NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Liberty, 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 Liberty, Missouri since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 124 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 13 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 124
- EF3 or stronger
- 13
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
49 deaths in all
What the records show for Liberty
The strongest of the 124 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 18 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 124, 15 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 52 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 46. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Liberty has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 72% of the 334 Missouri cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 333 times since 1955, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Liberty has more hail reports within 10 miles than 92% of the 334 Missouri cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Liberty
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s21(1 EF3+)
- 2000s19(3 EF3+)
- 1990s6
- 1980s11
- 1970s11(2 EF3+)
- 1960s29(5 EF3+)
- 1950s15(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 18 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 4 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| Jun 8, 1966 | F4 | 22 mi | 19.9 mi | 1 / 2 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 3 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 13 |
| May 4, 1977 | F4 | 23 mi | 48.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 4, 1977 | F4 | 7 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 2 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 22, 1952 | F4 | 20 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 14 mi | 14.5 mi | 2 / 18 |
| Mar 6, 2017 | EF3 | 22 mi | 17.74 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 2, 2008 | EF3 | 5 mi | 0.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 1969 | F3 | 5 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 124, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Liberty
The Storm Prediction Center has 333 hail reports within 10 miles of Liberty since 1955, made on 166 separate days. Of these, 235 were 1 inch across or larger, and 41 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on September 13, 1965. The most recent report is from May 19, 2025. May has the most reports, 86.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Liberty
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kearney 3E, MO, 10 miles northeast of Liberty 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%). Sugar Creek, 10 miles south, has its own station (Independence, MO): 44.7 inches a year, 3.4 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 Liberty
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 245 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Liberty: 200 thunderstorm wind reports, 34 flash floods and 11 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $990,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 104 mph, on June 29, 1998. May has had the most flash floods, 10 of 34. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 238 have had fewer than Liberty.
May 6, 2007: flood 7 miles from the centre of Liberty — $750,000 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 Liberty's ZIP code 64068 have filed 37 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1981, and were paid $1.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 27% 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, 60 have fewer than Liberty.
Clay County, which includes Liberty, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 severe storms, 8 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 Clay County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $112.6 million a year, the 6th highest of 115 Missouri counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $43.3 million (38%), 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 Liberty
- Kearney, MO9 mi
- Sugar Creek, MO10 mi
- North Kansas City, MO11 mi
- Independence, MO11 mi
- Kansas City, MO12 mi
- Riverside, MO12 mi
- Excelsior Springs, MO12 mi
- Smithville, MO13 mi
- Holt, MO14 mi
- Buckner, MO14 mi
- Parkville, MO15 mi
- Blue Springs, MO17 mi
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