NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lincoln, 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
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Lincoln, Missouri since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1902. Since 1950, 74 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 74
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
3 deaths in all
What the records show for Lincoln
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Lincoln; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1902, a tropical storm with 40 mph winds when its centre passed 73 miles away. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site, 62% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Lincoln. The strongest of the 74 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 19, 1973; its path came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an F1 on March 30, 2006, killed 1 person. Of the 74, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 35 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 31. The most recent tornado was on May 19, 2025. Of the 334 Missouri cities, 74% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Lincoln. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 108 times since 1956, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Lincoln has more hail reports within 10 miles than 50% of the 334 Missouri cities.
Compare Lincoln's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Lincoln
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28 | 73 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 Lincoln: 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 Lincoln
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s8
- 2000s15
- 1990s8
- 1980s17(2 EF3+)
- 1970s10(5 EF3+)
- 1960s1
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 19, 1973 | F4 | 19 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Mar 15, 1982 | F3 | 9 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 12, 1980 | F3 | 24 mi | 15.8 mi | 0 / 23 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 21 mi | 11.2 mi | 0 / 24 |
| Apr 20, 1973 | F3 | 13 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 20, 1973 | F3 | in town | 19.4 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Apr 20, 1973 | F3 | 9 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 12, 2006 | F2 | 19 mi | 11.2 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Aug 21, 1952 | F2 | 23 mi | 1.3 mi | 1 / 13 |
| May 25, 2011 | EF2 | 22 mi | 2.11 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Mar 12, 2006 | F2 | 23 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Mar 15, 1982 | F2 | 16 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 74, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lincoln
The Storm Prediction Center has 108 hail reports within 10 miles of Lincoln since 1956, made on 88 separate days. Of these, 66 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 26, 2024. The most recent report is from September 17, 2025. May has the most reports, 28.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lincoln
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Cole Camp 3NW, MO, 10 miles north of Lincoln at 1,000 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 19°F. June is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.8 inches; the year adds up to 42.6 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 34 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 114 nights a year. Snowfall averages 18.4 inches a year, most of it in February. That 42.6 inches is more than at 49 of the 134 Missouri stations used on this site (37%). Warsaw, 9 miles southwest, has its own station (Truman Dam & Rsvr, MO): 43.6 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 19 | 1.8 | 3 | 4.8 |
| Feb | 44 | 23 | 2.0 | 4 | 6.2 |
| Mar | 55 | 33 | 3.2 | 7 | 3.6 |
| Apr | 65 | 43 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.1 |
| May | 74 | 54 | 5.1 | 9 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 83 | 62 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 67 | 4.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 65 | 4.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 56 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 44 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 54 | 33 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.5 |
| Dec | 43 | 24 | 2.1 | 4 | 2.9 |
| Year | 65 | 44 | 42.6 | 69 | 18.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Cole Camp 3NW, MO (1,000 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 Lincoln
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 180 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lincoln: 110 thunderstorm wind reports, 41 flash floods, 15 heavy rain events, 13 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 3 people and injured 48, and the NWS estimated $1.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on March 12, 2003. July has had the most flash floods, 10 of 41. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 247 have had fewer than Lincoln.
July 5, 2004: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Lincoln — 1 killed, 48 injured, $350,000 damage.
NWS: “A derecho swept across much of west central and central Missouri during the early morning hours of July 5th. Severe winds from this line of thunderstorms affected a campground near Truman Lake where 48 people were injured.”
June 12, 2004: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Lincoln — 1 killed.
August 5, 2011: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Lincoln — 1 killed.
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 Lincoln's ZIP code 65338 have filed 33 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $473,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1993, with 15. 45% 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, 58 have fewer than Lincoln.
Benton County, which includes Lincoln, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 5 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on September 21, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Benton County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively Low 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 $16.9 million a year, the 50th highest of 115 Missouri counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.7 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.