NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lawson, 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 Lawson, Missouri since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 106 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 106
- EF3 or stronger
- 11
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Lawson
The highest rating among the 106 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 6 times; the most recent, on May 4, 2003, came within 22 miles. Of the 106, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 45 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 40. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Lawson has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 59% of the 334 Missouri cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 120 times since 1955, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Lawson has more hail reports within 10 miles than 56% of the 334 Missouri cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lawson
By decade
- 2020s10
- 2010s15
- 2000s20(3 EF3+)
- 1990s5
- 1980s7
- 1970s14(3 EF3+)
- 1960s25(4 EF3+)
- 1950s10(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 22 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| Apr 23, 1975 | F4 | 21 mi | 11.4 mi | 1 / 3 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 22 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 13 |
| May 4, 1977 | F4 | 13 mi | 48.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 4, 1977 | F4 | 16 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 17 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 15 mi | 14.5 mi | 2 / 18 |
| May 2, 2008 | EF3 | 19 mi | 0.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 1969 | F3 | 19 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Apr 21, 1967 | F3 | 21 mi | 14.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 14, 1955 | F3 | 15 mi | 9.8 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 8, 2022 | EF2 | 22 mi | 9.56 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 106, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lawson
The Storm Prediction Center has 120 hail reports within 10 miles of Lawson since 1955, made on 72 separate days. Of these, 76 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on March 14, 1955. The most recent report is from July 11, 2025. April has the most reports, 35.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lawson
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kearney 3E, MO, 10 miles southwest of Lawson at 840 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 17°F. July is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.3 inches; the year adds up to 41.3 inches over 62 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 37 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 128 nights a year. Snowfall averages 19.4 inches a year, most of it in February. That 41.3 inches is more than at 31 of the 134 Missouri stations used on this site (23%). Richmond, 14 miles southeast, has its own station (Richmond 3S, MO): 42.0 inches a year, 0.7 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 17 | 1.3 | 3 | 5.0 |
| Feb | 43 | 21 | 1.6 | 3 | 6.5 |
| Mar | 55 | 31 | 2.5 | 5 | 2.0 |
| Apr | 66 | 41 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.1 |
| May | 75 | 53 | 5.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 63 | 5.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 67 | 5.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 64 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 55 | 4.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 68 | 43 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 55 | 31 | 2.1 | 3 | 0.9 |
| Dec | 42 | 22 | 1.7 | 3 | 4.6 |
| Year | 65 | 42 | 41.3 | 62 | 19.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Kearney 3E, MO (840 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 Lawson
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 106 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lawson: 87 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 flash floods, 4 floods and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $369,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 11, 2021. June has had the most flash floods, 7 of 13. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 115 have had fewer than Lawson.
June 2, 2018: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Lawson — 1 injured, $50,000 damage.
August 19, 2000: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Lawson — $100,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Lawson's ZIP code 64062 have filed 12 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1990, and were paid $106,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 17% 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, 8 have fewer than Lawson.
Ray County, which includes Lawson, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 26 of them major disasters (by incident: 17 severe storms, 8 floods, 3 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on September 1, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Ray County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $13.4 million a year, the 64th highest of 115 Missouri counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.0 million (45%), 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 Lawson
- Excelsior Springs, MO8 mi
- Lathrop, MO10 mi
- Holt, MO10 mi
- Kearney, MO11 mi
- Richmond, MO14 mi
- Plattsburg, MO18 mi
- Liberty, MO19 mi
- Cameron, MO21 mi
- Smithville, MO22 mi
- Hamilton, MO22 mi
- Buckner, MO23 mi
- Lexington, MO25 mi
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