NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lees Summit, 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 Lees Summit, Missouri since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 142 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 15 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 142
- EF3 or stronger
- 15
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
50 deaths in all
What the records show for Lees Summit
The strongest of the 142 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 5 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 142, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 64 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 55. The most recent tornado was on July 11, 2025. Lees Summit has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 88% of the 334 Missouri cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 353 times since 1955, with stones up to 5.5 inches. Lees Summit has more hail reports within 10 miles than 93% of the 334 Missouri cities.
Compare Lees Summit's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lees Summit
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s34(1 EF3+)
- 2000s18(2 EF3+)
- 1990s7
- 1980s14
- 1970s13(3 EF3+)
- 1960s30(7 EF3+)
- 1950s14(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 5 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 23 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 22 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 13 |
| May 4, 1977 | F4 | 21 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 25 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 22, 1952 | F4 | 22 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 14 mi | 14.5 mi | 2 / 18 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 25 mi | 26.2 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 10 mi | 19.5 mi | 1 / 10 |
| Mar 6, 2017 | EF3 | 8 mi | 17.74 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 24 mi | 31.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 26, 1969 | F3 | 23 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 142, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lees Summit
The Storm Prediction Center has 353 hail reports within 10 miles of Lees Summit since 1955, made on 169 separate days. Of these, 215 were 1 inch across or larger, and 27 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, 91.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lees Summit
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lees Summit Municipal Airport, MO, 3 miles north of Lees Summit 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%). Greenwood, 5 miles south, has its own station (Pleasant Hill WFO, MO): 42.7 inches a year, 4.2 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 Lees Summit
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 317 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lees Summit: 264 thunderstorm wind reports, 37 flash floods, 9 floods, 5 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 15, and the NWS estimated $10.7 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, 12 of 37. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 243 have had fewer than Lees Summit.
July 5, 2018: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Lees Summit — 1 killed, 1 injured.
May 26, 1996: thunderstorm wind in Lees Summit — 9 injured, $10.0 million damage.
August 6, 1996: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Lees Summit — 3 injured, $150,000 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 Lees Summit's 5 ZIP codes have filed 96 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1990: 13 claims (14% of all) and $52,000, then Not a named storm in 1982 with 10. 26% 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, 105 have fewer than Lees Summit.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1990 | 13 | $52,000 |
| Not a named storm1982 | 10 | $187,000 |
Jackson County, which includes Lees Summit, 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 Lees Summit
- Greenwood, MO5 mi
- Raytown, MO7 mi
- Blue Springs, MO8 mi
- Grandview, MO9 mi
- Raymore, MO9 mi
- Grain Valley, MO11 mi
- Pleasant Hill, MO11 mi
- Belton, MO11 mi
- Independence, MO12 mi
- Lone Jack, MO12 mi
- Oak Grove, MO13 mi
- Sugar Creek, MO14 mi
All Missouri cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Lees Summit with another place →