | 46 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 56 | 35 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.6 |
| Dec | 45 | 27 | 2.8 | 5 | 2.5 |
| Year | 67 | 45 | 43.5 | 74 | 9.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Festus, MO (600 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 Festus
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 103 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Festus: 88 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 flash floods, 3 floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. They killed 2 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $4.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on May 6, 2003. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 72 have had fewer than Festus.
April 18, 2013: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Festus — 1 killed.
June 25, 2016: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Festus — 1 killed.
NWS: “A 72 year old man and his dog were struck and killed by lightning as storms moved through the area. They were in the front yard of the residence when it happened.”
September 26, 2003: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Festus — 1 injured.
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 Festus's ZIP code 63028 have filed 138 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $2.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 24 claims (17% of all) and $581,000, then Flooding in 1995 with 12. 35% 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, 118 have fewer than Festus.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 24 | $581,000 |
| Flooding1995 | 12 | $151,000 |
Jefferson County, which includes Festus, has been named in 30 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 16 severe storms, 7 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Wildfires, on May 21, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Jefferson County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $114.5 million a year, the 5th highest of 115 Missouri counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $58.6 million (51%), 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.