NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Raytown, 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 Raytown, Missouri since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 136 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 15 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 136
- EF3 or stronger
- 15
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
49 deaths in all
What the records show for Raytown
The strongest of the 136 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 3 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 136, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 63 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 53. The most recent tornado was on July 11, 2025. Raytown has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 83% of the 334 Missouri cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 492 times since 1955, with stones up to 5.5 inches. Raytown has more hail reports within 10 miles than 98% of the 334 Missouri cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Raytown
By decade
- 2020s13
- 2010s31(1 EF3+)
- 2000s19(3 EF3+)
- 1990s6
- 1980s12
- 1970s13(2 EF3+)
- 1960s28(7 EF3+)
- 1950s14(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 3 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 15 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 16 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 13 |
| May 4, 1977 | F4 | 18 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 18 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 22, 1952 | F4 | 15 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 14 mi | 14.5 mi | 2 / 18 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 17 mi | 19.5 mi | 1 / 10 |
| Mar 6, 2017 | EF3 | 12 mi | 17.74 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 2, 2008 | EF3 | 21 mi | 0.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 20 mi | 31.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 26, 1969 | F3 | 16 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 136, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Raytown
The Storm Prediction Center has 492 hail reports within 10 miles of Raytown since 1955, made on 220 separate days. Of these, 294 were 1 inch across or larger, and 28 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, 120.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Raytown
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lees Summit Municipal Airport, MO, 6 miles southeast of Raytown 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%). Independence, 7 miles northeast, has its own station (Independence, MO): 44.7 inches a year, 6.2 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 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 Raytown
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 536 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Raytown: 417 thunderstorm wind reports, 98 flash floods, 11 floods, 7 heavy rain events and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 13, and the NWS estimated $12.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 119 mph, on May 26, 1996. August has had the most flash floods, 26 of 98. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 318 have had fewer than Raytown.
July 5, 2018: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Raytown — 1 killed, 1 injured.
May 26, 1996: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Raytown — 9 injured, $10.0 million damage.
August 6, 1996: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Raytown — 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 Raytown's 2 ZIP codes have filed 172 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $814,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Not a named storm in 1982: 41 claims (24% of all) and $327,000, then Flooding in 1995 with 18. 40% 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, 128 have fewer than Raytown.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Not a named storm1982 | 41 | $327,000 |
| Flooding1995 | 18 | $52,000 |
Jackson County, which includes Raytown, 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 Raytown
- Independence, MO7 mi
- Lees Summit, MO7 mi
- Sugar Creek, MO8 mi
- Grandview, MO8 mi
- Prairie Village, KS9 mi
- Westwood, KS9 mi
- Kansas City, MO10 mi
- Blue Springs, MO10 mi
- Mission, KS11 mi
- North Kansas City, MO12 mi
- Greenwood, MO12 mi
- Leawood, KS13 mi
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