NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Saint Louis, 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
3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Saint Louis, Missouri since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 188 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 18 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 3
- Tornadoes
- 188
- EF3 or stronger
- 18
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
44 deaths in all
What the records show for Saint Louis
None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Saint Louis; the strongest was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm with 49 mph winds when its centre passed 27 miles away. The record near Saint Louis begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Ike in 2008. Saint Louis has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 56% of the 334 Missouri cities on this site. The highest rating among the 188 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on April 22, 2011, came within 8 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on February 10, 1959, killed 21 people. Of the 188, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 92 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 51. The most recent tornado was on June 4, 2025. Saint Louis has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 99% of the 334 Missouri cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 453 times since 1957, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Saint Louis has more hail reports within 10 miles than 97% of the 334 Missouri cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Saint Louis
An unnamed storm in 1902 was moving northeast, an unnamed storm in 1941 northeast and Ike (2008) northeast as they passed Saint Louis. Ike (2008) was the strongest at its closest; its centre passed 27 miles southeast of Saint Louis. None made landfall within 75 miles of Saint Louis; all 3 were hurricanes at their peak, none at their closest to the city. In the last 30 seasons (1996–2025), 1 came near Saint Louis: 0.3 a decade, against 0.1 a decade from 1851 to 1995.
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28 | overhead | 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 Saint Louis: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Saint Louis
By decade
- 2020s34(2 EF3+)
- 2010s40(4 EF3+)
- 2000s18
- 1990s19
- 1980s14(5 EF3+)
- 1970s13
- 1960s18(3 EF3+)
- 1950s32(4 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 1959 | F4 | in town | 23.9 mi | 21 / 345 |
| Feb 24, 1956 | F4 | 7 mi | 77.6 mi | 6 / 36 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F4 | 9 mi | 25 mi | 3 / 216 |
| Apr 22, 2011 | EF4 | 8 mi | 21.3 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Apr 3, 1981 | F4 | 12 mi | 11.9 mi | 0 / 32 |
| Dec 10, 2021 | EF3 | 16 mi | 4.22 mi | 6 / 1 |
| Dec 10, 2021 | EF3 | 13 mi | 27.3 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Dec 31, 2010 | EF3 | 6 mi | 6.65 mi | 1 / 6 |
| May 31, 2013 | EF3 | 15 mi | 10.64 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 2013 | EF3 | 9 mi | 31.71 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Nov 15, 1988 | F3 | 17 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 15, 1988 | F3 | 25 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 10 |
The strongest 12 of 188, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Saint Louis
The Storm Prediction Center has 453 hail reports within 10 miles of Saint Louis since 1957, made on 181 separate days. Of these, 329 were 1 inch across or larger, and 41 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on May 25, 2011. The most recent report is from May 19, 2025. May has the most reports, 125.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Saint Louis
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is St Louis Sci Ctr, MO, 2 miles east of Saint Louis at 515 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 41°F and 25°F. May is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.3 inches; the year adds up to 43.9 inches. Highs reach 90°F on about 47 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 79 nights a year. That 43.9 inches is more than at 69 of the 134 Missouri stations used on this site (51%). Saint Ann, 8 miles northwest, has its own station (St Louis Lambert International Airport, MO): 41.7 inches a year, 2.2 less than here, and the same July average high, 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41 | 25 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 46 | 28 | 2.3 |
| Mar | 56 | 38 | 3.6 |
| Apr | 68 | 48 | 4.8 |
| May | 77 | 59 | 4.9 |
| Jun | 86 | 67 | 4.7 |
| Jul | 90 | 72 | 4.2 |
| Aug | 89 | 70 | 3.8 |
| Sep | 82 | 62 | 3.4 |
| Oct | 70 | 50 | 3.2 |
| Nov | 56 | 39 | 3.7 |
| Dec | 45 | 30 | 2.6 |
| Year | 67 | 49 | 43.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at St Louis Sci Ctr, MO (515 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 Saint Louis
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 467 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Saint Louis: 385 thunderstorm wind reports, 64 flash floods, 8 lightning strikes, 7 floods and 3 heavy rain events. They killed 13 people and injured 156, and the NWS estimated $108.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on February 27, 2011. June has had the most flash floods, 16 of 64. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 289 have had fewer than Saint Louis.
September 14, 2008: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Saint Louis — 3 killed.
November 4, 2024: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Saint Louis — 2 killed, $200,000 damage.
April 28, 2012: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Saint Louis — 1 killed, 100 injured.
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 Saint Louis's 41 ZIP codes have filed 6,266 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $132.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 686 claims (11% of all) and $14.9 million, then Flooding in 1986 with 565 and Hurricane Ike in 2008 with 523. 42% 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, 171 have fewer than Saint Louis.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 686 | $14.9 million |
| Flooding1986 | 565 | $3.0 million |
| Hurricane Ike2008 | 523 | $24.5 million |
| Late July Flooding2022 | 323 | $22.7 million |
| Not a named storm1982 | 301 | $4.4 million |
| Early winter storms2015 | 109 | $8.4 million |
St. Louis city, which includes Saint Louis, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 severe storms, 5 floods, 3 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on June 9, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives St. Louis City a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and heat waves; Relatively High for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $359.2 million a year, the 2nd highest of 115 Missouri counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $172.4 million (48%), is from heat waves.
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 Saint Louis
- Maplewood, MOunder 1 mi
- Clayton, MO2 mi
- Kirkwood, MO6 mi
- Saint Ann, MO8 mi
- Ferguson, MO9 mi
- Cahokia, IL9 mi
- Dupo, IL9 mi
- Madison, IL9 mi
- Centreville, IL10 mi
- Maryland Heights, MO10 mi
- East Saint Louis, IL11 mi
- Valley Park, MO11 mi
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